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Hey everyone...just thought I'd share a crazy video I was sent on youtube.   I don't know anything about it, but I guess there are a group of people who film themselves free climbing the highest structures possible, and literally hang off of them.  

I can't believe people are this crazy...I swear my palms sweat every time I watch something like this because I picture myself doing it and slipping off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6divyNPlzo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fs0hkdJzk8


I don't usually share youtube videos...but these are seriously nuts...

Yep. Those guys are extreme adrenaline addicted :-)

Wish them a long life. I will never do that at home for safety reasons. :-)

This guy (Alex Honnold) scares me....


http://youtu.be/SR1jwwagtaQ

Dan Osman used to also climb without ropes.  He also did "speed" climbing....


http://youtu.be/wYbwZQ-QnMY


Btw....he is no longer around.

WTF... this guy is nuts..

No ropes? your just asking to die..

I wonder how it feels like when the climbers see those videos later, when adrenaline is low...  :)

I can't watch it, I actually cringe at that stuff now :(

By palms started sweat just reading this post, let alone clicking that link. Honnold = No Hold.

Extreme monkey bars. Watching these type of videos make my dick numb for some reason haha.

There was another I saw recently on the Shanghai Tower which was pretty epic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U

/\epic! =)

Epic :) this is spider man :)

Spider man - spider man ... :)

Guy has no fear and he might be a suicider.

i wish i had his bitcoin addy i'd send him some BTC !!! ;)

You can always send them to me :)

I was an extreme diver, one day I dive too hard and I broke my backbone :) when hitting @ stone.

What was funny, I was diving alone and there was no one who knew where I am (underwater)

:) I was paralized for few seconds, but suddenly my legs start to work again and I could get myself to the air :)
After that I did somehow transfer myself to a dry land...

And I could move my hands very hardly, it was such a strange filling.
And that pain in a back...

I went to hospital :) they told me they never saw anything like that and I shouldnt be able to move my legs and hand already.
But I went to hospital on my own :) (with taxi help)

:) they were so scared :P (me too)

What was a funny part - I was unemployed and I did not had insurance.

Doctor told me, that they can transfer me to a hospital for surgery if they will find a hospital where they will can fix me.
But a price of my surgery will be around 100k$. ( I live in Poland so they told 300 000 zł. )

I almost shit myself and told that it is ok :) what can I do ... I need it to stay alieve....

Costs were reduced to around few k$, because a head chief of health department was so nice that he accept money for few years of insuarnce and I was only paying for 3 years insurance and days in hospital before surgery.

I had 2 surgeries and after both of them now I can walk and move my hands again! :)

I lost my job, my money from piggy :P and from years I am struggling with money issues...

:) Anyway I dont tell that to make you cry and send me btc :D

Just when you told that you would send him a BTC I thought that I wouldn't break by backbone I could be doing more extreme things  and record them to give inspiration and adrenalne to watchers! but now it is impossible to even try do what he do.

No more extreme sports for me :) ;]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U

Russian guys climbing the Shanghai Towers.
When I get clean you will see me do similar stuff... :)

Wow, that is a crazy story.   After the surgeries are you fully recovered?   Are there a lot of things that you are not able to do now, that you were able to before (besides diving)?

You begin with ropes, get kicks and its fine for a while - but then it isn't enough, and you have to take it to the other extreme. I'm gonna get my kicks from heights & basejumping to begin with :D

I am recovered :) Not fully ... I feel pain and stuff :) Like now... on my shitty chair my left side of back is in pain from a week :P wish it will stop soon ...

I can move my legs and hands and this is most important!

I cant move my neck around too much, I have two titanium implants inside :) (so propably they will never get me into USA :) on the airport I will beep :P )

I am not able to do sports :) (just some Basketball with my GF :P she's not running around :P we can just shoot a ball :P )
I can't go to gym, bike riding and any extreme sports cause I cant risk my back...

I was like SO LUCKY that I went from it with just a "scratch" :D

I was a painter/decorator for 8 years, and I could not do my job anymore...
:)

Eh ... it was about 4 years ago :) and I am still recovering from it... I wish I never had jump to this fuck&^&^ lake ;)

And what is funny I did checked gournd underwater and there was no stone :)
I though ..

And when I did jumped I felt like "omg, such a nice jump, so high and good body possition" I went into a water like 4m into deep :)

And suddenly when I open eyes after a splash into water a BIG white stone stand in front of me and after half of second I hit it.

Ouch :D

Its hard to say what was the feeling. Like... electricity inside of me, like a electricshock... I couldn't move my hand and legs, I was in shock.
In those seconds so many things went through my minds...

But one of most stressing was "Oh my god. I will die here"

That was a moment when my left leg suddenly has moved again.
And just a second after another leg so I could swim up!

Just when I reach an air i felt my hands are moving but they hurt so much. I was struggling to a dryland, and it was so hard to get myself on it.

I remember it good. Very good. This pain.... And I did not realize that I have back bone broken!

I didn't know what is happening.
If I can move my legs and hands I thought that maybe is not so bad, maybe only some replacement or something.

And my visit in hospital:) so funny:
I came in and went to a desk. Say to lady that I need an xray.
She asked me for any ID and do I have insurance.
I told to her that I haven't got any insurance at a moment, and I haven't got much money with me, how much does it cost?
She told me 280zł and that I need to pay it in next 48h.
I felt like - if you are sick and you have no insurance, if you have no money you can just die :)
I told her, that my back pain a lot and I realy wish to talk about payment later ...
So she took my ID and send me to an Xray.
Nurse did not realize that I may have broken back bone.
So she was amost screaming at me when I told her it is hard to move in right possition when she aksked me to turn left or right.

Ok.. after a lot of pain @ xray she told me to sit and wait.

In about 15 min I saw that few doctors are comming with few nurses with a stretcher and ortopedical collar.

They were so scared. I saw it in their eyes.
They put collar on my neck and told me to dont move! Then they told me how to stand up slowly and lie on a stretcher...

When they finished up placing me on a stretcher they told me, that my C-4 and C-5 is broken. My backbone is  twisted and broken in a one time.  And then shit about price of this surgery and that they don't know where to find hospital that will fix me because they NEVER saw anything like that....

That was so so optimistic for me :)

Luckly! Rydgiera hospital in Cracow did this surgery.

My C-4 was in around 17 pieces
and C-5 in more than 20 pieces .... :)

for 3 days I had 3kg-8kg weight screwed (REALY! I have holes/scars in my head for this days! :) ) to my head to strech my backbone :D
after almost a week 1st surgery, and 3 days after 2nd surgery because some pieces were still around my core, so it was realy dangerous for me.

What I can say for 100% Our core and our back bone is programing all our nerves with our brain!
It is so amazing, like I still have Hyperaesthesia, when I touch my hand I feel pain like someone put an needle into it :)

Guys :) don't jump into any fu*&&^ lakes! :) Only DEEP DEEP water! Like 15-20m down.


Eh.. Hard story :) this one jump change my whole life....

Kind of a coincidence, but there seems to be a lot of people on this forum who have suffered pretty bad back injuries.   I actually had a pretty bad back injury when my friend ran a red light and we were t-boned right in my back where I was sitting in the back of a Ford Ranger (which the back seat sits sideways).  Anyways, I was reading another user's story here the other day who was super bummed on not being able to do anything because of his spinal injury and he has been struggling with not being able to work, or basically do anything for that matter.

Maybe we need to start a back injury non-profit around here!

ya good idea~ maybe dogecoiners could start by helping that chick who snapped her back at the Olympics! =\ *that would make headlines!

:( poor girl. Hope she is going to be fine!

I`m kinda lost, I dont follow the olympics, which girl is this?

And great pictures too:
http://twentytwowords.com/2-guys-climbed-to-the-end-of-a-crane-atop-the-worlds-second-highest-skyscraper-and-took-these-pictures/ (http://twentytwowords.com/2-guys-climbed-to-the-end-of-a-crane-atop-the-worlds-second-highest-skyscraper-and-took-these-pictures/)

I'm kinda lost, what does any of this have to do with the topic?  ???

Neat - I really can't wait untill I get out from rehab and able to do stuff like this :D I've climbed a tree that was 30 meters high recently but it's not much. My closest goal is a crane, but winter is slippery! Imagine sitting up there with a ciggarate in your mouth after the kick is over.

I guess, how its similar to being in dangerous situations. But, yeah its not really relevant.

I was just curious on how she broke her back.

Nothing to do :) just caused by topic of extreme sports :)

well dumb people are always gonna be dumb.. live fun die young :D i would rather live fun and long...

Have nothing to do with being dumb, I and my friends consider myself a very intelligent human being but I like rushes. And I'm gonna stop using drugs (that includes alcohol), but my I have addictive genes from my father, and grandfathers on both sides (plus one additional black sheep, I think my grandmother, but could also be my mother).

I realise it's Darwin awards on doing things like basejumping, climbing cranes and such but I have to get my rushes from somewhere :P I could go to war and have a constant adrenaline rush but I dont líke war so that's not an alternative. If I die in 10 years from a fall so be it - rather die and having lived a happy life filled with kicks than either keep doing drugs or live a normal nerf life.
The irony of it all is that I am propably safer if I keep doing drugs lol, but that's not an alternative tbh..

Fun is a relative term. I don't think driving at the speed limits is fun which satifies some peoples needs, I think driving twice the speed limit is fun.

Here's another video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phl82D57P58

Look at 05:20. That really had chills down my spine.

Alex Honnold has evne done walls that are more than a 90 degree angle.

But there's a beauty to it. You put everything into what you do, and it's all dependent on you. If you fail, then that's it. It's quite obvious that he really loves what he does.

There's a chance that his life will end someday when he makes a mistake, but if and when that day comes, he atleast lived his life to the fullest extent possible, doing what he loves to do. A lot of people don't do that.

these guys are the most insane adrenaline junkies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikVWMMOTeE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OikVWMMOTeE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U
These guys are crazy ones. It was very scary even to watch them and they filmed everything, but still worker who wokrs there had done same things a lot of times, so workers probably are crazy ones :D

Yes this is very fun to watch and very impressive and ballsy, but...

That is so, so stupid. One little gust of wind, one little slip, one little mistake and you're dead.

I know of a man in Vegas that's not afraid of anything unless it has eight legs and comes within 20 feet of feet, whereupon his neck cramps up and he starts to shake all over.

Myself, watching people walk on that glass thingy at the Grand Canyon on YouTube freaks me out, but actually walking on it doesn't. Likewise, building and climbing a ten-section scaffold doesn't bothering me, but watching somebody do it on a screen freaks my ass out.

I knew before clicking they were Russians.

Their life expectancy is about 30 years so they don't give a shit doing stuff like that.

A pretty decent sized crane just popped up relatively close to where I live.   Unfortunately in the state of California, the police would be there  with a helicopter before you were even half way up the ladder :(

I'm not sure that it's unfortunate. As cool and thrilling as it is, it's still very dangerous not just to themselves but others. It's probably only a matter of time before someone falls of these things.

Im sorry, how is climbing stuff dangerous to others? If people stand right below you they deserve a darwin award just as much as us thrill seekers.

Grrr. These guys give climbing a bad rep. I led mountaineering trips for 12 years. It is one of the safest sports when done correctly. But then some kid decides he does not need a rope and fall to his death. Conclusion? Climbing is dangerous.
I would never climb with those fools. And I assure you they have no cred among serious climbers.

They're two completely different things. I'm sure they look at regular climbers and think "pussies" haha. This is just an extreme sport version of climbing and the danger aspect is how they get their kicks.

A lot of them are probably also climbers wouldn't you think?   The way they can hold and pull their own weight up with only a couple of fingers makes it seem like they are climbers themselves...(some of them at least)

Also not everybody climbing stuff does it for rep. It's for the rush (for me at least), I don't give 2 fucks if it get me famous eventually.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dont-look-down/4od

Worth a watch!

Can't see the video in my country, any alternative link?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fa5_1357857447 - WOW. Google Crane hanging for more sick videos like this one.

Looks like the same video the OP posted.

Not to get in your face. So let me try to philosophize over this. You mention climbing is safe when done 'correctly'. I understand what you mean by that, by following best practices and being responsible, ensuring gear is top notch, and not take unnecessary risks. No matter how you twist or turn it, it won't be as safe as playing snooker, but I get where you're headed at. Considering you've done this for 12 years, you should have a lot of knowledge about the driving forces behind why people climb. For those who stick around for a long time,  I can only imagine that the strongest driving forces are those of internal nature.

But it might seem from your post that you're belittling Alex Honnold and his achievements. You call him 'some kid who decides he does not need a rope and falls to his death'. Did you watch the 60 minutes documentary about him, and how he got started? He started by climbing 3 hours six days a week, in a climbing facility, then he has proceeded from there, gaining a lot of experience, and constantly expanding his skills. While being high risk, what he does is also a huge testament to the human strength, and then I look at both physical and mental capabilities.

Instead of talking down on him, why not draw inspiration from it? There are a very little percentage of climbers that do free climbing, because it's rather high-risk, and most people are not willing to take that risk. And chance is that most recreational climbers does not train as much as him. He live for this.

If he were a fool, he would probably be dead already. Clearly he's not a fool. What appears for the bystander to be something incredibly dangerous, might not seem that dangerous to him. I've seen him go a route with rope first to prepare it for free climbing, chalking up where it's safe to go, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't climb if the weather forecast is not to his advantage, and I'm pretty sure he's very much prepare no matter where he goes.

While any man or woman that takes on incredible feats, or high-risk sports could easily be brushed of as stupid silly risk takers with a death wish, the fact is that a lot of the people that do engage in such sports does not take unnecessary risks, but their perception of risk, is quite different from that of a normal person.

If you look at America, a lot of people eat themselves to death, they come by McDonalds every day, and load up on sugar and fat. Those are risk takers, as what they will do might shorten their lifespan, and lead to an early death. And then you have smoking, alcohol and drugs. Lots of people do 'dangerous' things, but all of that's easy.

What Honnold does is not easy, and it's quite clear that he does not do it for the fame, he does it because this is what he does. Look at the happiness in his eyes, there's no insanity in there. This is what he does.

Claiming that he has no credit among serious climbers is a weird statement to give. Clearly what he does gives him some serious credit, or else he would not be known and be featured on 60 minutes and the like.

Most skilled athletes concentrate on what they're doing themselves, and does not spend much of their time to criticize other athletes.

Calling him a fool and claiming he has no cred among lifters seems to indicate jealousy. Sorry if I'm wrong on that part. I just do not understand how anyone criticizing him is not able to acknowledge the incredible things that he's actually doing. He climbs difficult mountain walls that even climbers with ropes have a big problem of doing. This is his lifestyle, and he does it 100%. I don't see him complaining about anyone else. He seems 100% focused on what he does.

And if he dies young, makes a wrong move, so what, he dies, having lived a short life to the fullest extent possible. That's more than can be said about most people. I look at him with awe as a symbol of what human determination and will is capable of. If for nothing else, I think we should draw inspiration about this - something we could use in our daily lives, perhaps sometimes just going for what we want, instead of always 'being safe'.

I'm pretty sure he's aware of the risks, and the consequences to any error he might make. But this is his life, this is what he chooses to do, no matter who criticizes him or what these people says.

He's on an entirely different level than most climbers will ever be. I guess a lot of climbers have a hard time swallowing that fact.

While I think his climbing is truly inspirational, I at the same time recognize the dangers, and I don't have any desire to attempt anything like it, nor do I have the desire or drive to climb as much as he does to develop a skill set like his, and even if I tried, starting at a young age, I would probably never be able to achieve what he has achieved.

In conclusion, it's easy to talk shit - but please recognize that there's hundreds and thousands of hours of practice to be able to reach his level. While average people never having done anything athletic at all easily can spew uneducated shit talk towards his achievements and his lifestyle, I would most certainly expect something else from someone with a lot of experience from climbing.

How about: "What he does is quite incredible, however my personal opinion is that this is quite risky, and I would never do it myself, or encourage anyone to do this kind of free climbing". Completely dismissing his achievements and calling him a fool, only reflects negatively on the sender of that message.

You might not agree RodeoX , but I would think a man with 12 years of experience with climbing would be able to recognize his talent and achievements as something extraordinary, albeit risky.

Aye you are right... I only watched the 2nd video.

I don't think they look at regular climbers and think 'pussies'. I don't think arrogance has any place in such a sport as climbing, that might easily become the downfall of a lifter. If there's any arrogance, that's probably in very young lifters, but the challenge of it all I would think quickly humbles most climbers.

Now I am not a climber to those extremes myself but I respect those guys as much as that Alex freeclimber guy - with small the exception that they may fall and hit someone, but when they are out on the crane and if there are people around they ought to crowd they propably see them and doesn't walk right below them. Sure there are a small small chance that happens, but other accidents happens as well that hurt other people so the chances are slim enough for it to be good in my book.

It's entertaining either way and I've talked about climbing a crane for over a year now (not doable during winter and not a smart move when you are under some influence which I am pretty much all the time).

Totally crazy people.

02:30 is just insane... It's safer to do a speedball while driving a 20 ton truck in the wrong lane on a highlane... That guy really knows how to focus his muscles - definetly an experienced climber, or at least something similar.

Um, because if you fall off. Every time I walk around I'm not looking up thinking I wonder if an irresponsible thrill-seeking idiot is going to fall on me. You won't even see them any way. In some of the videos they're higher than the clouds.

Yes, however the odds of that actually happening are very slim. You are more likely of getting killed by a large amount of melting snow falling down on you, or by getting a heart attack. I See your point but let's say that happens one out of every thousand fall (for fun, not actual correct numbers), should we take away joy from the 99.99% that doesn't fall (again made up number). With that logic we should also stop talking in public places since the saliva you accidently spat out your mouth infected the one old lady who already had an infection with a virus because you know what? She died. (Harsh example but hopefully the point is delivered, otherwise I'll make up another example for ya.
My 2 cents on the matter.

I'm on my phone, are those some guys climbing the 2nd tallest building in the world?

It's cool and all, but everyone makes simple mistakes every once in a long while. And in this case a simple mistake would be deadly. So I would love to see them at least where a parachute.

I guess we should let adrenaline junkies street race too since they do it at night usually and there's probably not many people around so it's unlikely that they'll hurt anyone. The odds of dying in a street race are very low so it's ok according to you. They're endangering themselves as well as others. Stop trying to make irrelevant moronic excuses for this behaviour.

What a spectacular, reasoned and nuanced response! You have some very good points.
I'll try to explain myself a bit. I have a bias against free climbing based on my life experience. When I fist began climbing the sport climbing culture had not yet happened. People involved in climbing mostly considered it an extension of trekking or rescue work, in the milieu of wilderness skills taught by Outward Bound NOLS. I left my job as a park ranger to start leading and organizing wilderness trips when I landed a rare full time/401k career in adventure education. You can imagine the type of mindset I would look for and the attitude toward safety I would expect. An ideal climber tied impeccable knots, never took their hand off belay, and never forgot to check the knots of others. They might come from firefighting or majored in recreation, but always safety was considered a tier 1 concern. And then climbing took off.

Suddenly people were wearing North Face jackets at the mall? The public's fascination with climbing had a strong element of danger. Risk was re-evaluated and pushing the limits of safety became virtuous. I started to hear from people about this idea that the most esteemed climbing must be the true risk of free climbing. Man vs. gravity no holds barred. Even the applications I received for leaders to guide youth into the wilderness sometimes boasted of the applicants fearless and caviler rock skills. At the conferences I was attending, like this one ( http://www.nols.edu/wrmc/ ), it was easy to see the rise in free climbing accidents. I also saw it locally as an W-EMT and steep angle rescue instructor.

Deceleration trauma is nasty stuff. Stuff you don't think about when your young and very capable. Until the day you blowout that flake you had a ringlock on and it all goes down. This is why free climbing is outside of most climbing circles and considered reckless. Having said that, I do believe people are free to make their own choices. Someone might be a fully knowledgeable climber who has done his/her homework and still decides it's worth the risk. But I don't want them belaying me.

In my opinion nothing is gained and everything is risked in detaching from a belay system. It's not like the rope is cheating. A good belay escorts you up with a little slack, it's all you. The only thing different is the very real possibility of a fall to the ground vs. a fall to to your first holding anchor. I just think it's unwise.  

Thanks for a good response. I see where you are coming from, and I can also agree with your conclusion. Youngsters are always seeking out more dangerous stuff to do than elders. And it might be natures way of strengthening the gene pool? And while older people and senior climbers are more aware of their mortality, younger people usually don't reflect too much about that. Now, put in the light where you put it here, I understand you better. And I also agree security should always be number one, when leading any climbing group, doing a rescue operation or whatever involved with climbing.

So, then there are no more arguments from me, and this turned into quite the peaceful bantering. Cheers. :)

Videos of this nature are crazy! There was the one that did the rounds online the other week with the two guys who climbed Shanghai Tower. That made me anxious just watching.

That is insane!

insane :) indeed~insane!

extreme guys :) isn't?

that's nothing man, I'v seen a yt video of a guy climbing the 2nd tallest building in the world :D
Shangai Towers motherfucker :D

it's bloody awesome :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U)

I saw that too! Makes me thrill when he just stand ad the top ... guys are fearless. Extreme mfckass :-)

The quality of the footage is great, the fact that it is shot from POV makes it all the more immersive. What a challenge that must have been.

There is talk that they should tackle the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - that would be something chronic.

I knew it would all be cool because you were being so cool about stuff. :D
Your right about risk being an inherent element of climbing. I mean if I don't want to fall off a cliff I should stay the F#@? away from them.
 
Back then I defended the importance of taking risks and pointed out how safe organized climbing was, compared to autos for example. But if your new to climbing and want to try it out then please at least start by finding some experienced people. Climbers that impress can plan a belay that greatly mitigates the risk to the climbing party. Not a climber who can do some sick free dyno-mantel thing on the side of El Cap. Although you will see a lot more of that guy because of the drama and awesomeness of it all.

Well cheers to you to sir, and may we all find that balance between gravity and position.

You didn't read the first 2 pages of this topic?

:) that would be crazy ... :) hehe. So good enough for them to do it.

Alex Honnold is scary! He is truly living his passion

No kidding....did you read the thread?  


On another note....

Alex Honnold says climbing buildings/cranes is EASY.  Buildings are just the same repetitive motion all the way up.  Rock climbing is a new challenge every foot you climb.

(Source Joe Rogan interview)


I don't think anything is as scary or challenging as what Alex has accomplished.  Hell,  no one has even tried what he does. (I know there are other solo climbers but they haven't done the routes Alex has tackled) The guy is on another playing field.  

Darwinian law on the works.  :)

sure it is easy

when you are spiderman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX_QeGXNU_A
HE EXISTS!!

I know I know. Ive seen it before many times :)

You don't have to shout...

regards!

all of these guys are absolutely bonkers.   I just came back from Vegas today, and this morning, there were window washers hanging down from the top of the Wynn and Mandalay Bay, washing the windows.   Those guys have ropes attached to them, and I still got that knot in my stomach...

Just made me wonder... what if he runs out of chalk, or somehow loses his bag of chalk? I guess it is administrated in a way that makes that very unlikely. Imagine being halfway up, reaching for the bag of chalk and then.. oh fuck - nothing left!

hehehehe :D he need a big supply of chalk :) perhaps he measure it so he know how much he need :)

Just saw the video!! that was fucking scary i wonder how can it be real  :o  the guy was doing that crazy thing without  a wire or protections that's simply insane man !!!

I have showed a few people some of the videos, and I get knots in my stomach every time...I think its because heights is one of the things that scares me...

He probably does measure it. But imagine.. What if he loses a bag of chalk. What if it starts raining suddenly etc. So many things that can go wrong, but I would think he's aware of most factors, and try to minimize the risk.

The Russian Climbs Give me Sweaty Palms just watching

Me too. Have you seen the one where they climb the shanghai towers? They are like above the clouds!  I would slip off because my hands would get too sweaty

People do crazy and dangerous things just to become popular. I don't think it's worth it.

If the main motivation was to become popular, it would end in a disaster soon. You must look deeper for the real motivation behind their action.

It's much more about experiencing the moment and doing something that gives you a kick.