Randy Smith began his career as a tower climber by accident. Located in Rolla, Kansas, a town of less than 400 in southwest Kansas, Smith has been the area’s go-to tower climber for decades. Now 70 years old, he said he’ll continue getting up in the air as long as he’s able; he enjoys climbing and said he has his entire life. From roofs to playground equipment, he was up in the air as often as possible. 

“I was always in the trees, or I’d shimmy up a light pole,” he said. “I managed to turn that into a business.”

Smith got the gig inadvertently when he and his wife, Debbie, bought land “in the middle of nowhere” and he put up an antenna so they could get TV.  

Married in 1974, Smith was working two jobs, one of which was the evening shift at his parents’ café in Elkhart, KS. There he got a lead on 40 acres of land – located in the middle of Cimmaron National Grassland.

It was exactly what the Smiths wanted. 

“It was rolling Sandhills; it was perfect,” he said. 

Each day, when Smith left at 3:30 am to work his first job, he took the couple’s one car, leaving Debbie at home until late into the evening. With no phone service and no TV.

“We couldn’t even get a phone, we tried,” he said.

That’s when he decided to gift Debbie with access to a TV channel. Smith found a used 30-foot tower and, wearing his tree-trimming harness, put an antenna at the top. It didn’t work, causing him to add another 20-foot used tower. Finally, he found a 70-foot tower to place on a nearby hill. 

“Then we got one channel,” he said. “But I learned how to build towers, and I learned how to climb towers.” 

Soon a friend in the satellite business said he needed a climber and Smith agreed.

Farmers passed his name and Smith began building and repairing towers for TV and two-way radio access. From there he got leads to emergency services, ham radio users, and eventually, branched fully into the commercial side. 

He recalled his first commercial gig after finding a connection at Mobil Oil. 

“He said it was too cheap, he said ‘If I send it that cheap they’ll know you don’t know what you’re doing.” Smith asked for recommendations and was told to charge “at least $1 per foot.” 

Today he charges in various structures, mileage, a mobilization fee, and a day fee for himself plus one or two helpers. Most jobs require a man on the ground to send up equipment or tools, plus handle stabilization he said. This is in addition to a per-foot climbing fee. 

He cited insurance as being one of the business’s biggest expenses. However, as a small, self-owned crew, Smith said he’s the minority in the industry. Most outlets are owned by big companies and send out multi-truck crews to each job. 

“It was long before the tower business ever became a real business,” he said. “Then before long it was all I could do to keep up on commercial; I didn’t have time for residential. All these little things led up to it and it just all kind of fell into place. I’ve been really fortunate.”  

Ever since, Smith has been climbing towers and providing maintenance work of all kinds. 

In the beginning, that meant going high – where a signal needed to be vertical into the sky before it was of use. A decade and more ago, he climbed a 1,200-foot tower multiple times over. It belonged to a TV station and two radio stations out of Woodward, OK. (For reference, the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall.) At this height, Smith said it’s common for towers to have an elevator or man lift. However, he’s never used them in his career, citing radio frequency interference, or RFI, which could activate or stop electronics – like an elevator – without warning. 

Today, however, his bread and butter is between 180 and 340-feet tall, which takes up 90% of his work. Occasionally he will climb higher, but he said it’s almost impossible for him to be insured for more than 500 feet in today’s climate. (About the height of a 45-50-story building.) 

He changes lightbulbs, two-way radio work, put antennas up or take them down, and places radios for wireless systems. This is what powers cell phones and internet, he said. Weighing between 60-70 pounds, Smith said these radios malfunction or break down frequently. In addition, as tower needs change, Smith takes down old or broken parts. 

“Things change. It used to be the higher you got the better it was,” he said. “But with wireless, you don’t need that type of height; towers are more closely spaced because the signal won’t carry. So today there are more towers but they aren’t as high. I started with pagers; those were a big deal. Now it’s cell phones and wireless internet, it just changes year after year.” 

One thing that hasn’t changed is who’s doing the climbing: Smith has done his own work since day one. 

“If I hire someone else to climb I lose control of two things: quality. I don’t know what’s going on up there if I’m not the one looking at it,” he said. “And I lose control of the safety. It’s my biggest fear to hire somebody and they fall,” he said. 

He knows just how terrifying a fall can be, having taken a 25-foot tumble in 2017. Despite wearing a full-body harness with multiple attachment points, Smith said he got in a hurry. 

As soon as the brace lifted, he realized it was his anchor point.

“Once that brace came loose, I did too. I knew the instant I saw it come off and I thought ‘Oh shoot,’” he said. “But you can’t move fast enough to grab hold. “It was a real unusual design. I hadn’t seen one like that.” 

Smith shattered his pelvis, punctured his lung, broke four vertebrae, and three ribs after hitting the ground in Salina.

“There was no spinal injury or head injury, nothing disabling,” he said. “I was very fortunate to have no permanent damage.”

He woke up in a Wichita hospital and spent 10 days in treatment. 

“Once was enough,” he said of the experience. 

Smith was off work for 59 days, and the 60th day after his accident, he was back up in the air.

“I still climb every day the weather will let me. I get paid to climb, what could be better than that?”

Top: Randy Smith, owner of Randy Smith Towers. Middle: Smith with his wife of 51 years, Debbie.

Above: The Smiths homestead, built in the middle of Cimmaron National Grassland. Smith recalled finagling a loan from the credit union, which didn’t give out land loans at the time. They purchased the 40-acre lot for $6,750 in 1981. (Down to $168.50 an acre vs. the going rate of $200. That’s $595 in 2025; however, today the average farmland rate is $4,170 per acre.)  

Just a few days later, Smith was offered double what they paid. A  farmer handed over his checkbook, offering for Smith to fill out the amount for the parcel, but he refused. They have spent decades developing and building their home.