Yea, free climbing, no tie in whatsoever. I had my saddle and lanyard for when I arrived at the top. I thought about packing my rope for rapelling, but said frig it. The fellow told me nobody else used ropes and that woulda been extra weight to carry up there.
When I started my ascent, I tried doing it on the inside of the tower, but after a hunnert feet I was getting tired of climbing in such cramped quarters. I hollered at the guy "Is this how everyone else does it?" and he said "No, they climb on the outside" so I got out there and then I was really able to move.
The view from the top was fricking incredible, especially from the taller one. I sure wished I hada camera, but people didn't pack those around in those days.
... They had a death the year before. One of the interior braces broke and a fella fell to his death. MI OSHA shut this group down. So our job was to go in and re write a program that would suit MI OSHA by teaching them current standard techniques in climbing gear, safety and Aerial rescue. I used to have quite a few AR pics, but I lost them during a computer crash... 
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