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curious_nonclimber
Jun 10, 2005, 6:29 AM
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Has anyone out there climbed the Golden Gate Bridge or know someone who has? I'm not a climber, but am curious about this. I have a friend who did it, and she's sure others must have, but doesn't know anyone specifically. I'm considering it as a topic for an article I'm writing and need to talk to other people who've actually done it. I'm also curious to know about how climbers view something like this -- is it just a stunt that most climbers wouldn't bother with, or is there a certain allure? Are there other landmarks that have historically had a similar draw?
Thanks for any info.
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josephgdawson
Jun 10, 2005, 8:23 AM
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What do you mean she climbed it? Which part of it?
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overlord
Jun 10, 2005, 10:34 AM
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that would depend on what she climbed...
did she climb ht eroof under it or up onto one of the support towers or the whole length of the line...
pretty boring if you ask me, but to each his own as they say.
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jammer
Jun 10, 2005, 12:07 PM
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If it isn't rock, I won't climb it. I have no desire to cllimb any steel objects. Then again, I'm just an ol feller from back when ...
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olympicmtnboy
Jun 10, 2005, 12:56 PM
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Google "buildering" and see what you get. It's a different sport and of questionable (il)legality sometimes, but there are often crossovers from rock climbing. Lots of buildings, bridges, and towers have been climbed, I'm sure the Golden Gate Bridge has been many times as well. :-)
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curious_nonclimber
Jun 12, 2005, 5:32 AM
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I believe she climbed up one of the lines to the top of the tower. She also said that she thinks since 9/11 most people probably wouldn't do it, and she did it back in 1997.
Thanks for your replies. The "buildering" tip helped a lot.
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climber_wannabe
Jun 12, 2005, 5:56 AM
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It's not something most rock climbers would bother with. Things like that are considered nothing more than just publicity stunts to get on the evening news and have already been done many times over. I won't even mention legality/tresspassing issue, and what does 9/11 have to do with it?
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alvchen
Jun 12, 2005, 5:59 AM
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I know Alain Robert has free-soloed one of the towers, grabbing on to the rivets!
I also know of Jeb Corliss "hiking" up the cables to the top of one of the towers to pull off an extremely impressive BASE jump.
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corpse
Jun 12, 2005, 2:06 PM
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In reply to: and what does 9/11 have to do with it?
everything. this country we live has been known to arrest people for video taping bridges! Do a search on google on that on - I do believe such a thing happened just in the last 12 months, I forgot when.. Just an innocent person video taping a bridge and looked suspicious.. heh, maybe he was middle easter
The government enjoys 9/11, because it gives them a reason to clamp down on more Americans lives, to control things more, just like dubya wants.
Sorry, my rant is done. But yes, you have to be much more careful with any landmarks these days because of "terrorist threats". They watch more closely and arrest more quickly, and ask questions later.
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areuinclimber
Jun 12, 2005, 4:28 PM
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cops are stationed at all land points closest to the bridge, and patrol by boat. if you tried climbing that thing now you'd be f*cked if caught.
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dingus
Jun 12, 2005, 4:43 PM
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Burl and I scaled one of the towers on the Williamsburg Bridge in NYC 8-10 years ago in the middle of the night. It was right afrer a huge snowstorm had crippled the city. They were doing a long term restoration project on the bridge and there were catwalks and what have you all over the place. We hade to navigate some razor wire atop a chain link fence and do a scary boulder problem to gain access to a catwalk.
From there we walked up steep gangplanks and ladders to the top of the tower.
I will never forget that night. It was bitterly cold, in the low teens I think. There was no one on the bridge at all and it was past midnight. We'd been in Manhattan all evening, drinking and partying with Burl's blues-scene-druggie friends.
http://img64.echo.cx/...4922/BurlElkHorn.jpg
Burl from his NYC days...
It was a lark that sent us over the bridge instead of taking the subway back to Brooklyn.
Anyway, the stars were visible and we were on the tower nearest Manhattan. The Wall of the City was right in front of us, those hundreds of skyscrapers lit up, that mass of humanity spread out before us, as mighty as El Cap himself, as aloof as the Queen of Sheba, as inaccessible as the Oval Office. It was humbling to know it was all by the hand of man. We sat up there for a couple of hours, just drinking it all in. Finally, shivering to the bone, we downclimbed and went home.
A few years later I was reading a book, the Alienist (I think). One of the scenes spelled out in the book was a murder site on the very tower we'd climbed. It was described in sufficient detail as to give me the impression the author had been there too, or had a very good resource to proof that part of the book.
Never did the Golden Gate and doubtless never will. Climbing manmade structures gives me the willies far worse than rock climbing. They move...
DMT
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spokewrench
Jun 12, 2005, 5:30 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: and what does 9/11 have to do with it? everything. this country we live has been known to arrest people for video taping bridges! Do a search on google on that on - I do believe such a thing happened just in the last 12 months, I forgot when.. Just an innocent person video taping a bridge and looked suspicious.. heh, maybe he was middle easter The government enjoys 9/11, because it gives them a reason to clamp down on more Americans lives, to control things more, just like dubya wants. Sorry, my rant is done. But yes, you have to be much more careful with any landmarks these days because of "terrorist threats". They watch more closely and arrest more quickly, and ask questions later. |
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corpse
Jun 12, 2005, 5:49 PM
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In reply to: here in charlotte NC a guy got arrested for video taping buildings, and had tapes of buildings in other US cities such as atlanta GA and louisville KY. he recently pled guilty to what ever it was he was charged for.
I believe it - maybe that is the story I remember, but the one I'm thinking *seemed* to be longer. You have a get a license to bear arms, and soon we'll end up having to get a license to do ANY video taping or pictures. Let the would-be terrorists take pictures of buildings and bridges, and let the 99.9999% of us take pictures in peace.
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dstroy
Jun 15, 2005, 9:25 PM
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I'm not a Climber, I'm a Sailor.
The boat was Pendragon, we had just won the 1988 St. Francis Big Boat Series. At the end of a big Regatta like this the owner would treat the crew to a crew dinner. It was at the end of the dinner when the conversation shifted to going around the table and everyone recalling there favorite "Pendragon Party Story". When the conversation got to our bowman (a hotshot well known local boy)he said he didn’t have any good story, but wanted to make on write his own tonight. He said "Who wants to climb the Golden Gate Bridge? It's something I've always wanted to do!" Most of us laughed, but he was serious! Well there was only one other guy as crazy as him (or as drunk!)
I offered to drive them to Fort Point the base of the bridge. Armed with a disposable camera, Larakis harnesses, a St. Francis Yacht Club Burgee (flag) and a 6-pack of beer. It was about midnight when the two jumped out of the van and scrambled up the ivy covered slope and onto the bridge structure. From there they walked along a maintenance catwalk below the outer edge of the deck. Once they made it to the center of the span, they climbed up an onto the main suspension cable. This was the point where they were the most concerned about being spotted by guards or passing cars, so they double timed it the first couple of hundred feet to get above the glare of the lights. Soon the cable began to get steeper and steeper. They stopped only once to take a couple of photos of each other before the final assault on the summit. Once on top they enjoyed a couple of beers, took in the spectacular view of San Francisco and finished the roll of film. After about 45 minutes on the top they made there decent, it was only when they came off the bridge and were walking through fort point back towards the marina where they were stopped and questioned by the park police who asked if they were climbing the bridge, “Of course not officer, that would be crazy!”
The next morning it was the buzz of the Club. Sure there were plenty of doubters, but they were directed to the telescope in the Men’s Bar that was trained on the top of the South Tower, where on one of the antennas you could make out the St. Francis Yacht Club Burgee proudly waving in the breeze. All further doubt was totally erased when the photos were produced later that day.
Keep in mind this was a few years ago. You can bet the security has been beefed up since then.
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mcolombo
Jun 15, 2005, 9:35 PM
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Hey dstroy was that bowman Chuck S.
I think we at Sailing Supply/The Boat Shop in San Diego heard a similar story . The Lirakas was taken so that no one would accuse the "climber" of a Suicide attempt or something like that.
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dstroy
Jun 15, 2005, 10:12 PM
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Hi Mcolumbo, well I hate to name names but yes Chuck S. was one of the climbers from my story. But the Bowman I was referring to initials G.P. (last name rhymes with Russia), did a couple of stints on D.C.'s Stars & Stripes pointy end. He's totally certifiable, and so is Chuck! Tell Chuck that Neil Jensen. (aka DSTroy) says Hi.
Sail On!
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menotyou
Jun 15, 2005, 10:20 PM
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Someone climbed the Arch in St. Louis way back when. He used suction cups to climb it, then base jumped of the top. He landed in Illinois to avoid capture, but still got arrested. (Damn thing is a national park, hard to get away from the feds).
The Sears Tower in Chicago has also been climbed, don't know the details.
I have a feeling that kind of this is done mostly by base jumps and not so much climbers. I know I tend to stick to real rock and only builder when I need a quick fix.
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factortwo
Jun 15, 2005, 10:49 PM
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In 1985 at age 16 I climbed under the road bed from the SF side out toward the center. When we hit the second tower past fort point we were at an impass so we climbed up onto the west walkway to get around the tower. The suicide cameras saw us and the GG bridge authority arrested us shortly after climbing back over the railing to get back under the bridge. I had to appear in Juvy court with my old man. Kinda bunk. I saw the video of Alain Robert and he hand over handed up the vertical set of cables closed to the tower. It was totally sick. He starts getting pumped toward the top and then fiddles around trying to get an arm bar rest and then gives up and punches it for the top racing the pump. Amazing
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tom239
Jun 20, 2005, 11:27 PM
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Issue 18 (1993) of a SF-based magazine "The Nose" had a two-page
article on how to climb the GG bridge, with some pics from the top.
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graniteboy
Jun 20, 2005, 11:41 PM
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Contact Frank Sanders up at devil's tower. He runs a B&B up there. I know he's done it a few times back in the pre-9/11 days before USMC sniper/guard presence on the golden gate.
You'd have to have a hi powered rifle based death wish to do that these days. I'd bet that the best way to get to do it now would be to sign up for military duty.
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