A rodeo took place in Chatham-Kent Thursday — but think wooden hydro poles and bright orange reflective gear instead of bucking broncos and cowboy hats.
About 145 students participated in the sixth annual power line rodeo at St. Clair College's Thames campus in Chatham, Ont. The college is one of only four in the province that offer training in this field.
Over the course of two days, students relay-raced up and down utility poles, saved dummies perched on hydro wires and even carried eggs in their mouths to see if they could successfully make it down a pole without leaking yolk.
"The power line rodeo is an opportunity for our students to showcase their skills and also an opportunity to meet employers," explained Mark Benoit, the chair of academic studies at the Thames campus.
"They come in here in their first year and they're scared to climb a pole," he said. "Two years later, they're up and down poles, they're running bucket trucks and our heavy equipment ... it's amazing, the transformation."
Benoit said teamwork is a huge part of the program, and the rodeo is no exception. "They work in teams, they compete in teams and all the way through their studies, they're working in teams — always with safety in mind."
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One of the few women competing at the rodeo was Erin Kerr, whose high school guidance councillor encouraged her to join the program after discovering her passion for electrical work. The first year student hopes to work for Hydro One when she completes the program.
"We started with 82 people and there was two girls — 80 guys," she said. "It was a little bit intimidating the first day, but I got to know everybody quick."
Asked what it was like to study in a field dominated by men, Kerr laughed.
"It's fun," she said. "I feel like it takes a certain type of girl to be able to handle it, because there's a lot of comments and jokes get made — but it's a lot of fun."
Second year student Ryan Power — who acknowledges his last name is apt for a person in the field — said the rodeo takes a lot of preparation, including the installation of poles in the field off Bear Line Road.
"The students do all this work," he said. "Every year, around winter, all these poles get taken down, and they get put back up by first years."
Power was part of the team who scored the fastest time during Thursday's pole-climbing relay, despite intense wind.
"We've been climbing so much, so often, that you get used to it," he said of the gusts. "You're so in the moment, you don't really notice it."
