Team Skala Battles Invasive Species
In September, the Skala Team will be teaming up with Shelterbelt Builders, an open land restoration company, for a third season of fighting Pampas Grass, an invasive species, on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean in Golden Gate National Park, just north of San Francisco. In difficult to reach locations, a team of four Rope Access Technicians will be using their quiver of skills from rope access and mountaineering to apply an herbicide to the invasive plant.The process has been very successful with very few plants returning to treated areas.

From a technical perspective, the team had to devise creative anchoring solutions and take extreme caution to minimize the hazards of falling rocks. The biggest challenge however was posed by the abundant poison oak! Despite this significant environmental nuisance, the team is enthusiastic about returning for Pampas Grass round three.

Skala techs at work in Golden Gate National Park