An accountant by day, and mountain climber by weekend.
Season ten of the Amazing Race Canada premiered this month and the first episode has contestants rappelling down a cliff beside Niagara Falls.
While Laura Schmidt balances the books for Technica Mining in Sudbury, she also has a side gig: working on TV shows as a rigger on high angle challenges.
“I know television loves a good drama moment, but the challenges are set up to be very safe,” Schmidt told CBC Radio’s Morning North.
Her job as a rigger consists of setting up ropes, backup lines, auto locking devices, and putting together a rescue plan so if contestants panic or get injured, there’s plans in place to pick them off while working with other organizations like police.
What started off as a hobby, took Schmidt to places across the world like Nevada and Bermuda.
From those adventures, she made friends and connections in the rock climbing community, leading to her first TV gig. Schmidt became an off-screen coach for a group of Para athletes participating in a rock climbing challenge in Sudbury for TVO Kids’ All-Round Champion.
Now she gets a call for up to three shows a year.
“Few days before filming starts, we’ll have to rig the challenge,” Schmidt said. “We spend a lot of time testing and making sure it’s ready for the contestants. We’re the ones who are teaching the contestants what to do as well.”
Rigging is her ‘alter ego’
Schmidt said rigging for TV shows is her ‘alter ego,’ and she can’t disclose the reason for her time off requests to her bosses due to the show’s confidentiality policies.
“They’re pretty good about letting me take a day off now and then, or using up some of my vacation time,” she said. “But it’s basically kind of my alter ego. I can’t really say what I’m doing. Just ‘hey, I’m going out of town for a couple days.'”
While Schmidt can’t disclose what her next adventure is, she says she’s been invited to two other provinces to do rigging.
“The magic of these shows is that it’s a brand new, surprising event for both the competitors and for the viewers.”