Rooftopping Explained

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.

Many people have died or been injured while rooftopping due to falling from a height.^{[1] [2]}

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 bouldering 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.^{[3] [4]}

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

• 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]}
• Ivan Beerkus
• 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]}

• Remi Lucidi aka Remi Enigma, a 30-year-old French daredevil and photographer known for climbing skyscrapers, fell to his death from the 68th floor of Tregunter Towers in Hong Kong.^[25]
• Justin Casquejo is an American who has scaled several skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York City, as well as a water tower in his hometown, Weehawken, New Jersey.

See also

• Free solo climbing
• List of selfie-related injuries and deaths
• Modern ruins
• Roof and tunnel hacking
• Ruins photography
• Unfinished building
• Urban exploration

External links

• Verti-Go! Crazy Russian 'skywalkers' defy death & go viral News Video
• USA Today on Rooftopping

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mike. Elgan. 2020-08-08. People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot. 4 January 2019. Fast Company.
2. News: 2020-08-08. Dangerous selfies have killed 259 people. BBC News. 4 October 2018.
3. Web site: Type T Personality and Learning Strategies.. Knutson. Kari A. Farley. Frank. 1995. San Francisco, CA, USA. 31 October 2019.
4. Web site: Bradley L. Garrett . Meet the rooftoppers: the urban outlaws who risk everything to summit our cities . . 17 February 2015 . 3 October 2018 .
5. Web site: Afraid of heights? You'll still want to watch this. Red Bull. 11 February 2017.
6. News: The Hong Kong urban adventurers for whom nothing is too tall, or deep, or spooky. South China Morning Post. 11 February 2017. en.
7. Meet the Place Hackers. Time. 11 February 2017.
8. News: Ives. Mike. Using Stealth, and Drones, to Document a Fading Hong Kong. The New York Times. 11 February 2017. 7 February 2017.
9. Web site: The lure of tall buildings: A guide to the risky but lucrative world of 'rooftoppers' . . Jamie Doward . 26 February 2017 . 3 October 2018.
10. News: Lucy Ash . The daredevils feeding a dangerous Russian craze . 23 March 2017 . BBC News.
11. News: Russia wants to jail four men who jump off buildings for inciting hatred. The Washington Post. August 20, 2014.
12. News: Kyiv won't extradite roofer who painted star on Moscow skyscraper in Ukrainian flag colors. October 4, 2014. Kyiv Post.
13. Web site: Joseph. Birch. 2020-07-14. Moscow's Daredevil Urban Roofers Fall Under the System's Watch. 19 May 2016. The Moscow Times.
14. News: 2020-07-14. Ukrainian Daredevil Mellows, Won't Return To Russia For More Provocative Stunts. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 24 August 2017 . Volchek . Dmitry . Synovitz . Ron .
15. Web site: Mike. Elgan. 2020-07-14. People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot. 4 January 2019. Fast Company.
16. News: Daredevil or reckless? 'Russia's Spiderman' Kirill Oreshkin takes. 25 March 2014. The Independent. 26 January 2017.
17. News: Bate . Matthew . 2015-11-03 . Video: Opinion Vic Invades . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-11-05 . 0362-4331.
18. Vidya Kauri, Article in "Globe and Mail" November 10, 2012
19. News: 2020-07-14. Don't look down: Tom Ryaboi's photos of the craze of Rooftopping in Toronto. Daily Telegraph. 30 January 2012. 0307-1235.
20. Web site: 2020-07-14. The Amazing "Rooftopping" Photography of Tom Ryaboi. petapixel.com. 26 July 2011 .
21. Amy B. Wang, Article in "The Washington Post" December 12, 2017
22. Jeffrey Wengrofsky, Article in Trebuchet Magazine June 24, 2018
23. Web site: Ben Westcott and Serenitie Wang. 2020-07-14. Who is to blame for Chinese rooftopper's dramatic death?. CNN. 14 December 2017 .
24. News: Neil. Connor. 2020-07-14. Famous China rooftopper 'confirmed dead' after fall from skyscraper. The Telegraph. 11 December 2017. 0307-1235. www.telegraph.co.uk.
25. Web site: French Daredevil Remi Lucidi, Known for Climbing Skyscrapers, Falls to Death from 68th Floor . 31 July 2023 .