Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb
The Sydney Harbor Bridge is an iconic symbol of the Australian city that is only surpassed in by the world famous Opera House. The bridge can be seen stretching out across the bay from many areas of the city and we were excited to have an opportunity to get up close and personal with such and impressive structure.
We arrived at the Bridge Climb offices about an hour early as recommended and had some time to learn about the history and construction of the bridge. In an age of massive skyscrapers and sophisticated computer based designed programs, it's easy to lose sight of what a massive undertaking it was to build this structure back in the 1920s. We would learn more about the history of the bridge during the climb but seeing some of the pictures around the building really helped us immerse ourselves in the time period and picture the steelworkers hard at work as we proceeded with the tour.
Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb Gear
Once the time for our tour arrived, they had us change into gray one piece jumpsuits and made us leave everything we brought with us in the lockers. It was important to make sure nobody had anything that could be dropped; even eyeglasses or sunglasses had to be secured with a strap. With a peak over 400 ft high, anything dropped to the busy road below could be quite dangerous.
We were fitted with rock climbing style harnesses that went over our jumpsuits. Clipped to the harness was one of the coolest devices I've ever seen. Along the bridge climb path, under the hand rails was a cable. When we first began the climb, we slid this device over the end of the cable and we stayed connected to it for pretty much the duration of the tour. The device looked like a split sphere with two paddle wheel type gears inside. This allowed the device to slide right over the cable's anchoring point without ever disconnecting. Before even leaving the building to begin the climb we had to practice using the device on a test area inside. Maybe I'm the only one who thought it was cool but I really wish I had taken a picture of it. We later learned that whole system was not actually designed to save people in the event of a fall – it was actually meant just to keep people from being able to leave the assigned path. There really wasn't any way to fall off the bridge anyway but it was just funny to know the true purpose of the gear.
We were also given headsets so that we could hear our guide while single file over the sound of the blowing wind. The headsets were unusual; instead of having earphones the speakers were mounted on the temple next to the ear. Apparently, the sound travels through surrounding bones to the ear, allowing you to still hear what's going on around you.
The Bridge Climb Begins
We started the climb on the catwalks underneath the bridge. We were still over land, people looked up at our group with curiosity. While locals are certainly familiar with the tours but to those who didn't know our little crew marching out under the bridge must have been quite a sight. We were surrounded by so many massive steel beams and trusses and we weren't even over the bay yet. The total weight of the steelwork comes in at over 52,000 tons and the scale of everything just seemed larger than life all the way done to the 6 million rivets.
Our pace was fairly slow as our guide continued to share the history of the construction but we soon ascended the stairs to the top side of the bridge and started our trek upward. This is where the view changed from industrial to scenic as our view of the city and harbor opened up. The weather during our climb was pretty much ideal with the sun shining and a decent breeze. They also offer night climbs which would give a spectacular view of the city lights but I think a lot of the views of the bridge itself would be lost in the dark.
Eventually, we reached the summit and though we weren't allowed to bring cameras, our guide did take pictures of us at the summit with the Sydney Opera House in the background that we could purchase once we returned.
Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb Summary
The bridge climb itself wasn't an intense, adrenaline rush type adventure but it was still a lot of fun. The climb wasn't particularly strenuous, it was basically just climbing a staircase at a relaxed pace but for 3.5 hours. The weather could be a major factor in the trip. Sun can be oppressive, the wind has potential to be cold, rain would be pretty miserable but on a nice day, every minute is a chance to soak up unbeatable views and rich history.
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