Friday was a long-awaited Climb Day at Junction Hilltop #5, a 263-foot tall wind turbine perched on a rise west of Dana. Tom and Sue Wind, who are among the managers and owners of Junction Hilltop and Hardin Hilltop wind farms, had staff from Renew Energy Maintenance on hand as they opened the turbine for adventurous climbers.
Hellen Marshall at age 87 was the oldest of the 15 climbers. Climbing one of the turbines has been on her to-do list since they were built. “If he (Tom) had let me go up five years ago, I would have made it all the way to the top,” she said. She made it about half-way to the top. “I could have gone farther, but I knew I had to get back down. It’s not just climbing the ladder up. It’s getting back down, too,” she said, and added that the safety harness adds noticeable weight.
Hellen’s son Dwight Marshall and grandson Jonathan Marshall, who live near the wind farm, made the climb to the top.
The Wind children – Fr Jeremy, Marieta and her husband Pat Boberg, and Chris – all made it to the top.
Micah Rasmussen, a veteran adventurer, called the climb “a good workout,” and used the same adjective most of the climbers used – “awesome.”
For comparison, the observation deck at the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower is 120 feet high.
