Ameren employee from Jackson competes in Lineman's Rodeo

Kolter McBride, a lineman for Ameren Missouri, competed in his first International Lineman's Rodeo on Saturday, Oct. 14, in Overland Park, Kansas.

The Lineman's Rodeo was first held in 1984 and, according to its website, was created to maintain a focus on safety and safe work practices, recognize a lineman's technical craft skills and for the participants to have fun while sharing work knowledge with others in their trade from different companies and different parts of the country and world.

McBride, 21, lives in Jackson and said he is a third-generation lineman — his father and grandfather as well as two uncles have all been journeyman linemen for Ameren Missouri.

"I started telling people I was going to be a lineman when I was 8 years old," McBride said. "I've been working as an apprentice lineman with Ameren for about two years."

There are two ranks of rodeo competitors — journeyman and apprentice — and there are five events to test their skills and knowledge. Three events — the Pole Climb, the Hurt Man rescue and a written exam — happen every year.

There are also two mystery events each year. This year, contestants had to demonstrate skills in attaching a guy wire between two poles and changing out a lightning arrester, which absorbs an electrical surge without cutting power to the line.

For the Pole Climb event, contestants must climb a utility pole 40 feet high, while holding a tiny bucket in their teeth.

The bucket contains a raw egg.

At the top of the pole hangs an empty bucket. When the contestants reach the top, they must unhook the empty bucket and drop it into a small pile of wood chips at the bottom. Then, they hang the bucket they've been holding in their mouth and place the egg in their mouth as they descend the pole.

Contestants must do this while wearing their safety harness and tool belts. They receive point deductions for infractions, such as failure to wear safety gear, dropping tools and, of course, breaking their egg.

The competition is stiff. The fastest pole climb for an apprentice was done in 44.84 seconds. McBride's time was just under 1 minute, 21 seconds.

And he broke his egg.

"I never broke my egg in practice, but I came down too fast and cracked it," McBride said.

The Hurt Man Rescue event involves simulating the rescue of an injured lineman from the top of a utility pole and wires.

The fastest apprentice time was just under 1 minute, 11 seconds. McBride's time was just under 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

Overall, McBride scored 460 out of 500 points and placed 175th out of 440 apprentice contestants.

"That just shows how good those guys are," McBride said.

Though he had hoped to score better, McBride said his first lineman's rodeo experience was "awesome" and he can't wait for next year's competition.

"It was really cool just to be up there with guys from Ameren and all over the country and, I mean people even came from Brazil to compete," McBride said. "Just to see that many people who love the trade and want to compete and just show what we do, yeah, for lack of a better word it was awesome."