A rooftopper on top of Frankfurt Cathedral.
A rooftopper on top of Frankfurt Cathedral, Frankfurt, Germany.

Rooftopping, sometimes called roofing, refers to the unsecured ascent of rooftops, cranes, antennas, bell towers, smokestacks, or other tall structures, usually illegally.

Rooftoppers usually take photos or videos and panoramic photographs—either a selfie by themselves or with the help of an assistant/accomplice crew from a distance. The practice of scaling skyscrapers often results in security crackdowns and arrests.[1]

Many people have died or been injured while rooftopping due to falling from a height.[2][3]

Details

Rooftopping is chiefly an undertaking of younger people. Rooftoppers clandestinely access off-limits staircases, roof hatches, ladders, etc., and it incorporates some aspects of buildering or free solo climbing. It is an offshoot of urban exploring, but is not universally condoned among urban explorers and is considered a stunt due to high risk of fatal injures.

In one report presented to American Educational Research Association in 1995 participants were suggested as thrill seekers who enjoy "high levels of stimulation and complexity of thinking," although other theories explaining their motivation exist.[4][1]

Rooftoppers usually take photos or videos and panoramic photographs—either a selfie by themselves or with the help of an assistant/accomplice crew from a distance. They often use helmet cameras for videos.[5][6][7] Some also use quadcopter drones for exploration and recording.[8] Because it is often practised in the pursuit of making viral-ready videos or photos, it tends to result in heightened security and greater restriction against access to desirable exploration venues.[9]

There was a rooftopping "craze" in Russia around 2017.[10]

Known rooftoppers

Mustang Wanted hanging on a steel beam
  • Ally Law, English YouTuber who makes rooftopping videos.
  • Mustang Wanted, real name Pavlo Ushivets, a Ukrainian rooftopper who has performed climbs and stunts around the world. In August 2014, during the War in Donbass, he climbed the spire of Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building in Moscow, Russia and painted the yellow star on the top of the spire in blue to symbolize the colors of the Ukrainian flag. He was later prosecuted in absentia in Russia for vandalism, and also awarded in Ukraine.[11][12][13][14]
  • Angela Nikolau, a Russian model.[10][15]
  • Kirill Oreshkin, the Moscow-based "Russian Spiderman"; has published pictures of himself in the midst of dangerous stunts on some of Russia's tallest buildings. Oreshkin started scaling buildings as a hobby in 2008. Videos of his ascents have been posted on YouTube.[16]
  • Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov, YouTube rooftoppers.
  • Vic Invades, New York urban explorer[17]
  • Tom Ryaboi, a Canadian photographer who has been credited as a pioneer in the community.[18][19][20] His photo "I'll Make You Famous" in 2011 was the first Rooftopping image to go viral.[15]
  • Wu Yongning, known as the Chinese Superman; died in 2017 while performing a rooftopping stunt.[21][22][23][24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bradley L. Garrett (17 February 2015). "Meet the rooftoppers: the urban outlaws who risk everything to summit our cities". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Elgan, Mike (4 January 2019). "People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  3. ↑ "Dangerous selfies have killed 259 people". BBC News. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  4. ↑ Knutson, Kari A; Farley, Frank (1995). "Type T Personality and Learning Strategies" (PDF). San Francisco, CA, USA. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Afraid of heights? You'll still want to watch this". Red Bull. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "The Hong Kong urban adventurers for whom nothing is too tall, or deep, or spooky". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "Meet the Place Hackers". Time. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Ives, Mike (7 February 2017). "Using Stealth, and Drones, to Document a Fading Hong Kong". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  9. ↑ Jamie Doward (26 February 2017). "The lure of tall buildings: A guide to the risky but lucrative world of 'rooftoppers'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  10. 1 2 Lucy Ash (23 March 2017). "The daredevils feeding a dangerous Russian craze". BBC News.
  11. ↑ "Russia wants to jail four men who jump off buildings for inciting hatred". The Washington Post. August 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Kyiv won't extradite roofer who painted star on Moscow skyscraper in Ukrainian flag colors". Kyiv Post. October 4, 2014.
  13. ↑ Birch, Joseph (19 May 2016). "Moscow's Daredevil Urban Roofers Fall Under the System's Watch". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  14. ↑ Volchek, Dmitry; Synovitz, Ron (24 August 2017). "Ukrainian Daredevil Mellows, Won't Return To Russia For More Provocative Stunts". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  15. 1 2 Elgan, Mike (4 January 2019). "People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  16. ↑ "Daredevil or reckless? 'Russia's Spiderman' Kirill Oreshkin takes". The Independent. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  17. ↑ Bate, Matthew (2015-11-03). "Video: Opinion | Vic Invades". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  18. ↑ Vidya Kauri, Article in "Globe and Mail" November 10, 2012
  19. ↑ "Don't look down: Tom Ryaboi's photos of the craze of Rooftopping in Toronto". Daily Telegraph. 30 January 2012. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  20. ↑ "The Amazing "Rooftopping" Photography of Tom Ryaboi". petapixel.com. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  21. ↑ Amy B. Wang, Article in "The Washington Post" December 12, 2017
  22. ↑ Jeffrey Wengrofsky, Article in Trebuchet Magazine June 24, 2018
  23. ↑ Ben Westcott and Serenitie Wang (14 December 2017). "Who is to blame for Chinese rooftopper's dramatic death?". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  24. ↑ Connor, Neil (11 December 2017). "Famous China rooftopper 'confirmed dead' after fall from skyscraper". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-07-14 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  25. ↑ https://www.news18.com/viral/french-daredevil-remi-lucidi-known-for-climbing-skyscrapers-falls-to-death-from-68th-floor-8467507.html
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