Once a year, lineworkers from across the globe gather on the world’s biggest stage to test their skills against other men and women dedicated to the craft of keeping power flowing to customers.

Dubbed the “Lineman Olympics,” the 39th annual International Lineman’s Rodeo in Bonner Springs, Kansas, featured teams competing in events that mimic real, on-the-job scenarios such as the Pole Climb, Hurt Man Rescue and two Mystery events that are revealed only when competitors arrive.

“It’s really exciting to watch Southern California Edison employees go up against their peers from different states and countries,” said Robert Torres, SCE principal manager of Employee and Contractor Safety. “This year, there were teams from Canada and Brazil.

“The goal of the competitors is to run clean with no deductions, which translates to safety,” he added. “If there is a tie, time is used for rankings, which is where the efficiency comes in.”

More on the International Lineman's Rodeo from The Wall Street Journal.

Competing against the best in the world, SCE teams stood out.

This was SCE lineworker Ramon Garcia’s 11th trip to the International Lineman’s Rodeo. His team has won the overall championship twice. This year, they made the podium again, placing fifth in one of the mystery events.

“It was a really tough competition this year, and we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped, but we still look at it as a win,” Garcia said. “There are a lot of people that keep going back and never walk the podium. We’ve been lucky enough to walk the podium the last nine years.”

Teams earn their ticket to Kansas by qualifying in local competitions. In June, 10 SCE journeyman teams and nine apprentices secured their spots at the SCE Lineman’s Rodeo.

“We had about 30 teams that competed in the SCE rodeo. That shot up to around 300 teams in Kansas. It makes a huge difference in the competition level alone,” Torres said.

For a rodeo veteran like Garcia, the numbers aren’t intimidating.

“This might be too confident or cocky, but we still feel elite, we can still compete with the top 10, and as long as we keep walking the podium, we will continue to compete,” Garcia said.

A total of 292 journeyman teams competed, along with 440 apprentices. In addition to Garcia’s team, SCE employees made it onto the podium four times.

Winners from the competition include:

• Pole Climb: 1st Place – Brandon Gloria SCE, David Angove PG&E, Jacob Hunt PG&E
• Mystery Event #1: 1st Place – Richard Lopez SCE, Bryan Casas SCE, Marcos Hernandez SCE
• Mystery Event #2: 5th Place – Ramon Garcia SCE, Will Robinson SCE, Jacob Lybbert SCE
• Overall Journeyman IOU Division: 4th Place – Brandon Gloria SCE, David Angove PG&E, Jacob Hunt PG&E
• Overall Apprentice IOU Division: 4th Place – Daniel Kelly SCE

See a complete list of winners here.

For more information about how to become an SCE lineworker, visit edison.com/careers.