For Jason Novak, climbing electrical poles is part of his job description. But once a year, the lineman for Ameren Illinois executes the 40-foot ascent as part of the International Lineman’s Rodeo — pitting his climbing skills against workers from all over the world.
Novak and his team from Ameren Illinois made their mark, taking second place in the Journeyman Pole Climb. The competition, which included eight teams of linemen from Ameren Illinois, took place in Overland Park, Kansas, on Oct. 13 and 14.
“Everybody's got a chance out there,” said Novak, who has competed in the rodeo 22 times in the past 30 years. “We've got a lot of great teams and apprentices coming up through Ameren. … This is probably the best showing Ameren has ever had out there.”
For the past three years, Novak and his company teammates have used the competition to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year, the Climbin’ for Kids campaign raised more than $107,000.
To hear more from Jason Novak, including what it’s like to train to climb a 40-foot pole while carrying an egg, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
