Does anyone here have any experience, stories, or advice regarding locked stairway gates or cages that block further ascent? Have you gotten past any and how?

Several roofs I've ventured to have exterior stairways that, at the very top, end at a locked door and cage blocking most sane attempts to climb around. I'm curious what you have to say about your experiences regarding these annoying security measures.

Like ladder cages? Or something more like this?

Trading Spaces by astroberkman17, on Flickr

We've navigated past a couple of these. Usually don't come across too many, though.
One, my friend was small enough to squeeze between the stairs past the door, and then they simply just opened it for us. unfortunately, the roof access door was padlocked shut. Though we had that one.
The other, well, less than legal methods were used.

Look around in the nooks and crannies of the room for the key. I've found keys hidden on top of the door frame, inside fire extinguisher boxes, on top of sprinkler pipes, etc.

Posted by Astro Like ladder cages? Or something more like this? https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3896/14998224240_b267faf303_b.jpgTrading Spaces by astroberkman17, on Flickr

The ones that I've encountered have been on stairs on the exterior of a building, and it's simply been a locked door on a stairway landing, and a metalscreen cage all around the landing to prevent climbing around as best as possible.

Posted by relik We've navigated past a couple of these. Usually don't come across too many, though. One, my friend was small enough to squeeze between the stairs past the door, and then they simply just opened it for us. unfortunately, the roof access door was padlocked shut. Though we had that one. The other, well, less than legal methods were used.

On one that leads to a major rooftop I was thinking about attempting to squeeze through the stairs. If possible, that would definitely permit access. Otherwise I'd have to break the lock or climb on the outside, risking 60 foot exposure.

"yeah.... we need to find another way..."

I'm stuck...



We actually made it thru and explored the mine. Not sure if they have "fixed" this since we haven't been back.

Fat Abby

Marmora mines had them all over the place, but they forgot about the parts underneath the conveyor belts.



(Unfortunately everything is gone here now)

Depends what's surrounding them, I've gone through sheetrock or rooms adjacent to the door through the sheetrock

Posted by IceBurgess The ones that I've encountered have been on stairs on the exterior of a building, and it's simply been a locked door on a stairway landing, and a metalscreen cage all around the landing to prevent climbing around as best as possible.

Got any pics of the metal cage? These "security" methods are surprisingly easy to bypass

Posted by JasonJacksonPhoto Got any pics of the metal cage? These "security" methods are surprisingly easy to bypass

Not yet, but it's the standard type. The two ways I've been thinking about getting past it are either squeezing through the stairs or climbing up and around the outside.

The full-coverage cages suck.

I was down exploring the city once, and decided to cross one of the major bridges into Jersey for a skyline photo (which ended up not working out anyway, as the fog took much longer to lift than the news stated), and found myself standing next to an entry for the walkway up the bridge. Oh, that would have made an awesome shot, but there were gates at a few locations, and a cage surrounding it all. (I was also almost hit by a DRPA truck on the narrow pedestrian walkway [no, I don't know why it was there], so I know it was actively patrolled.)