Buildering (also known as edificeering, urban climbing, structuring, skywalking, boulding, or stegophily) describes the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures. The word "buildering", sometimes misspelled bildering, combines the word building with the climbing term bouldering. If done without ropes or protection far off the ground, buildering is extremely dangerous. It is often practiced outside legal bounds, and is thus practiced mostly at night.
Night climbing is a particular branch of buildering which has been practiced for many years in a variety of locations, especially at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England. Night climbing, as distinct from buildering, is performed mainly by undergraduates under cover of darkness. The term "night climbing" has replaced the older term "roof climbing". The philosophy behind night climbing has undergone great change during the 21st century, with urban disciplines such as parkour having a heavy influence on the evolution of night climbing techniques and movements.
Adepts of buildering who are seen climbing on buildings without authorization are regularly met by police forces upon completing their exploit. Spectacular acts of buildering, such as free soloing skyscrapers, are usually accomplished by lone, experienced climbers, sometimes attracting large crowds of passers-by and media attention. These remain relatively rare.
Buildering can also take a form more akin to bouldering, which tends towards ascending or traversing shorter sections of buildings and structures. While still generally frowned upon by property owners, some, such as the University of Colorado at Boulder and Tufts University, turn a blind eye towards the practice in many locations.[1]
Although often practised as a solo sport, buildering has also become a popular group activity. As in more traditional rock climbing, routes are established and graded for difficulty.
History
"Struck with a rash impulse," Han Qizhi, a 31-year-old shoe salesman, climbed the 88-story Jin Mao Building barehanded.
In 1895, the great alpinist Geoffrey Winthrop Young started to climb the roofs of Cambridge University, England. Students had been scrambling up the university architecture for years,[2] but Young was the first to document this activity. He wrote and published a buildering guide to Trinity College.[3] Then in 1905, while a master at Eton College, Young produced another small volume on buildering, spoofing mountaineering.[4]
In 1905, Harry H. Gardiner began buildering. He successfully climbed over 700 buildings in Europe and North America, usually wearing ordinary street clothes and using no special equipment.
In 1910, George Polley started his climbing career when the owner of a clothing store promised him a suit if he would climb to the roof of the building. He succeeded, and went on to climb over 2,000 buildings.
During the years from 1915 to 1920, buildering in New York City reached its peak. Before 1915, there were few skyscrapers in New York City, and after 1920, the city authorities had legislated to outlaw buildering. During this era, a number of daredevils climbed the tall buildings, but several of them fell to their deaths in the attempt.
In 1930, John Hurst wrote the second edition of Geoffrey Winthrop Young's buildering guide to Trinity.[6]
In 1937, a comprehensive and lighthearted account of Cambridge night climbing (undergraduate buildering) appeared in popular print,[7] written by Noël Howard Symington, under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith".
In 1960, Richard Williams wrote the third edition of the Trinity buildering guide.[8] Night climbing remained popular in Cambridge during these post-war years. In 1970, a book entitled "Night Climbing in Cambridge" was published under the pseudonym "Hederatus".[9] Buildering also featured prominently in a book by F A Reeve, published in 1977.[10]
In the 1990s and the following decade, Alain Robert became the world's most famous builderer by free soloing high buildings all over the globe.
In 2007, buildering in Cambridge was featured in a detective novel by Jill Paton Walsh.[11]
Between 2007 and 2011, several books on night climbing were published by Oleander Press, of Cambridge. In 2007, they reprinted the Whipplesnaith book.[12] In 2009, they reprinted Geoffrey Winthrop Young's first edition of the Trinity Guide,[13] and the St John's Guide.[14] In 2010, they reprinted John Hurst's second edition of the Trinity Guide,[15] as well as Young's book "Wall and Roof Climbing".[16] In 2011, they published an omnibus edition of the three Trinity guides,[17] including an introduction by Richard Williams which reviewed the history of night climbing in Cambridge from the 18th century to the present day. This introduction removed the cloak of anonymity that had previously protected the identities of the first nocturnal explorers.
From around 2008, buildering (also known as "roofing") became popular amongst teenagers and young adults in eastern European countries including Russia and Ukraine. They (E.g., Mustang Wanted) shared footage of their achievements on video portals such as YouTube.
In 2013, the History Press published a book by John Engle on the history of student pranks at Trinity College Dublin, which featured a full chapter on the university's long-standing night climbing tradition, including the buildering activities of the Dublin University Climbing Club.[18]
In August 2016, a young man going by the name Stephen Rogata attempted to scale New York City's 68-story Trump Tower using climbing gear and giant suction cups; NYPD officers apprehended him at the 21st floor.[19]
In the 1980s, Dan Goodwin, aka SpiderDan, aka Skyscraperman, in advocacy for high-rise firefighting and rescue, scaled many of the world's tallest buildings and structures including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the Parque Central Complex in Caracas, Venezuela, and the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. In 2010, Goodwin, now a stage four cancer survivor, scaled San Francisco, California's sixty-story Millennium Tower to call attention to the fire department's inability to conduct rescue operations in the upper floors of skyscrapers.
At least seven builderers became known as "The Human Fly", all from the United States, as follows:
George Willig, who climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Center in 1977. Like Alain Robert, he was also known as "Spider-Man", after the comic hero who was first published by Marvel in 1962.
John Ciampa, who climbed between 1942 and 1952. He was a stuntman and entertainer, and was also known as the "Flying Phantom" and the "Brooklyn Tarzan".
James A. Dearing, who scaled the Rutherford County Courthouse in 1923, but fell to his death after completing the climb. His stage name was Roy Royce.
Harry F. Young, who was hired in 1923 to climb the Hotel Martinique in New York City, to promote the silent movie Safety Last! He lost his grip on the ascent, and fell nine stories to his death.[20]
George Polley, who climbed between 1910 and 1920. He died at the age of 29 from a brain tumor.
Harry Gardiner, who climbed over 700 buildings in the United States and Europe between 1905 and 1918, usually wearing street clothes and tennis shoes, with no climbing equipment.
James Lotito, in 2020 is the most recent builderer to be dubbed "human fly".[21] He has scaled many buildings and structures unaided, but is most known for an unsuccessful attempt in Manhattan.
In the 1930s, Whipplesnaith (Noël Symington) climbed many buildings in Cambridge, England.
In media
Notable examples of buildering have featured in several types of media, including:
Alain Robert is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbing, scaling skyscrapers using no climbing equipment except for a small bag of chalk and a pair of climbing shoes.
Solo climbing, or soloing, is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs a route alone, without the assistance of a belayer. By its very nature, it presents a higher degree of risk to the climber, and in some cases, is considered extremely high risk. Note that the use of the term "solo climbing" is generally separate from the action of bouldering, which is itself a form of solo climbing, but with less serious consequences in the case of a fall. The most dangerous form of solo climbing is free solo climbing, which means both climbing alone and without any form of climbing protection.
The Night Climbers of Cambridge is a book, written under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith", about nocturnal climbing on the colleges and town buildings of Cambridge, England, in the 1930s. The book remains popular among Cambridge University students and the 1930s and 1950s editions can be hard to find. It is often credited with popularising and inspiring the first generation of urban explorers and night climbers.
Geoffrey Winthrop Young was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering.
Daniel Goodwin is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one-arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering skyscrapers, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, the World Trade Center, the CN Tower, and the Telefónica Building in Santiago, Chile.
Harry H. Gardiner, better known as the Human Fly, was an American man famous for climbing buildings. He began climbing in 1905, and successfully climbed over 700 buildings in Europe and North America, usually wearing ordinary street clothes and using no special equipment. "One hundred and twenty of those who have sought to imitate me in this hazardous profession have fallen to death," Gardiner is quoted as saying in a 1905 article published in Muscle Builder. "There is no chance of 'rehearsing' your performance. Each new building is an unknown problem. If you do not guess the right answer, death awaits below, with a breath of up-rushing air, and arms of concrete." Former President Grover Cleveland reportedly nicknamed him "The Human Fly." When he visited Logan, West Virginia in January 1927, the Logan Banner described him as a "boyish-looking man of 57 years." Gardiner reportedly moved to Europe after New York enacted legislation forbidding anyone from climbing on the outside of buildings. Details surrounding his death are unknown, but a person matching his description was found beaten to death at the base of the Eiffel Tower in 1933.
Oscar Johannes Ludwig Eckenstein was an English rock climber and mountaineer, and a pioneer in the sport of bouldering. Inventor of the modern crampon, he was an innovator in climbing technique and mountaineering equipment, and the leader of the first serious expedition to attempt K2.
There are a number of popular legends associated with Cambridge University and its 800 year-old history, often recounted by punt guides to tourists while cruising the River Cam. Some are true, some contain elements of truth, and others are somewhat more fabricated. The myths and legends listed below represent a select few of the traditions and stories associated with Cambridge.
The Fell & Rock Climbing Club of the English Lake District is the senior climbing club covering the English Lake District. It was founded in 1906–1907 and, amongst its other activities, publishes the rock climbing guides to the area. It owns many of the early climbing photographs taken by George & Ashley Abraham, who were founding members.
John Raphael Rodrigues Brandon was a British Gothic Revival architect and architectural writer, much of whose work was done in collaboration with his brother Joshua, until the latter's death in 1847.
Tun Mustapha Tower is a 122-metre, 30-story glass tower in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It was built in 1976 by Mori Building Company, a Japanese builder. The building was formerly named Yayasan Sabah Tower as it housed Sabah Foundation, a state-sponsored foundation to promote education and economic development in the state. In 2001, the tower was renamed to honour Tun Datu Mustapha, a former Sabah chief minister.
Captain John Percy Farrar, also known as Percy Farrar and as J. P. Farrar, was an English soldier and mountaineer. He was President of the Alpine Club from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest Committee. Farrar's obituary in The Times stated that he 'was known by repute to every one interested in mountaineering in England and on the Continent, and his personal friends at home and abroad were legion'.
With Bare Hands is Alain Robert's autobiography, published in English in 2008. Thanks to a career of high-risk urban ascents, the French climber has gained the nicknames The French Spiderman and The Human Spider. The title With Bare Hands refers to his practice of climbing without the use of any safety equipment. The book follows Robert's achievements, from his childhood climbing cliffs in the gorges of southwestern France, to travelling the world looking for new skyscrapers to climb. The book offers insights into the mentality and motives of the world's most famous urban climber. It was first published by Blacksmith Books in Hong Kong and was edited and adapted by John Chan. The book was also published by Maverick House Publishers in the English language across Europe and in Australia and New Zealand.
Paths of Glory is a novel by English author Jeffrey Archer based on the story of George Mallory who died attempting to climb Everest in the 1920s. It was published by St. Martin's Press on 3 March 2009. It fictionally supports the claims that George Mallory, an Englishman, was the first to conquer Mount Everest – before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The LIM Center is a skyscraper located in Warsaw, Poland, built in 1989 by LIM Joint Venture Sp. Ltd., a consortium of three partners: LOT, ILBAU GmbH, and the hotel chain Marriott International. In 1998, ILBAU sold its share to SGS GmbH.
The Aiguille du Grépon, informally known as The Grepon, is a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute-Savoie, France. The Grepon has a Southern and Northern peak, which are the highest points of a sharp granite ridge to the east of the Glacier des Nantillons above Chamonix and northeast of the Aiguille du Midi. A madonna statue is situated on the Southern peak.
Night climbing is a term used, principally at the Oxford and Cambridge universities in England, to describe the sport of climbing up the walls of colleges and public buildings, and exploring the rooftops. This activity is frowned on by college authorities, so it is mainly done under cover of darkness, to avoid detection.
Josephine Mary Flood, is an English-born Australian archaeologist, mountaineer, and author.
Eleanor "Len" Winthrop Young (1897–1994) was a British climber. She was a co-founder and the first president of the Pinnacle Club, a British women's climbing club, and made numerous ascents in the Alps and many in the United Kingdom.
The Night Climbers of Oxford is a secret society, dedicated to nocturnally scaling college and town buildings in Oxford, England. The society is noted for its political activism, controversial acts, feats of climbing and parkour, as well as urban exploration. The society was likely inspired by their Cambridge counterparts, The Night Climbers of Cambridge. Activities conducted by the society are forbidden by the University authorities, meaning that acts are completed under the cover of darkness, to avoid detection.
↑ Geoffrey Winthrop Young: Poet, educator, mountaineer (1995), by Alan Hankinson, published by Hodder & Stoughton, London
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to Trinity (1900), written by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, published anonymously, W P Spalding, Cambridge, England
↑ Wall and Roof Climbing (1905), written by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, published anonymously, Spottiswoode & Co., Eton College, England
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to St Johns (1921), written by a group of students including Hartley, Grag and Darlington, under the pseudonym "A. Climber", Metcalfe & Co., Cambridge, England.
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to Trinity, 2nd edition (1930), written by John Hurst, published anonymously, W P Spalding, Cambridge, England
↑ The Night Climbers of Cambridge (1937), written by Noël Howard Symington under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith", Chatto & Windus Ltd, London
↑ The Night Climber's Guide to Trinity, 3rd edition (1960), written by Richard Williams, published anonymously, Weatherhead Ltd, Cambridge, England
↑ Cambridge nightclimbing (1970), written under the pseudonym "Hederatus", Chatto & Windus Ltd, London
↑ Varsity Rags and Hoaxes (1977), written by F A Reeve, published by Oleander Press, Cambridge, England
↑ The Bad Quarto (2007), written by Jill Paton Walsh, published by Hodder and Stoughton, London
↑ The Night Climbers of Cambridge (reprinted 2007), written by Noël Howard Symington under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith", Oleander Press, Cambridge, England
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to Trinity (reprinted 2007), written by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, published anonymously, Oleander Press, Cambridge, England
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to St Johns (reprinted 2009), written by a group of students including Hartley, Grag and Darlington, published anonymously, Oleander Press, Cambridge, England.
↑ The Roof Climber's Guide to Trinity, 2nd edition (reprinted 2010), written by John Hurst, published anonymously, Oleander Press, Cambridge, England.
↑ Wall and Roof Climbing (reprinted 2010), written by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, published anonymously, Oleander Press, Cambridge, England.
↑ The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity, Omnibus Edition (2011), Oleander Press, Cambridge, England.
↑ Engle, John (2013). Trinity Student Pranks: A History of Mischief and Mayhem. Dublin. pp.89–92. ISBN9780752497983.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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