Posted by Wizbang While I have not pulled the crap wage line, I do sport a hard hat, vest, and clipboard when draining. I have even had cops patrolling a park give me a wave. First dry spot I can find the clipboard and hard hat are set down, but I always keep the vest. I am half tempted to buy a yellow light for the roof of Ms. Jeepy too.... I don't normally use them for bandos though, as the people that spot you there usually know pretty damn well you don't belong, vest or not. So..... Hi-vis and no fear for drains, silent stealth ninja for bandos....

Nice! Blending in certainly is the key! In my opinion, at least. And thanks for the hints as well, I am very interested in exploring drains one day.

Other thing I was thinking about is getting postman's outfit for certain buildings, seems like people never question their presence. Main problem for me is that only reasonably priced branded postman's uniform that I found online is the one from USPS, and we don't have them around here. Canada Post, Fedex, DHL uniforms are pretty expensive. But now that it's summer I think I can get UPS t-shirt and hat for a reasonable price, and I already have matching shorts. But on the other hand, I work in the office building and I think I know all mailmen by now, and I'm pretty sure head of security knows them as well, so office buildings might be no go for that scenario.

Posted by qwartet Nice! Blending in certainly is the key! In my opinion, at least. And thanks for the hints as well, I am very interested in exploring drains one day. Other thing I was thinking about is getting postman's outfit for certain buildings, seems like people never question their presence. Main problem for me is that only reasonably priced branded postman's uniform that I found online is the one from USPS, and we don't have them around here. Canada Post, Fedex, DHL uniforms are pretty expensive. But now that it's summer I think I can get UPS t-shirt and hat for a reasonable price, and I already have matching shorts. But on the other hand, I work in the office building and I think I know all mailmen by now, and I'm pretty sure head of security knows them as well, so office buildings might be no go for that scenario.

Not sure about the Postman route. In the US, they are federal employees. Mail fraud is a felony. Stealing mail is a felony. Stealing a candy bar from a store that has a USPS office in it could get you charged with a felony. Something tells me impersonating a USPS employee may have the same big no-no attached to it. I like the way you think though!

Posted by Wizbang Not sure about the Postman route. In the US, they are federal employees. Mail fraud is a felony. Stealing mail is a felony. Stealing a candy bar from a store that has a USPS office in it could get you charged with a felony. Something tells me impersonating a USPS employee may have the same big no-no attached to it. I like the way you think though!

Damn, that's a very good point. I certainly need to look into that more closely, but I don't think it's much different here in Canada. Just one of many scenarios I'm looking into currently, hopefully some of them might work! But assessing possible consequences is very important, you are right.

Seems relevant.

"[Urbex] rarely leaves the city vulnerable. What the practice does challenge is the underlying message of constant and imminent threat promised by neo-liberalism that is used to codify the urban environment for 'safety' and restrict the range of acceptable activities. Exploitation of 'secure' sites reveals this spectacle to be, much like explorers' public anonymity, a fragile smokescreen." -Bradley L. Grant (Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City.

Posted by PorkRenegade Seems relevant. "[Urbex] rarely leaves the city vulnerable. What the practice does challenge is the underlying message of constant and imminent threat promised by neo-liberalism that is used to codify the urban environment for 'safety' and restrict the range of acceptable activities. Exploitation of 'secure' sites reveals this spectacle to be, much like explorers' public anonymity, a fragile smokescreen." -Bradley L. Grant (Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City.

Damn - he is quite the wordsmith. I have never heard a quote on Urbex that deep and so very true. Thanks for sharing. Just ordered the book!

Back to good 'ol smaller buildings in my favourite part of town. Due to the size of buildings around here tailgating is quite problematic if you don't have lots of free time on your hands, so I tried targeting buildings mainly holding office spaces, unfortunately there are very few of them in the area.

Generally, lately office buildings became my favourite to infiltrate. I follow guidelines provided by Jason E Street for the situations where you can get caught carrying with me prepared 'formal' excuse that justifies my presence on the premises, as well as some starbucks gift cards. Doing which I'm probably just creating more potential problems for myself, but doing research of the security company managing building beforehand I feel myself pretty comfortable using this approach, and I'm still very much so amazed what kind of pdf files with standard procedures, drills and protocols can be found through google search on websites of security providers. Smaller office buildings don't even have security guards on site, most of the times.

Initially I've targeted another building in the area, and went quite far, but to my shame I couldn't find the way to the rooftop. Happens more often than I would like. Second choice worked out better, but again not from the first attempt. Main problem that I've encountered was that the top floor has few doors on it and of course it is not clear right away which one leads towards the direction of the rooftop, and there is an office with glass wall with receptions sitting right there looking at you, and I wasn't comfortable pulling random doors in from of her. But by that time I was already determined to find my way to the rooftop. Soooo, few days later I've called that office with a made-up reason to see when do they have a lunch break, which coincided with mine. Perfect. Returned back and pretty quickly found the right door and staircase, without anyone watching me.

That rooftop isn't too tall, but the view from up there is pretty cool. Also some restaurant, smelled like Japanese to me, has exhaust fan there that spreads absolutely delicious aroma all over the place, especially when you realize that you'll have to miss your lunch.

These are super rad, I've never really been into Vancouver rooftopping, but this stuff looks awesome!

Posted by Theninjalobster These are super rad, I've never really been into Vancouver rooftopping, but this stuff looks awesome!

Thanks man! I'm really glad you think so

Great post's qwartet, very informative tips on blending, like for instance you could say you work for Black & McDonald Ltd, they are a facility management company that handles many of the buildings you are posting. Also I was curious what is your preferred method for defeating the final obstacle to getting on these roofs, the locked doors and padlocked hatches?

Exploring rooftops around Vancouver. Tonight, myself, the germ, and moldy taco crushed the hottest roof in the city. I claim first rights and I dub thee "the dark tower". That was the real deal, our exit was cut off and we had to improvise. By improvise I mean clear a gap and drop a tree, moldy taco missed the part about drop the tree. We all rolled ankles.

The dark tower (EmPire LaNdmArK)


The revolving restaurant.


TL,moldy taco, the germ.

Well done lads. While and after hitting Davie Gulls (which I will post photos and videos from later) I was scoping out the Dark Tower but got too intimidated by the active demolition to attempt it myself.

If it stays up for any longer I might give it a shot, but considering the fact that it's literally being prepared for destruction, I will probably abstain out of caution and/or cowardice.

Great shots and great tenacity. Rooftop explorations are really making a comeback this summer (as is this forum in general) and it is so wonderful to see as a major proponent of the discipline myself.

Posted by PorkRenegade Great post's qwartet, very informative tips on blending, like for instance you could say you work for Black & McDonald Ltd, they are a facility management company that handles many of the buildings you are posting. Also I was curious what is your preferred method for defeating the final obstacle to getting on these roofs, the locked doors and padlocked hatches?

Well thank you. I might be doing something wrong, taking into account that I did very few infiltrations just on impulse, I yet to encounter a building managed by Black & McDonald, at least based on research I do that is my lifeline, so to speak. Among others, buildings that I've posted here, and based information I have, are managed by Sdm realty, awm alliance, stratawest, hbc, pacific quorum, carrera management. No Black and Mcdonald. I'll have to look more closely into it, thanks for the hint. As of the last step, if I am lucky then a worm rake, if not, short hook. So if there is a padlock that's my lucky day. It is painful to see how many Masters and Fortresses are guarding the rooftop access, good for me though.

Posted by PorkRenegade Exploring rooftops around Vancouver. Tonight, myself, the germ, and moldy taco crushed the hottest roof in the city. I claim first rights and I dub thee "the dark tower". That was the real deal, our exit was cut off and we had to improvise. By improvise I mean clear a gap and drop a tree, moldy taco missed the part about drop the tree. We all rolled ankles.

Damn, that is very impressive indeed. Very reasonable claim right there. Bravo.

IMG_8781 by the germ, on Flickr


IMG_8786 by the germ, on Flickr


IMG_8788 by the germ, on Flickr

Posted by PorkRenegade

Posted by thegerm

Oh sh*t! Bravo.

Great photos, boys! Though Germ wins for clarity and dynamic range, even though I can tell he's still using an old camera

i had a tripod that didnt keep exploding

Ninja jumps are my thing yo

Posted by thegerm i had a tripod that didnt keep exploding

Haha, yep, great photo's germ, RIP tripod. That was some sweet sweet ue. There is overnight security on site, so just be very aware anyone else giving it a go. Once you make it to a stairwell you are pretty safe but don't count on being able leave the same way you got in.