Ahh thats soo sad for him:/ I guess at leased he passed doing something he was passionate about.

Posted by lovelife I guess at leased he passed doing something he was passionate about.

I get what you mean, but for future references, if I'm drowning in drain, I will not find it somehow peaceful or easier because I enjoyed the drains when they weren't killing me.
I guarantee you that with my last breath I'd be shouting "f#ck you drain! Give me back my family, friends & ability to explore another day!"

Posted by Piecat Do people usually bring harnesses/safety gear?

I do, but it's because of the nature of the locations that I explore. We drop deep shafts and climb rickety 100 year old 100 foot ladders so we try to stay as safe as possible. Even so it's easy to get careless and not pay as much attention as we should.




Given the locations that our community explores, this type of tragedy is inevitable. It's made worse by the culture of "showing off" an explorer's lack of fear (pull-ups off a crane, walking the top beam, etc). Safety is the responsibility of each of us individually, as well as the groups we explore with. Keep an eye on your buddies.

Abby Normal

I climb cranes and not once would I even think about climbing in the rain, snow, or doing any of the asinine stuff I have seen people doing. One mistake and you aren't likely to live through it.

Damn shame to die that young. RIP bud.

Posted by Abby Normal I do, but it's because of the nature of the locations that I explore. We drop deep shafts and climb rickety 100 year old 100 foot ladders so we try to stay as safe as possible. Even so it's easy to get careless and not pay as much attention as we should. http://i48.tinypic.com/2irluti.jpg Given the locations that our community explores, this type of tragedy is inevitable. It's made worse by the culture of "showing off" an explorer's lack of fear (pull-ups off a crane, walking the top beam, etc). Safety is the responsibility of each of us individually, as well as the groups we explore with. Keep an eye on your buddies. Abby Normal

He was on a catwalk and apparently stepped backwards into the opening for a ladder while lining up a shot or... a selfie.
This accident was easily preventable; never walk backwards without looking first and 3 points of contact when climbing; use the hand rails.
They were also climbing on wet steel; don't climb on wet steel.

You can have all the safety gear in the world, but the first rule of climbing steel is don't fall.
There is no "if I fall". So many times I've heard people say this as if gear will compensate for mistakes on steel. Once you fall and go ballistic, you've completely lost control. Being tethered doesn't guarantee anything.

You fall, you die. If you do survive expect broken bones.
Steel is unforgiving.

Posted by blackhawk He was on a catwalk and apparently stepped backwards into the opening for a ladder while lining up a shot or... a selfie. This accident was easily preventable; never walk backwards without looking first and 3 points of contact when climbing; use the hand rails. They were also climbing on wet steel; don't climb on wet steel. You can have all the safety gear in the world, but the first rule of climbing steel is don't fall. There is no "if I fall". So many times I've heard people say this as if gear will compensate for mistakes on steel. Once you fall and go ballistic, you've completely lost control. Being tethered doesn't guarantee anything. You fall, you die. If you do survive expect broken bones. Steel is unforgiving.

Absolutely! Your points are all well stated. Safety gear is only one component of a safe adventure. It's useless if you don't follow the steps you outline. The best safety gear is that which doesn't need to be "tested by fire". I wear safety gear when I ride my motorcycle, but it doesn't mean that I can ride like an idiot because I have it on.

I think threads like this where we discuss specific techniques to increase the safety of the activity we love is a good start. And just like the majority of this community rejects vandalism, we should not glamorize stunts such as pull ups over large drops or walking on the top rail of cranes. Those cross the line from UE to unnecessary exhibitions of danger. Just my opinion.

Abby

Posted by Abby Normal we should not glamorize stunts such as pull ups over large drops or walking on the top rail of cranes. Those cross the line from UE to unnecessary exhibitions of danger. Just my opinion.

I agree those stunts are not UE. UE for me has always placed the focus of the photography/video on the architecture itself, not a person attempting to accomplish some heroic feat. If someone has taken the trouble to climb somewhere, I'm interested in seeing the view. But as soon as they put themselves in the centre of the shot, it becomes look *at* me, rather than look *with* me, and that turns me off. Occasionally a body is useful to establish scale in a shot. Anything more active than that distracts me from the urban landscape I want to see.

I admire parkour. I get that people want to test themselves. Alain Robert is a 'mountaineer' of highrise buildings. It's a form of athleticism when done skilfully by dedicated, trained athletes. Some of the younger climbers can slap together an entertaining GoPro movie, so sometimes the filmmaking is worth a watch. But when taken on by fools, these stunts are nothing but foolishness IMO. And in any case, it's not UE.

In my opinion, the people in the photos ARE Urbex.
The other shots are real estate or National Geographic shots.

But this isn't the place I guess.

Posted by Doug In my opinion, the people in the photos ARE Urbex. The other shots are real estate or National Geographic shots. But this isn't the place I guess.

I'm not so much talking generally about people in photos: I'm talking about the one-armed crane swingers and so on. To me, they are Instaex / YouTubex, exploring stunts for their clickbait potential, and it matters little what urban landscape is surrounding them. That's why - just in my view - they are not urbex.

Posted by GunnerNZ I'm not so much talking generally about people in photos: I'm talking about the one-armed crane swingers and so on. To me, they are Instaex / YouTubex, exploring stunts for their clickbait potential, and it matters little what urban landscape is surrounding them. That's why - just in my view - they are not urbex.

I have to disagree. Hanging off cranes is urbex but if it is done for attention then no it is not urbex.

Posted by Fbixz Hanging off cranes is urbex but if it is done for attention then no it is not urbex.

I have shared why I think it is not. Can you share with me why you think it is? I think hanging is just hanging. It does nothing to explore the crane, nor to explore the urban landscape beneath it. Hangex maybe? LOL.

I tend to agree with Fbixz - one of the things I love about urbex is being able to traverse a building the way I want to. Nobody is going to tell me that I'm "not allowed" to climb out the bathroom window, cross a roof, and then enter the gym through a louver. I can ride my longboard through a football stadium. I can see it how I want and explore it how I want.

Doing anything as reckless as hanging off a crane is definitely not my style, but I can see how that would be an extension to what I was describing.

Of course, there are people who purely "do it for the 'gram" - that's something else.

Posted by GunnerNZ I'm not so much talking generally about people in photos: I'm talking about the one-armed crane swingers and so on. To me, they are Instaex / YouTubex, exploring stunts for their clickbait potential, and it matters little what urban landscape is surrounding them. That's why - just in my view - they are not urbex.

Yes, true.
With Mustang Wanted I couldn't tell you a single thing I've seen him hanging off.

Posted by Pongo I tend to agree with Fbixz - one of the things I love about urbex is being able to traverse a building the way I want to.

(respectfully snipped)

Yeah, I totally get what you're saying here. If movement is someone's thing - treating a traverse as an obstacle to outwit with courage and style - then they are nearing parkour.

I'm interested that some of the better-known stuntmen don't define themselves as urban explorers.

Alain Robert: "Sportsperson"

click to view

James Kingston: "Entertainer"

click to view

I'm not 'dissing' what they do: you'll see I 'like' their pages. I just don't see what they do as urbex, and don't believe they see it that way either.

Posted by GunnerNZ (respectfully snipped) Yeah, I totally get what you're saying here. If movement is someone's thing - treating a traverse as an obstacle to outwit with courage and style - then they are nearing parkour. I'm interested that some of the better-known stuntmen don't define themselves as urban explorers. Alain Robert: "Sportsperson" click to view James Kingston: "Entertainer" click to view I'm not 'dissing' what they do: you'll see I 'like' their pages. I just don't see what they do as urbex, and don't believe they see it that way either.

I agree with this! I guess I would consider it parkour more the UE. That makes more sense. But either way, doing it for the fame whether it is UE, rooftopping, parkour... Is plain is stupid I am sure we can agree on this

Posted by Fbixz doing it for the fame whether it is UE, rooftopping, parkour... Is plain is stupid I am sure we can agree on this

You bet

ugh I just saw this thread here in General and had finished typing a thread in In Memoriam...

I actually knew the kid. I'm fairly certain he was 20 and not 24 as the original story stated since he was at my university studying. We talked about exploring and photography and even UER. He liked coming here to see other people's shots. I wish I had more information but I had really only talked to him a few times. I found out about it this morning, thought it happened two days ago not almost a whole month at this point.

Feeling a little sick to my stomach. R.I.P, man.