9 INCREDIBLE P.O.V CLIMBS AND DIZZYING SELFIES

Top of the World: 9 Incredible POV Climbs & Dizzying Selfies
By Steph, Web Urbanist, 1 September 2014.

Your stomach will drop just looking at the stunning photos captured by some of the world’s most daring urban explorers, who scale insanely high towers all the way to the top and take casual selfies like it’s no big deal. Whether illegally base-jumping off One World Trade Centre in New York or climbing to the apex of a 2300-foot-tall skyscraper in Shanghai, these daredevils clearly have no fear of heights.

1. Hong Kong Trio Scale Skyscraper, Snack on Bananas

If this picture alone gives you a little bit of vertigo, wait until you watch the video below. A trio of teenage photographers - Danuel Lau, Andrew Tso and A.S. - climbed a 1,135-foot-tall skyscraper in Hong Kong.

Casually snacking on bananas, they make the whole task of getting to the top and photographing themselves with a wide-angle camera on a stick seem like it’s no big deal at all.

2. Dubai Daredevils Climb City’s Towering Buildings

19-year-old Alexander Remnev of Russia went on a trip to Dubai with a bunch of friends, and rather than just stick to the typical tourist activities, he decided to go on a little adventure.

The daring photographer and his crew climbed many of the city’s tallest and most intimidating buildings and photographed themselves at the top, including the world’s tallest residential building, the 1,350-foot-tall Princess Tower.

3. Safety-Gear-Free Stunts in Shanghai

Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov got so high into Shanghai’s sky, they were literally above the clouds.

The Russian duo sneakily and meticulously planned their stunt to avoid getting busted by China’s notoriously tough law enforcement, waiting until the Chinese New Year day when there would likely be few people around.

They spent nearly 18 hours at the top of China’s Shanghai Tower, which reaches an incredible 2,130 feet into the air when you count the extra length of the crane at the top.

4. Watch Workers Climb to the Top of a 1768-Foot-Tower

Have you ever noticed the stairways that are often attached to dizzyingly tall towers, enabling workers to get to the top to perform maintenance?

This video gives you somewhat of a perspective on what it’s like to actually climb them to the top.

5. Rooftopping Photography by Tom Ryaboi

Few people get quite the same dramatic city views that Tom Ryaboi is able to take in, daring to climb onto the rooftops of the tallest buildings in any given city to take photos while dangling over the edge.

The pioneering Vancouver-based ‘rooftopper’ and photographer told Resource Mag, “Rooftopping is something I do whether I have a camera or not. Being in high places is just something I need to do to keep a balanced head.”

6. Scaling a 1700-Foot-Tower to Change a Light Bulb

Made in response to a video that showed two people free-climbing a 1700-foot-tower with no safety lines, this video below shows how it’s actually supposed to be done.

Knowing that these guys have all the proper equipment to prevent deadly accidents doesn’t make the final stretch to the top any less of a nail-biter to watch, though.

7. Climbing to the Crown of Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer Statue

While most of the daredevils who reach the top of dizzying towers under the cloak of night, hoping not to get caught, British travel company boss Lee Thompson actually got permission to scale Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer Statue all the way up to the top of its head.

The 130-foot-statue may not be as tall as a skyscraper in itself, but it stands atop a nearly 2300-foot-tall mountain.

8. Illegal Base Jumping off NYC Freedom Tower

The trio that famously broke into One World Trade Centre and illegally base-jumped from the top all the way down to the city streets took a couple of incredible videos giving us an idea of what that might feel like.

They’ve since been charged with burglary, reckless endangerment and jumping from a structure, and are raising legal funds for their defense. Experienced amateur sky divers, they get their thrills leaping from buildings, bridges and other structures.

9. City Hacking and Urban Exploration by Bradly L. Garrett

Photographer Bradly L. Garrett gives a first-hand account of what it’s really like to be an urban explorer in a 2013 book ‘Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City.‘

The book also includes some really stunning photography, practical tips for exploring secret spaces, and Garrett’s thoughts on the deterioration of cities like Detroit.

[Source: Web Urbanist. Edited.]