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Elevator surfing, also known as lift surfing, is an activity involving riding on top of elevators, rather than inside them. [1] [2] More experienced surfers may attempt riskier maneuvers such as jumping between moving elevators, or riding the elevator's counterweight. Elevator surfing is typically considered a form of urban exploration, more aligned with investigative experiences like rooftopping and tunnel hacking rather than adrenaline-inducing urban sports like train surfing. [3] While elevator surfing was most prominent as a subculture in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1990s, it made a comeback in the late 2010s, with partakers often posting footage of their adventures on YouTube and similar platforms. [4]
Entry into the elevator shaft is often achieved using an elevator key—like those carried by first responders and building maintenance staff—to open the outer doors. Alternatively, participants may utilize lock picking techniques or use tools like coat hangers to force the elevator car's doors open between floors and unlatch the outer doors from the inside. [5] Elevator surfers usually cannot use the emergency hatch in the roof of the elevator to access the shaft, as these are designed for first responder use and cannot be opened from the inside. [6]
Elevator surfing typically occurs in skyscrapers or on college campuses, especially those with tall buildings. Participation is often illegal, [7] and if caught, surfers may face other charges like trespassing. [8]
Although the first instances of elevator surfing are unknown, by 1990, the activity was noted for its popularity among children in New York City public housing projects. [9] Children as young as six partook in the activity, often as a game of chicken. [10] During the same time period, elevator surfing became popular on college campuses, especially along the East Coast. [11]
Elevator surfers can be crushed between the elevator and the sides of the elevator shaft, be struck by the counterweight, or slip and fall to their deaths. [2]
In November 1989, twelve-year-old Walter McMillan of Harlem, New York City, was found dead on top of an elevator car in a local housing complex where he had been playing; [12] his legs had been crushed between the car and a beam, resulting in his death. Walter had been a member of the "Little Tough Guys", a group of roughly thirty-five children known for elevator surfing, and police had tried to warn him of the dangers of the activity. [13]
In March 1990, University of Massachusetts Amherst student Joel Mangion was found dead in the bottom of an elevator shaft at his dormitory. Friends reported that he had been jumping from one car to another in the double shaft. [2] While attempting the jump, he slipped and became wedged between the cab and the wall, falling sixteen stories to his death. [14] [2]
In March 1991, twenty-three-year-old Indiana State University aviation student Michael Deliduka and his peers used a coat hanger to wedge open elevator doors after a night of drinking. [15] They gained access to the tops of the elevators and subsequently attempted to move between them. While Deliduka was attempting to fix a stuck elevator, it activated, pinning him between the carriage and another elevator part and killing him instantly. [16] [17]
In September 1992, Southern Methodist University student and athlete Michael Schlosser slipped while hanging onto the bottom of an elevator, falling thirty feet through the shaft and succumbing to blunt force head injuries. His companion also fell the same distance but only sustained a broken arm. The event prompted SMU to install safety locks on elevator doors so that they could not be pried open with hangers or other tools and would instead only open when an elevator is present. [18]
In May 1997, ten-year-old Paul Illingworth was discovered dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in his Leeds housing estate. He had been riding on the top of the elevator and fell eight floors to his death. [19]
In April 1999, fourteen-year-old Jason Nolan of Dublin died after becoming trapped between the elevator walls and mechanism at the top of the shaft in the elevator at his apartment complex. Another resident who had been in the elevator at the time of the accident reported a sudden shaking followed by a halt and heard Nolan's friends screaming and a breathing sound that subsequently stopped. [20]
In December 2006, eighteen-year-old Jonathan Figueroa was found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in a Bedford Stuyvesant apartment complex. He was likely in the shaft for two to three days. [21]
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer, uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found as standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or in wave pools.
A paternoster or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can step on or off at any floor they like. The same technique is also used for filing cabinets to store large amounts of (paper) documents or for small spare parts. The much smaller belt manlift, which consists of an endless belt with steps and rungs but no compartments, is also sometimes called a paternoster.
Train surfing is typically a reckless, dangerous, and illegal act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram, or other forms of rail transport. In a number of countries, the term 'train hopping' is used synonymously with freight hopping, which means riding on the outside of a freight train, while train surfing can be practiced on any type of train. This type of travelling can be extremely dangerous and even life-threatening, because there is a risk of death or serious injury due to falling off a moving train, electrocution by the power supply, colliding with railway infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, station platforms, trackside buildings, railway signals or other trains, while riding outside of structure gauge on the side or on the roof of a train, or unsuccessful attempts to jump onto a moving train or off it. Today, the practice is illegal by statutes on many railroads in the world. Despite this, it is still practiced, especially on those railroads where the trains are overcrowded.
Mavericks is a surfing location in northern California outside Pillar Point Harbor, just north of the town of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-by-the-Sea. After a strong winter storm in the northern Pacific Ocean, waves can routinely crest at over 25 ft (8 m) and top out at over 60 ft (18 m). Routinely, waves that break can be recorded on seismometers. The break is caused by an unusually shaped underwater rock formation.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure. The attraction is inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version features an original storyline not related to The Twilight Zone and takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All versions of the attraction place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, and present a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of a supernatural element many years previously.
Laird John Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model.
Mark Sheldon Foo was a professional surfer who favored big wave surfing. Foo drowned while surfing at Mavericks, Half Moon Bay, California, in 1994.
A rash guard, also known as rash vest or rashie, is an athletic shirt made of spandex and nylon or polyester. The name rash guard reflects the fact that the shirt protects the wearer against rashes caused by abrasion, or by sunburn from extended exposure to the sun, as sun protective clothing.
Roof and tunnel hacking is the unauthorized exploration of roof and utility tunnel spaces. The term carries a strong collegiate connotation, stemming from its use at MIT and at the U.S. Naval Academy, where the practice has a long history. It is a form of urban exploration.
Schindler Holding Ltd., formerly known as "Schindler's Lifts", is a Swiss multinational company which manufactures escalators, moving walkways, and elevators worldwide, founded in Switzerland in 1874. Schindler produces, installs, maintains and modernizes lifts and escalators in many types of buildings including residential, commercial and high-rise buildings.
Seedling is the thirteenth book in the series of Deathlands. It was written by Laurence James under the house name James Axler.
The following article is a summary of notable incidents at the amusement parks and water parks that are operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. In some cases, these incidents occurred while the park was under different management or ownership.
River surfing is the sport of surfing either standing waves, tidal bores or upstream waves in rivers. Claims for its origins include a 1955 ride of 2.4 km (1.5 mi) along the tidal bore of the River Severn.
A dumbwaiter is a small freight elevator or lift intended to carry food. Dumbwaiters found within modern structures, including both commercial, public and private buildings, are often connected between multiple floors. When installed in restaurants, schools, hospitals, retirement homes or private homes, they generally terminate in a kitchen.
An elevator or lift is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems such as a hoist, although some pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack.
A surfboard fin or skeg is a hydrofoil mounted at the tail of a surfboard or similar board to improve directional stability and control through foot-steering. Fins can provide lateral lift opposed to the water and stabilize the board's trajectory, allowing the surfer to control direction by varying their side-to-side weight distribution. The introduction of fins in the 1930s revolutionized surfing and board design. Surfboard fins may be arrayed in different numbers and configurations, and many different shapes, sizes, and materials are and have been made and used.
This glossary of surfing includes some of the extensive vocabulary used to describe various aspects of the sport of surfing as described in literature on the subject.[a][b] In some cases terms have spread to a wider cultural use. These terms were originally coined by people who were directly involved in the sport of surfing.
Surfline is a company and website based in Huntington Beach, California that specializes in surf forecasting and surf reports, live webcasting, photography, videography, as well as editorial coverage of the sport of surfing. Surfline.com is now ranked 1,180 in the US and 5,784 in the world in terms of popularity compared to other websites and is now the largest provider of streaming HD coastal cams. Since 2003 it has taken on buoyweather.com and fishtrack.com (2012), on average the family of websites receives 175,000 visitors per day. The site includes streaming video, surf reports and forecasts. Surfline.com offers over 500 streaming cameras at 150 surf breaks, and is one of the larger surf cam websites. Surfline currently has approximately 50 employees.