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When I was 18 I worked on the chemical plants. They were erecting new silos on the site. As I was walking past them I watched one of the steel erectors fall about 150ft, bouncing off the girders on the way down, then land on the concrete 6ft in front of me. On his head. Not something you forget in a hurry. I had to bin my jacket that I 'd wrapped round him while I waited for the ambulance as it was completely saturated in blood.
If it all goes tits up, then it can't be much fun those left literally picking up the pieces
Christ! I don't even know why i'm watching this.
Jeez don't like that at all. Imagine how you would feel if something happened to your hand physically and you lost grip, down he went. Would you ever sleep again?
Ahhhhhh a few months in a Ukrainian prison might sort him out
My wife's reaction (a psychology MSc) was "someone didn't get much attention as a child did they?". Impressive stuff though.
Ok so if you wear climbing shoes, and do it in the wilderness its ok to climb up stuff that could kill you, but because its urban and he's wearing a pair of jeans its not right?
People die all the time free climbing, just not in an urban environment wearing jeans...
what is normal?
Numbers.
Is it time to repost this?
My wife's reaction (a psychology MSc) was "someone didn't get much attention as a child did they?
He hasn't seen his dad since he was very young. I don't need an MSc to be able to work that one out, it was pretty obvious from early on.
was a bit undecided as to whether hes a bit of a c*ck or not til the end, when he was showing it all to his mam. if he had any consideration for her hed keep the images from her i thought.
so.....yes, attention seeker
Ok so if you wear climbing shoes, and do it in the wilderness its ok to climb up stuff that could kill you, but because its urban and he's wearing a pair of jeans its not right?
What he's doing is utterly trivial compared to free soloing of the kind that Alex Honnold, Alex Huber and Peter Croft (etc) have done.
That said he's still excercising an element of mental control (or abandon, not sure which, but it's important) which is impressive to most folks.
Blimey. 😯
Not everyone can be pigeon-holed but I suspect that his wiring is a wee bit askew.
His poor Mum, so tough for her.
Worse programme I've seen in while, no real climbing content. It was just head games. Gave up watching
A least he took his shoes off when he arrived home.
was a bit undecided as to whether hes a bit of a c*ck or not til the end, when he was showing it all to his mam. if he had any consideration for her hed keep the images from her i thought.
But then again, nothing is worse than the imagination. I would have thought showing her how good he is would actually ease her mind a little.
I do agree that he came across a little attention seeking.
My wife's reaction (a psychology MSc) was "someone didn't get much attention as a child did they?
what a predictable boring lazy response
While it might be impressive I reckon he needs to live in the real world and realise he's being a selfish spoilt sod. I'm guessing he's still sponging off his Mum at 23?
no real climbing content.
That's because he's not a real climber, he's into parkour, albeit an extreme branch of it.
- his father abandoned him when he was 2.someone didn't get much attention as a child did they?
Feel sorry for him and his Mum tbh - he clearly has serious self-esteem issues but he's not really found the healthiest way to to deal with them...
What he's doing isn't really that cool IMO - at least with wingsuit flying they're pushing the boundaries of what humans can do.
For most of those kind of sports, the risks are well understood and there's a culture of managing the risks with lots of specific kit and procedures to support this... whereas what he's doing is just plain risky and not exactly that progressive.
He's in total control of his head. Seemed a nice guy and I don't get the nasty comments that have been made.
mikey74 - Memberno real climbing content.That's because he's not a real climber, he's into parkour, albeit an extreme branch of it.
so why advertise it as "urban free climber"
There's some excellent films of urban free climbing, which show the true test of combining difficulty with exposure.
Might as well been a film on playing chicken
For most of those kind of sports, the risks are well understood and there's a culture of managing the risks with lots of specific kit and procedures to support this... whereas what he's doing is just plain risky and not exactly that progressive.
Sorry I disagree people do extreme sports for the very reason that they know it may kill them, thats the buzz.
Sorry I disagree people do extreme sports for the very reason that they know it may kill them, thats the buzz.
Simplistic explanation.
Is that why you mountain bike?
Is that why you mountain bike?
No because mountain biking isnt an extreme/dangerous sport.
Natural Free climbing is generally done in places where there isn't a large involuntary audience when something goes wrong, or where people turning up to work the next morning have to deal with the consequences
As someone who worked on TV masts, and has (in days before compulsory permanent attachment) climbed around on steel 1000 foot up with nothing much securing me (fell asleep 500' up once 🙂 ) and as someone who lost my brother in law last year due to a fall from height I just find this stuff totally irresponsible
Fine for him though, he won't be around to see people pick up the pieces
Awesome that.
I'm lucky enough to climb towers for a living.
Love it.
MTBing is adangerous sport, just check the MRT STATS
No because mountain biking isnt an extreme/dangerous sport.
Yes, yes it is. Maybe not the way you do it, but for many many people it is exactly that.
Watching now on +1. I like this stuff as it's the complete antithesis to the health and safety, risk assessed world we live in. I used to have to work up small pylons and the level of scrutiny involved as soon as you leave the ground is utterly ridiculous. I *get* why it's necessary but the kid in you just wants to get to the top asap, and yes, perhaps hang from one hand when you get there 😀
I wish I was in control of my head like he is. But if it came with the caveat of hanging off 120m cranes then maybe I'll stick with my anxious ways.
I think I can foretell tonight's dream/nightmare....
He's a selfish pr1ck who needs to grow up.
Like CG, I am struggling to understand the hate - is it jealousy perhaps? The only humans who might actually be seriously affected are his mum, the guy who has to scrape him up and, erm, that's it. I have little sympathy for developers whose projects are slightly delayed. Hardly a big deal for multinationals really is it?
binners - MemberWhen I was 18 I worked on the chemical plants. They were erecting new silos on the site. As I was walking past them I watched one of the steel erectors fall about 150ft, bouncing off the girders on the way down, then land on the concrete 6ft in front of me. On his head. Not something you forget in a hurry. I had to bin my jacket that I 'd wrapped round him while I waited for the ambulance as it was completely saturated in blood.
If it all goes tits up, then it can't be much fun those left literally picking up the pieces
Like you I was in the middle of a silo fall, only the poor sod fell in the bin and lived. I say lived he died 4 years later a utterly broken man.
We dropped the bin activator out of the way for the paramedics and I can honestly say I didn't think a human had that much blood in them 🙁
I reckon his wiring wasn't quite right but seemed like a nice lad imo, not sure why all this hatred is directed to him? Selfish? Not at all, he' s not harming anybody or screwing peoples lives up. In complete control of his mind and body, I take my hat off to him and would like to buy him a pint! He's harming nobody, worrying his mum a lot though, probably more than most kids worry their parents. He appeared to get just as much a buzz evading the security?
If he was to be televised whilst attempting to break some sort off world record (with no h&s) that was along the lines of what he is an expert in and succeeded would there be as much uproar/hatred?
Me? I like to keep both wheels on the ground so it's not a 'sport' for me, fantastic tv though, gave me strange sensations down below.
When I was about 15 I climbed to top of a new pylon that wasn't wired up and hung from my legs up there, can still remember the adrenalin hit, get a bit scared at top of step ladder these days though.
It will be a Red Bull sport soon
Like CG, I am struggling to understand the hate - is it jealousy perhaps? The only humans who might actually be seriously affected are his mum, the guy who has to scrape him up and, erm, that's it. I have little sympathy for developers whose projects are slightly delayed. Hardly a big deal for multinationals really is it?
But he's breaking the rules!
I think that's what it is, really - people don't like other people doing stuff that's different. Especially when it's something that's a little bit illegal. Risk is everywhere - driving a car on the motorway, I'm one hand twitch away from slamming into an overpass - but people think climbing cranes is the riskiest thing I do.
One thing I have noticed, though - and this is entirely in my head - is I now take far fewer risks since I had a child.
spacemonkey - Member
He's a selfish pr1ck who needs to grow up.
I'd say he's at least as grown up as some venting on here. Selfish? Oh, quite probably, but then, who isn't, some of the time?
Anyone taking part in any sport where there's a real risk of severe injury or death is surely just as selfish, be it mountaineering, potholing, paragliding, extreme snowboarding...
All can, and do, result in people ending up dead, with others picking up the pieces.
How about you have a vent at everyone of those selfish pricks who need to grow up, because I don't see any fundamental difference between a freeclimber clinging by their fingertips to an overhang on some rock face 2-300 meters up, like these guys, and what those lads in the programme are doing, except they get flamed on here, and the people in these photos are lauded for their bravery and skill.
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Bizzare that so many are disapproving. Is it because he doesn't wear or utilise climbing gear? We all know how much the STWers love buying stuff to make up for their lack of ability. Is it because it's not being done in the real 'great outdoors'? Because we all know how much the STWers love riding, hunting, foraging, cooking on an open flame in the truly dangerous woodlands of the UK. Is it because he takes real risk with his own life and limb purely for the fun of it? Because we all know that STWers love risk on their rigid, fixed gear steel pootle weapons as they tackle a slightly off camber tow path.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there. People are slating him because he won't conform like they had to. Good on him, good on him for jacking in school and going his own way, good on him for dealing with his issues in a positive way. Always inspires me to see people actually living their life rather than just buying it. My palms were getting seriously sweaty watching that though 😯
*sets alarm for 4:30 to look for cranes.
Have to admire this guy for having the courage to do this sort of stuff. Certainly brightens up life for the rest of us.
Really don't get people on here having a go at him. Live and let live and all that? So what if he breaks a few rules. How dull would life be if everyone stuck to the same path?
Selfish, possibly but isn't everyone to some degree? The only certainty in life is death and once you get your head round that then it's just a matter of how you go.
We are all a very slight margin from death every single day. A fraction too close to that fast moving truck, a simple trip high up on Crib Gochs knife edge ridge, or a small mosquito bite in the tropics.
Whether you fall from a crane in a blaze of what others perceive as recklessness/selfishness or die early from chronic heart disease after a lifetime of TV watching and burdoning the NHS with obesity issues, what does it matter?
Mikey74/Dales Rider your kidding yourselves if you think mtb is an extreme sport. For a very few, they guys who do Redbull Rampage etc it is extreme but even then they still appear to get more injured then killed.
TRUE extreme sports you know that if you make a mistake you will die and if you are lucky end up very badly injured.
Re closing the building site for 4 days. Why?
Did it take 4 days of people who spend their lives sat on a sofa to realise that not many folk will actually want to climb up a crane unsecured, and therefore there is not much risk? 4 days to work out nothing, crazy.
Thought this was a mostly liberal forum? Then why all the haters of this young chap on here when he tries to do something different? Just shows how risk averse and soft we have become as a nation in general. Christ, there were career choices back in Victorian times e.g. slate quarrying, that carried as much risk as what this guy is doing!
Yes. I find that level of risk<>reality head game and the confidence to do something like that quite inspiring somehow. I couldn't do it but part of me would like to, just to feel able to ignore those instincts that tell you not to.Always inspires me to see people actually living their life rather than just buying it.
He's in total control of his head. Seemed a nice guy and I don't get the nasty comments that have been made.
Because its STW and a number on here seem to think its the given response.
My opinion, Yes I feel for his mum and it would be a tragedy for her if he was to fall and hurt/kill himself.
For him again theres probably childhood issues that have shaped him this way.
But mentally he's got a lot of control going on in there, even if the rest of the world(and Singletrack)think he's insane.
Yes if he does fall he is gonna make a mess that some unfortunate will have to scrape up , but no different than the mess made if one of those freeclimbers fall, I dare say the freeclimbers referred to all have families that wonder why they do it , so why the critism its all the structure chosen that differs and who is to say he has no climbing skills just because the documentary did not focus on that area.
Still trying to work out how much of the interaction between his mum and him was genuine and how much was staged. If she really wanted to stop him visiting nutters in Ukraine, she could turn off the funding taps.
He certainly wasn't working very hard to disguise his contempt for his mother during that chat on the train when she asked him to stop. Reminded me of a mum asking a 16-year-old to get off his Xbox and do his homework.
How do they not get sweaty palms? I got sweaty palms just watching it. (And the 2nd time this morning with my son!)
I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for a while, before concluding that he was an indulged little idiot in a state of suspended adolescence. Basically Kevin the teenager. As his interactions with his mum constantly reenforced. All that was missing was for him to state that it was SOOOOOOOO NOT FAIR!!!!
But Mrs Binners had concluded he was a complete bell end almost instantly. And she raised a very interesting point that I'd like to throw open to those of you praising him. She said:
"If this guy was from a council estate in Wythenshawe, was dressed in Nike Air tracky bottoms and a baseball cap, and made the same statements as him, but in a broad manc accent - that he'd packed in school at 14 because he couldn't be arsed with it any more, that he'd then spent the next few years lozzing about in his bedroom on his playstation, while sponging off his (single) mum, then decided to wander into Manchester City Centre at night to climb the gantry cranes on the building sites, do you think he'd be getting this kind of coverage? Or something with a completely different tone altogether?"
What do you think?