Express elevator to hell, going down

12 years ago
This keeps getting takedowns, so who knows how long this copy will last...

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31 Responses:

  1. ladyriv says:
    12 years ago at 1:29 pm

    OMG I could never do that.. *shudders*

    I can't even watch the rest of that video.
  2. adam_0oo says:
    12 years ago at 1:45 pm

    Guh, I feel sick after watching that. That bit at the end where he is using two hands to undo the caribiner?
  3. substitute says:
    12 years ago at 1:47 pm

    I nearly had a spittake at "Now here's the tricky part."

    In my radio club we had to send someone up a (much smaller) tower while a commercial radio station was transmitting, because we really weren't supposed to be there. The craziest guy in the club went up to do it. He said that he didn't FEEL any radiation, but his tools kept half-welding to bolts while he was working.
    • jered says:
      12 years ago at 5:09 pm

      That has to be one of the most idiotic to do (a la Darwin Awards) that I've heard. Why did he do this?
      • substitute says:
        12 years ago at 5:23 pm

        The other choice was to climb the tower at night with the transmitter off. He didn't like night tower climbing.

        The guy is completely crazy re: danger. Just how he is.
  4. knowbuddy says:
    12 years ago at 1:49 pm

    I showed this video to my students in class. It was amusing to see even the buff macho guys turn a little green. They started off talking about how they would just base jump to get down, but by the end were just silent.

    The entire classroom collectively and audibly exhaled as the video ended.
  5. arpad says:
    12 years ago at 1:53 pm

    I totally don't get it - why they use such medieval way to climb it. Why there is no some hauling wrench to pull maintenance people up and down?

    Or may be this is cause they aren't offical climbers&
    • skreidle says:
      12 years ago at 3:00 pm

      I'm sure they are "official"--as in, paid to do it, professionally trained--but I know that most rock climbers would far rather rely on their own skills than on hardware. Also, there isn't a straight-shot route from bottom to top that a winch could rely on, even if the climber did want to trust a long ride on a winch..
      • pozorvlak says:
        12 years ago at 3:55 pm

        I know that most rock climbers would far rather rely on their own skills than on hardware

        Hmmm, not convinced. Most climbers I've encountered consider soloing (climbing without gear) to be rather bold - very good style, of course, but something you do in full knowledge of the possible consequences. Much more common is free climbing, where you place gear to catch you if you fall, and count yourself as having failed if you end up falling onto it.

        This explains the continuing existence of climbing gear shops :-)
        • skreidle says:
          12 years ago at 4:10 pm

          Oh, I'm not saying that climbing gear shouldn't used--it absolutely should, and should be in good repair and used properly--but most climbers would prefer to rely on skill-with-hardware-as-safety-backup, rather than relying 100% on your gear (as in abseiling).
    • jered says:
      12 years ago at 5:10 pm

      Why? If a person is willing to be paid to do this, and probably not amazingly much, there's little motivation to use expensive technology as long as supply exceeds demand.
  6. tinsoldier6 says:
    12 years ago at 2:23 pm

    Wow. I had seen this linked a couple of times but hadn't watched it until now. I had figured "I could do that!" but I was feeling a bit of vertigo even WATCHING the video! Jeez. No thank you!
  7. rane500 says:
    12 years ago at 2:29 pm

    It was giving me vertigo as it was, and since the takedown notice was mentioned I was convinced this was going to be a video of someone falling from the tower. I was actually terrified - it's been a long time since just watching a video made my hands shake.
    • jferg says:
      12 years ago at 3:15 pm

      Yeah, between the note about the takedown and jwz's post title, I was expecting the climb to go horribly wrong at any minute, to the point that my palms were sweating, even though I'm usually fairly good with heights. (It probably didn't help that I was watching it with the sound off.)
  8. blech says:
    12 years ago at 2:39 pm

    The blog of the chap who posted it has an entry about why he wanted it taken down and then a follow-up where he basically accepts it's out there, and that he's given up trying to pull it. So this version should hang around.
    • cryllius says:
      12 years ago at 3:55 am

      I stumbled across that, too. I can't imagine why everyone freaked out about it - especially people in the industry who know the deal. That video looked safe to me. He clips off every time he's not totally focused on climbing up. What do they expect people to do?
  9. nightskywarlock says:
    12 years ago at 2:46 pm

    There is no sane amount of money that would induce me to do this.
    • skreidle says:
      12 years ago at 3:02 pm

      I'd probably do it--for a large sum of money--but I'd definitely be tying off more regularly.

      (I was totally cool with it while he was in the cages section, but when he got further and further into the free climb, my resolve gradually lessened. :)
      • pavel_lishin says:
        12 years ago at 8:06 am

        This would take about three times the current value of "fuck you" money for me. I'd also need medication to keep myself from shaking off the tower.

        I ask for three times the current value because I have a girlfriend who's helping me get over a fear of heights. So I'd need enough money for me to never worry about anything again, and enough to tell her, "I just beat my cover of heights, and made sure you're set for life, I expect nothing but steaks and blowjobs from here on out."
      • adolf says:
        12 years ago at 9:31 pm

        I've never been up to these heights, but I've done some shorter (several hundred feet) climbs. It's really not so bad. Ever climb a tall ladder?

        The important thing to realize is that, above a certain height, it doesn't matter how high up it is -- you're either going to be turned into a vegetable or (hopefully!) ground chuck when you land.

        The difference between, say, 50 feet and 200 feet is only the number of breaks used. :)

        I'm a lot more comfortable climbing a good tower way-up-high, than cleaning out the gutters on my house: When free-climbing a tower, I have predictability and control. With a ladder leaned against my house, there's a lot that can go wrong no matter how careful I am.

        There is a the whole aspect of "holy fuck this is really high in the air," but my main worry is just that I might drop some tool that I'll need to finish the job, possibly on the heads of my ground crew. And even that's mostly just due to the inconvenience of retrieving the tool instead of some inane fear of high places.

        And I certainly prefer free climbing. There's a couple of places that I've been to that mandate the use of a cable-based anti-fall system, and it's so fatiguing to use them that I'd say my odds of success are far better without them.

        For me, it all pays the same -- whether I'm holding a desk down, driving long distances, or climbing towers...it's just a job. If I were able to take a few hours every day, climb towers, and get paid for it, I'd love it.

        It's easy work.
  10. holywar says:
    12 years ago at 3:43 pm

    There was an episode of "World's Toughest Fixes" that was about a crew replacing the transmitter on top of a 2,000 ft+ tower, and those guys are definitely not quite the same as most people. The best part was how they dealt with dropped tools, bolts, etc.--they'd get on the radio and shout "Headache headache headache", and everyone on the ground would scramble for cover. The roof of their tool shed was covered in huge dents. And of course at one point they took a melon up to the top with them and pitched it off.
    • flipzagging says:
      12 years ago at 4:12 pm

      Hm, if t = sqrt(2*d/g), then the objects should hit the ground in about 11 seconds. Assuming it takes 3 or 4 seconds to react and get the radio out, and say "headache...", that's maybe 6-7 seconds to get away.
  11. baconmonkey says:
    12 years ago at 3:55 pm

    well, if the fall doesn't kill you, at least you'll get cancer.
  12. mutiny says:
    12 years ago at 4:38 pm

    Well there is one quick way down...
  13. pawliger says:
    12 years ago at 5:14 pm

    Just to get the perfect bulb-changing photo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEAKQFddTLI
  14. misterfister666 says:
    12 years ago at 1:02 am

    climbing the tower is only half the problem.
  15. t0rque says:
    12 years ago at 9:08 pm

    This is literally the scariest video I have ever watched on the internet.
  16. belgand says:
    12 years ago at 6:23 am

    Oddly it didn't scare me and I'm astoundingly afraid of heights. I think the key is that I'm really not actually afraid of heights, just falling. When it's just a video and there's no chance of actually falling off of something I just can't muster any fear. Same goes for being in a plane or a tall building. However, when it's a just a railing or such protecting me I can't help but imagine the many very reasonable ways I could accidentally fall over.
  17. pikuorguk says:
    12 years ago at 1:50 pm

    As a rock climber I find that video fascinating. The person doing this has total confidence in their own abilities and the easy relaxed style of someone who does this regularly. It's all about being within your comfort zone.

    I'd climb up it, it looks quite fun and the view looks great. Wouldn't want to climb back down though - there's more risk of falling off if you can't see your feet. Mind you, I'd be one of those slower climbers who keeps clipping themselves on :-)

    It's the KHCB-FM tower in Houston, which is 1600ft tall (487m). Google is a wonderful thing.

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