If you’ve never seen a lineworker scale a 40-foot pole with a raw egg in their mouth, you’re missing out on one of the electric industry’s most intense competitions.

The International Lineman’s Rodeo — held each year in Kansas — brings together the best lineworkers from around the world, including a tight-knit team from Southern California Edison, competing together for the first time on the global stage.

For Jose Rojas, Alvaro Jimenez Guzman and Richard Lopez, it’s a chance to showcase their skills, support each other and show their families what their work is really about.

“We’ve all competed in past rodeos before, and we’ve always wanted to compete in one together,” said Rojas. “This year, everything finally lined up.”

At SCE’s Lineman’s Rodeo this summer, the trio earned second place overall, securing their ticket to Kansas. There they join 289 other journeyman teams and 364 apprentices to compete in events like the Pole Climb, Hurt Man Rescue and two mystery events revealed on competition day, which are scored on speed and safety.

A few weeks before their global debut, they went through two full days of practice at SCE’s training facility in Chino.

“Climbing to the top of the pole is just our commute to work,” said Jimenez Guzman. “But getting together to train helps us iron out our strategy as a team and eliminate those extra seconds. It’s literally just seconds that takes you to the win.”

Although the competition can be over in a blink of an eye, developing the necessary skills to excel in the trade takes years. All three lineworkers started their SCE careers as groundmen, working their way up through apprenticeships and eventually becoming foremen in Whittier where their paths first crossed.

Working side by side, they learned from and supported each other through the challenges of the trade. Now, they’ve become family — literally.

“We’re good friends in and outside of work,” said Jimenez Guzman, who is the godfather to Rojas’s daughter. “Our families know each other well — our wives and our kids. It’s a really close relationship that has brought us together as a team.”

Lopez, who once served as a supervisor to both Jimenez Guzman and Rojas, now works alongside them as teammates.

“It makes me proud and happy, seeing them grow in their careers,” said Lopez. “In the beginning of the year, I wasn't planning on doing the rodeo, but something about it pulled me back in. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to compete alongside Alvaro and Jose.”

While self-proclaimed competitive spirits fuel their motivations to win, for Rojas, Jimenez Guzman and Lopez, the significance of the rodeo goes beyond trophies.

“This is a very competitive trade, and the rodeo allows us to, in a friendly type of way, keep pushing each other to become a little better and lead by example,” said Rojas. “And honestly, at the end of the day, we love what we do and that's really why we're here.”

Although the team didn’t end up ranking as high as they hoped, they still had fun sharing their craft with friends and family who came to support.

See a complete list of winners here.

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