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Illegally climbing the Golden Gate bridge at dawn (2011)
- shawabawa3 13y ago> In a choice between a 300-foot-fall to water and a 30-foot-fall to concrete the winner is discernable if not immediately clear I'm guessing the correct choice is the concrete, but for some reason I feel like I would still prefer to go for the water...
- nathanb 13y agoThis is why I love the TV show Mythbusters: they routinely demonstrate how our intuition on these matters is wrong. (A 30-foot fall onto concrete might still kill you, but a 300-foot fall into water will definitely kill you. And if the fall onto concrete doesn't kill you, it will be much easier to get you the medical attention you need if you're not floating in San Francisco Bay).
- Xcelerate 13y agoHuh, I never saw the Mythbusters show. Why would a 300-foot fall into water definitely kill you? I know the world dive record is 172 feet. And terminal velocity for a human is about 120 mph. I imagine if you make yourself flat for most of the fall you could lower that speed and then right before you hit the water take a "pencil" position. Would you not at least have some chance of surviving that?
- nicholassmith 13y agoIf you're a diver, or sky diver, or trained you might have the sense to try that, but for the majority your brain is going to be screaming 'oh fuck' when you're half way down.
- nathanb 13y agoWater is noncompressible. Maybe the word "definitely" was misused because there's always the possibility for a fluke, but my understanding is that at terminal velocity hitting water is functionally equivalent to hitting concrete. Look up the "hammer drop" episode of Mythbusters if you want to see the long explanation. The second point still stands, though. I'd rather fall onto the concrete, where I could get help quickly and if I knocked myself out but survived I wouldn't drown.
- glurgh 13y agoIn a 300 foot fall, you're not reaching the bottom at terminal velocity. Mythbusters have in fact gone over this a few times and the results are a bit different - falling from such a height onto more or less anything is almost certainly lethal. Given equivalent height, even at terminal velocity, you're still slightly better off falling into water.
- base698 13y agoYou're still going about 80 mph. Just from memory it's roughly 20 mph/second until you hit 4 seconds where it's reduced to 10 mph/second due to air resistance. The greatest chance you'd have is to impact shallow water with mud. This has saved at least three people, of which there are fairly spectacular Youtube videos.
- chiph 13y agoWater is incompressible. So the fall ends up being pretty close to 300 ft. to concrete vs. 30 ft. to concrete. Entering the water toes-first would just mean you have broken legs as well as being dead.
- peterwwillis 13y agoIt seems to me the surface tension is the deal-breaker here. When you land feet first, your feet break the surface of the water, which allows for the water to move around the incoming object. You want to minimize distribution of force to only the bottom of the feet. Of course the force exerted on your feet would more than likely break your ankles and possibly your knees/legs, and severely impinge your hip joint. In addition, your head will likely receive an extreme "punch" as it comes into contact with the water. This alone might be enough to knock someone unconscious or kill them, but it depends on their neck, chest, head, body position, etc. So if the mythbusters test were done again, it should definitely not be a really fat pig landing on its side; it should be a skinny dummy landing perfectly straight. I am not a scientist, but I do have experience with cliff diving. (The real trick is when the water level is low, you have to expand your body as soon as you hit the water so you don't shoot down and hit the rocks at the bottom!)
- jerf 13y agoThey did some stuff with cliff-style diving too (not quite that high, but it was good enough). That's one of many episodes that convinces me that they play at being more ignorant than they really are in the show, for dramatic purposes; it just isn't plausible that they do enough research to find a guy specialized in high diving, but somehow didn't find out what he could do before he came. I enjoy the show and I enjoy the results, but wish they would be a bit more honest at times, or be a bit more willing to say "Before we start, here's what the 'book' answer to the question is", because it's often obvious they have it. Also, editing makes it hard to tell, but it's pretty clear they very often come prepared with plans B and C to the offsites, again, making it pretty clear that they aren't as surprised that A failed as they play at.
- maxerickson 13y ago
- glurgh 13y agoMythbusters: they routinely demonstrate how our intuition on these matters is wrong. Or demonstrate that things we're sure about are sometimes not quite right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E408JigEcFI#t=298s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E40... (Fast forward to 5 mins) 300-foot fall into water will definitely kill you. Some do survive the actual jump and impact into the bay. Some (very rarely) are even recovered and survive the entire ordeal.
- mapt 13y agoAbout 2% if I recall correctly.
- steveax 13y agoNot to mention when the fall knocks you out, you won't drown on concrete, unlike landing in the water.
- nadrafia 13y agoMythbusters busted that myth. Water is preferable to concrete they determined...
- bluetidepro 13y agoAmazing things like this make me wish I wasn't afraid of heights. Even the pictures sort of make me feel uneasy. Haha Regardless, this is incredible.
- dsego 13y agothere is a way to confront the fear. just find an activity that involves heights, but with other people and safety equipment. like caving for example, like this (I was there): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ichMz2sCM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ichMz2sCM
- eCa 13y agoOr "hike" the Camino del Rey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Nd1qtk1Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Nd1qtk1Go (I didn't.)
- arethuza 13y agoIf those pictures make you uneasy then watch Jeb Corliss in action BASE jumping from the Golden Gate :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6FLHSTg5kc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6FLHSTg5kc
- nsxwolf 13y agoYou're not afraid of heights, you're afraid of falling. To me, NOT being afraid of heights is irrational.
- milliams 13y agoAwful choice of font colour.
- apexys 13y agoBetter than pure white though. Too much contrast is problematic for some people.
- milliams 13y agoOn my screen however, I literally couldn't read it without selecting all the text.
- jt2190 13y agoThe font color is dark gray #333 on a background of black #000. There's barely any contrast at all. (edit: According to the Luminosity Colour Contrast Ratio Analyser [1], the luminosity contrast ratio is 1.66:1. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommend a ratio of 4.5:1 [2]. That'd be #777 on #000.) [1] http://juicystudio.com/services/luminositycontrastratio.php http://juicystudio.com/services/luminositycontrastratio.php [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/#visual-audio-contrast-contrast http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/#visual-audio-...
- 205guy 13y agoI will be the contrarian and say it was a great choice of font color for at least 2 reasons. The first is purpose: those dark images really stand out on the dark page, and the text is easily ignored, creating lots of attention on the photos and their extraordinary qualities (location, location, location, not to mention some pretty colors and compositions). Face it, the text is for people who want to know how it was done, which is one tenth the importance of "pics, or it... never mind." The second is aesthetic. The article title "Mr Strauss' masterpiece" is even darker than the text, and the blog title "No Promise of Safety" is so dark as to be almost invisible. Hence, you have to assume that all choice of dark colors was intentional, thus serving some intent of the author. The idea of hiding in the shadows and having secrets revealed is strengthened by the text color. Thus, I feel the dark text contributed to the impact of the page and its content. Not everything has to be perfectly readable or follow all rules of design.
- gesman 13y agoThis is lovely and amazing! 90% of chance of law enforcement to be in touch with you soon, unfortunately. This is akin posting Youtube video of yourself breaking legal speed limits.
- Ricapar 13y agoJust FYI: Date: February 24, 2011 If they haven't given him a call by now, they probably don't care at this point.
- Ricapar 13y agoHe missed the part of the story where he has to get back down!
- martin-adams 13y agoMaybe he's still there.
- oldcigarette 13y agoIn railfanning we don't look kindly on people who trespass to great the 'perfect shot' because they just end up screwing things up for everyone else with ever increasing rules, surveillance and fences. Please think about the consequences of your actions when doing something like this.
- base698 13y agoSame for BASE jumping. I had a talking too with the guy from this blog. He was eventually arrested, but after getting a few things we were jumping locked up. There is a history of tar and feathering (with cold tar) people that ruin it for everyone else.
- katbyte 13y agoI explore places like this tons (known as UE) and the rule is never post public photos that could give away entrances/increase security ruining it for future adventurers.
- incision 13y agoIf you like this sort of thing, you might appreciate Vitaly Raskalov [0]. 0: http://englishrussia.com/2013/03/22/on-top-of-the-pyramide/#more-122040 http://englishrussia.com/2013/03/22/on-top-of-the-pyramide/#...
- joshfraser 13y agoI was offered the chance to do this in Egypt. I was told that it was totally safe as long as I brought along enough bride money in the event that we got caught.
- jcbmllgn 13y agoI think that'd be worth the bribe money :)
- wololo 13y agohow much?
- joshfraser 13y ago$20
- mrexroad 13y agobride money you say? sounds like an even more dangerous adventure.
- dkokelley 13y agoI'm really not sure how I feel about these things. On one hand, these are great escapades, and they result in fantastic pictures. I do like seeing "forbidden and forgotten areas". On the other hand, I would never want to encourage anyone to do something like this. It's illegal for a reason. The reason is not just your own safety. If he had fallen on to the road side of the bridge, not only would he die, but he would risk the safety of others driving across the bridge. Even in the best-case where he doesn't hit a vehicle or cause an accident, the morning commute is screwed up because of what on the surface appears to be another suicide.
- DanBC 13y agoPeople committing suicide would tend to jump off the bridge into the water? There are, very roughly, one person committing suicide per fortnight from the Goldengate Bridge. One idea to slow down that number o fdeaths is to install a big net. It'll hurt when people land on it, and that might be enough to snap them out of the impulsive decision to end their lives. The net would cost about $45m. Some people might feel that spending the money on mental health services and suicide prevention services would be a better investment. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26bcjames.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26bcjames.html?pagewant...) Superficially it's obvious why Fresno CA has such a high suicide rate (14.8 per 100,000) - low employment, high crime, staggering drug (especially meth) addiction. But Sacramento CA has higher rates of suicide (22.7 per 100,000), and it's not as easy to work out why.
- themstheones 13y agoI've seen an interesting television program about meth production. It's called "Breaking Bad." If anyone has an interest in the industry I suggest checking it out.
- WestCoastJustin 13y agoI read something about How The Mapo Bridge In South Korea Has Stopped People Committing Suicide [1]. They basically have illuminated signs that say encouraging things to people who are thinking about jumping. Dropped the suicide rate by 77%. [1] http://www.sickchirpse.com/mapo-bridge-suicide/ http://www.sickchirpse.com/mapo-bridge-suicide/
- base698 13y agoI have been BASE jumping for quite a while and within that community there is a strong thread of leave no trace. It reduces the legal risk, eliminates property damage, and keeps it open for everyone else. Back to Joe, I found his blog and saw a picture of him setting off fireworks on top of a crane I had just climbed and jumped in the city I used to live. I kept thinking the increased security probably should have led to my arrest since setting off fireworks isn't exactly stealth and if I was property owner and found that I'd definitely be horrified enough to increase security. I tracked him down and took him out to an antenna for him to climb and photograph warning him what could happen if he kept posting so publicly. He was eventually was arrested for this: http://www.nopromiseofsafety.com/?p=311 http://www.nopromiseofsafety.com/?p=311 He was an interesting dude. Modified a car to have a skin of bottle caps all over it. He does not walk to the beat of normal society's drum.
- dboat 13y ago"He does not walk to the beat of normal society's drum." ...says the base jumper.
- base698 13y agoWe come from all walks of life. Met more than a few start up founders, doctors, and Googlers
- yread 13y agoWTF was he arrested for?!
- mabhatter 13y agoDefacing public cones... The guy wasn't exactly PAYING for the orange cones he was using. Consider if every road project has to pay an extra $1000 for lost cones it becomes a police problem quickly and they crack the whip hard.
- dfc 13y agoIt is the most photographed landmark in the country I am sorry but that is BS. I could not find any statistics about "photographed landmarks" but a quick check of any measure of tourism and this seems extremely unlikely. For starters San Francisco's tourism does not come close to NYC.
- salimmadjd 13y agoI've heard the same stat before ( I think I read it some place else) but it made no sense, either.
- brianmwaters 13y agoI don't think the comment was meant to be statistically accurate.
- manojlds 13y agoThat's what the tour guides say in SF. Actually, some of them said it was most photographed in the WORLD.
- dfc 13y agoIs this a joke?
- DanBC 13y ago(http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43240059/ns/travel-travel_tips/t/most-photographed-places-earth/ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43240059/ns/travel-travel_tips/t/m...) > Mining data from 35 million Flickr photos, scientists at Cornell University made some surprising discoveries: Not only did the world's most photographed cities (and the most captured landmark in each) emerge, but also so did the most common angles for shooting each place. There are some American cities in the top twenty-five; and some Californian cities there; and San Francisco is listed at number 3, but for Union Square, not the Golden Gate Bridge. This[1] AOL page has another list of US sights. (http://news.travel.aol.com/2009/08/27/must-snaps-americas-most-photographed-landmarks/ http://news.travel.aol.com/2009/08/27/must-snaps-americas-mo...) - they say it's the Coit Tower. [1] A bafflingly bad page! Here's the tiny text-reading box on my display. (http://imgur.com/aRPqWr5 http://imgur.com/aRPqWr5)
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- js2 13y agoNot sure which was the more dangerous part, potential encounter with a water craft, or potential encounter with pathogens or PCBs. FWIW, http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/hudson_river/swimming_during_hudson_river_dredging.htm http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/hudson_river...
- andrewjshults 13y agoHaving swam in the Hudson (NYC Triathlon) and kayaked extensively in the East River (including a trip up the Gowanus Canal - never again), the water quality in the main parts of the river is actually quite good these days. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that most of NYC runs the gutters through the sewage system, so when there is heavy rainfall, the combined output overwhelms the capacity of the system and they release untreated sewage into the rivers. There's a lot of community involvement in tracking water quality in the rivers and you can get real measurements at a fairly regular basis: http://www.nycwatertrail.org/water_quality.html http://www.nycwatertrail.org/water_quality.html I'd be far more worried about being an unsupported swimmer. Even in a kayak, the danger of boats is quite real and swimmers are even less visible (and slower) than kayakers.
- js2 13y agoPerformance art from the Williamsburg Bridge: http://gothamist.com/2011/11/19/video_see_the_williamsburg_bridge_a.php http://gothamist.com/2011/11/19/video_see_the_williamsburg_b... If you enjoy these sorts of stories, you'll love watching Man on Wire -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire
- nazka 13y agoSomeone has an idea to find what camera he used? I tried to find it on flickr and google.image but there is nothing. I really like how it captured the colors and the light.
- quackerhacker 13y agoMesmerizing. Apart of the glitz, I think of living in a city, is exploring. When I was young with friends in SF (we were around 12), I remember the most adrenaline pumping thing we did was walk in the muni tunnel off I think Duboce (back in 01', so I'm not sure of the right names) and we'd always climb to roof access in the condo where they lived.
- lcrs 13y agoThere's a lovely little book by John Law which includes climbing this bridge, back in the 70s: http://www.furnacepress.com/publications/law.html http://www.furnacepress.com/publications/law.html
- barce 13y agoYou can get a permit for this and do it legally: http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/tours/golden-gate-bridge.html http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/tours/golden-gate-brid...
- aray 13y agoLooking at those photos it seems like they just have a staged segment where you can get a "climbing the tower" picture taken, not actually climb the tower. http://www.flickr.com/photos/parksconservancy/sets/72157630405662316/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/parksconservancy/sets/721576304...
- bjourne 13y agoWhy does every photographer have to use that "make colors look like xbox games" effect on their photos? I much rather look at unprocessed photos that have not been distorted by color enhancing filters.
- witoldc 13y agoIs it possible to climb Golden Gate bridge legally? Or any other bridges in the USA? I know this is allowed in some places. In Sydney, climbing Harbor Bridge is a tourist experience. see bridgeclimb.com
- yason 13y agoI caught myself wondering why climbing the bridge has to be illegal. You can't practically damage the bridge. You will mostly just hurt yourself if something happens. Theoretically the worst that could happen is you could fall onto a car but the damages incurred by a dead climber would be peanuts for any insurance company — people crash their cars by themselves alone all the time. And that could already happen because climbing being illegal doesn't stop the people who want to climb the bridge, as demonstrated in the article. Of course, there's there "could" track where anything "could" happen thus it must be declared illegal before it happens, but you can extend that thinking to nearly everything until living just becomes impossible. For example, it "should be illegal to climb the big rocks on the shores because you could fall on an innocent party on a boat". I would be inclined to reserve the illegal status for activities that actively affect other people. Stealing, mugging, murdering, manslaughtering, kidnapping, etc. Conversely, accidents just happen.
- mabhatter 13y agoBecause if the general public was doing it 50% or better would be squished. Public employees have to clean your guts up off the pavement each time it happens. It's not "victimless" after the same old guy has scrapped 30 people off the bridge and has mental health issues.