200 kg WLL · IP65 · 600 m per charge · 100 m remote · Industrial
$20,390 USDIn stock
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The KMA-ND is an electric, battery-powered rope ascender built for industrial work at height — a personal powered elevator that drives a worker up and down a fixed rope for fast, repeatable access.
Skyward supplies the KMA-ND-W1 in the Expansion package: ascender, two batteries, charger, 100 m remote controller and hard case. It carries a rated 200 kg (441 lb) working load, ascends at 0–0.45 m/s (0–27 m/min) under infinitely variable throttle, and covers about 600 m of travel per charge. The attachable battery swaps in seconds, so the spare keeps you working continuously.
The KMA-ND is also built in a faster S1 configuration that trades capacity for speed. We stock the W1, because industrial work at height is a capacity problem far more often than it is a speed problem — if your application genuinely needs the faster unit, ask us and we will quote it.
CE marked under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, with an EC Type-Examination Certificate issued by a notified body — not a manufacturer self-declaration. Certificate ECM MD-B 2022-0T64, issued by ECM — Ente Certificazione Macchine srl (Notified Body 1282), covering the KMA range.
The examination was carried out under Annex IV, item 17: devices for the lifting of persons, or of persons and goods, involving a hazard of falling from a vertical height of more than three metres. That is the category the Machinery Directive reserves for machines that cannot be self-certified. Applied standards: EN ISO 12100:2010, EN 60204-1:2018, EN 14492-1:2006+A1:2009.
What this certification is not: it is a machinery certification, not a PPE certification. None of the applied standards is a fall-arrest standard. A powered ascender is a work device used on the working rope. It must always be rigged together with a separate backup fall-arrest device on an independent safety rope.
Built for industrial maintenance, construction and inspection. Contact us for a quote, configuration advice and lead time.
| Applied standards | EN ISO 12100:2010, EN 60204-1:2018, EN 14492-1:2006+A1:2009 |
|---|---|
| Device | CE marked — Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC |
| Scope | Annex IV, item 17 — devices for the lifting of persons, or of persons and goods, involving a hazard of falling from more than 3 m |
| Type | Powered rope ascender — work/access device (not a fall arrester) |
| Type-examination | EC type-examination by ECM — Ente Certificazione Macchine srl (Notified Body 1282), certificate ECM MD-B 2022-0T64 |
| Ascent speed | 0–0.45 m/s (0–27 m/min), infinitely variable |
|---|---|
| Max load | 250 kg (551 lb) |
| Rated load (WLL) | 200 kg (441 lb) |
| Voyage per charge | ≈600 m (1,969 ft) of travel per charge |
| Battery | Li-ion 36 V / 10 Ah (≈360 Wh), attachable — Samsung SDI INR18650-25R cells |
|---|---|
| Battery life | ≈500 cycles |
| Charge time | ≈90 min |
| Remote control | 100 m — included in the Expansion package |
| Body material | Aluminum alloy |
|---|---|
| Colour | Blue |
| Dimensions (W×H×L) | 24 × 26 × 34 cm |
| Ingress protection | IP65 |
| Operating temperature | −20 to +40 °C |
| Weight | 15.5 kg (34 lb) with battery · 12.1 kg (27 lb) body |
| Braking | Electromagnetic brake (electronic) + mechanical emergency brake |
|---|---|
| Descent | Throttle lever / electromagnetic (manual) + manual descent lever |
| Emergency stop | Mushroom-type switch |
| Model | KMA-ND-W1 |
|---|---|
| Package | Expansion — ascender, 2× battery, charger, remote controller, case, shoulder strap, user manual |
Add the complements you need — each is added on its own.
Some jobs are not about the climb. They are about what you do once you get there — and how many times a day you have to get there.
The KMA-ND is a battery-powered rope ascender built for industrial work at height. It clamps onto a fixed rope and drives you up it, then brings you back down under power. No prusiks, no foot loops, no arriving at the work position already tired. 200 kg of rated capacity means it carries you, your tools and your kit in one trip — or two technicians on a shared platform.
Skyward supplies the KMA-ND-W1 in the Expansion package: ascender, two batteries, charger, remote controller and hard case.
A rope technician climbing mechanically on 60 m of rope spends real energy getting there and arrives with less in the tank than they started with. The KMA-ND covers that same 60 m under power, with your hands free. The work starts when you arrive — not after you recover.
Inspection, bolt torquing, weld checks, blade repairs: the work is often at several points on the same structure. Powered ascent and powered descent turn repositioning from a cost into a non-event. Crews that used to plan two positions a day plan four.
A single technician with a KMA-ND can move loads that previously needed a hauling system and a second person at the anchor. The 200 kg rated capacity is not marketing headroom — it is what lets one person take the tooling up with them.
Powered descent under manual control means a casualty on the rope can be brought down without a haul team improvising a system at height.
Speed is a choice, not a limit. The KMA-ND is built in two configurations that trade speed against capacity: the S1 runs faster at a lower rated load, the W1 runs at 0.45 m/s and carries 200 kg. Skyward stocks the W1, because industrial work at height is a capacity problem far more often than it is a speed problem. If your application genuinely needs the faster unit, tell us and we will quote it.
Mounted vertically, the KMA-ND is a personal ascender on a fixed rope. Turned on its side and anchored, the same unit becomes a powered hauling drive that pulls a load along a horizontal or inclined line — a tensioned traverse, a highline, a rescue track.
Two dedicated modules are built for this: the KHMG horizontal movement guide for industrial traverses and the KRHM rescue horizontal module. Both use the same ascender you already own.
Variable from a crawl to full speed. Progressive, not on/off — you can creep the last half metre into a work position.
Up to 100 m. Lets an operator on the ground raise or lower a technician, a load or a stretcher without anyone having to reach the unit. This is what makes the KMA-ND a two-person rescue tool rather than a one-person access tool.
A mechanical lever on the body brings you down without power. It is there for the day the battery is flat with you on the rope.
A mushroom-head switch on the body face. Palm it, everything stops.
The KMA-ND carries a service brake — electromagnetic, electronically controlled, which holds position the moment you release the throttle — and an independent mechanical emergency brake behind it.
The rule, and we will not soften it: a powered ascender is a work device that lives on the working rope. It is not a fall arrester and it is not certified as one. Every ascent must be rigged on a two-rope system: the KMA-ND on the working line, and a separate backup fall-arrest device on an independent safety line anchored separately.
If anyone sells you a powered ascender as fall protection, walk away from that supplier.
The KMA range carries CE marking under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, with an EC Type-Examination Certificate issued by a notified body — not a manufacturer self-declaration.
Annex IV item 17 matters. It is the category the Machinery Directive reserves for machines that lift people where a fall of more than three metres is possible — the machines that cannot be self-certified. A notified body examined this type against that standard and issued a certificate. Ask any supplier of a powered ascender for theirs.
What this certification is not: it is a machinery certification, not a PPE certification. EN 14492-1 is the winch standard. None of the three applied standards is a fall-arrest standard. The KMA-ND is certified to lift you safely; it is not certified to catch you. That is what the backup device on the safety line is for.
IP65 is dust-tight and sealed against water jets from any direction. Rain, wind-driven spray, a wash-down: fine. It is not rated for immersion — do not submerge it, and do not work it under a continuous heavy flow. If your work is marine, or genuinely wet, ask us about the KMA-RS (IP67, rated to 1 m for 5 hours) or the KMA-FG (IP66) instead.
−20 °C to +40 °C covers the northern winter and the Gulf summer. Below −20 °C, battery capacity drops and the published range does not hold — plan for it.
Aluminum alloy body, 12.1 kg. It goes up a ladder on the optional backpack frame and it fits a truck bed in the hard case.
The Expansion package ships with two batteries. One is on the unit, one is on the charger. 90 minutes to full, roughly 500 charge cycles of service life, and a single pack covers 600 m of travel.
The pack is external and swaps in seconds — there is no downtime built into a shift, only a walk back to the charger.
Cells: Samsung SDI INR18650-25R lithium-ion. A named tier-one cell, not an unbranded pack.
Shipping note: this battery exceeds the 100 Wh air-freight threshold and ships as Class 9 dangerous goods (UN3481 when packed with the unit). We handle the paperwork; it affects transit time on international orders. Ask us before you commit to a date.
Not included: rope, harness, backup fall-arrest device, connectors. We supply all of these — ask and we will spec a complete kit around the unit.
The KMA is built on one platform and sealed to five different levels. The mechanism, controls and capacity are common; the environmental rating and finish are what change.
| Model | Built for | Ingress protection |
|---|---|---|
| KMA-ND | Industry | IP65 |
| KMA-FG | Firefighting and government | IP66 |
| KMA-RS | Rescue | IP67 — rated to 1 m for 5 hours |
| KMA-ML | Military | IP68 — rated to 10 m for 5 hours |
If your work is industrial and dry-to-wet, the ND is the right unit and the right price. If it is wet, submersible or tactical, we will move you up the range rather than sell you the wrong one.
Carries the ascender, rope and kit to the anchor on your back
See product →The KMA-ND is a capital purchase and it has to fit the rest of your system. Tell us what you are climbing and how often, and we will tell you whether the ND is the right unit, what rope to run it on, and what the full kit costs landed.
Warranty: one year, direct with Skyward Supplies. Ships from Miami, FL — worldwide shipping available.
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