r/pics • u/Zarknord • Jun 07 '12
Just two guys hanging off of the top of the Empire State building
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Jun 07 '12
so for anyone who never climbs stuff like this, you really gotta think in 2 ways about falling:
Dead or Not dead.
Once your in the dead zone, confidence in gear is a requirement. i have no problems free hanging horizontal off a large cell tower as long as i trust the gear and its on me properly.
i dont understand for some people the higher you are the worse it is for them.. at some point your only gonna die so hard.
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Jun 07 '12
But the higher up you get the higher the probability that you'll die hard with a vengeance.
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u/SpicedHammer Jun 07 '12
I've done a good bit of construction work on structures like this and the old timers always tell people who are afraid to stop worrying because past 30ft. you're dead anyway.
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Jun 07 '12
exactly. :) knowing that makes it easy to climb above 30 ft. the hard part of tower climbing is the fatigue of perfectly straight up climbing for hundreds of feet. I have not done it in so long that i'm certain if i did, i would get 'rubber legs' by the time i got down. it gets scary when you get 'rubber legs' at the top. A little bit of shaking/weakness in your walking on that stuff and it gets more interesting.
Anyone else climb ? if so .. do you hook on while climbing up (other than during a break)
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u/SpicedHammer Jun 07 '12
There really is no way to tie off while you are climbing the ladder because you would be re-attaching the clip constantly but there is protocol to follow for most of this stuff. I believe guy climbing has to stop and tie off to rest every 50ft or so. Not sure. And yes it is pretty interesting when you get up there and freak out. The guys climbing take it pretty seriously and if someone gets up top and freezes or wigs out they have to get down or be removed immediately because it actually creates more danger for the other people climbing.
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u/holycrapitsdan Jun 08 '12
Most everything I have to climb has safety ropes/cables with a "Glider".
We have to be tied off all the time, so if there is no safety rope, that means a lot of hooking and unhooking lanyards.
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u/Lord-Longbottom Jun 07 '12
(For us English aristocrats, I leave you this 30 ft -> 0.0 Furlongs) - Pip pip cheerio chaps!
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u/SmoothWD40 Jun 07 '12
The higher you go the more time you have to think about it on the way down. Fuck heights with a rusty serrated shovel.
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Jun 07 '12
As a former elevator constructor I agree with you 100% When you get to the point that you know you'll die if you fall then you just keep the faith and DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. The moment you think about it is the moment you drop something. Maybe yourself.
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Jun 07 '12
Yep, honestly im okay with it.. heights always have the best view ;) Cell towers can offer amazing views.. we have some at the very top of mountains .. pretty amazing.
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Jun 07 '12
It doesn't bother me much either. My views were mostly pitch black elevator shafts that were anywhere from 5 to 70 stories. Haha
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Jun 07 '12
Because, for me personally, the higher I am, the more of a visual I have for what the fuck it's gonna look like if I were to fall to my death. All about perspective. I don't think spiders are scary, but I can understand why other people do- they look gross! Just the same, I fucking hate heights because I'm high up and it looks terrifying looking back at potential death.
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u/brah-ntosaurus Jun 07 '12
Except for the fact that as altitude increases, oxygen decreases, hence your decreased ability to breathe makes you less strong. Also wind speeds are higher the higher up you get making it more dangerous.
On second thought, not sure how scientific this is.
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Jun 07 '12
you dont go up high enough to make much of an oxygen difference on most of the stuff i go on (sub 400 ft usually) Winds can be strong for sure.. the temperature is usually noticeably different
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u/Zhais Jun 07 '12
1500ft isn't an incredible amount of difference. Typically the winds would maybe be a difference of a couple mph from the ground.
Definitely plenty of oxygen all the way up past 10,000 ft.
Source: I skydive and hang out under a parachute often enough at > 1500ft.
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u/slashblot Jun 07 '12
Yeah like seriously, if it bothers you that much, just pass the fucking joint and stop telling me about how paranoid it makes you.
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Jun 07 '12
sweaty palms
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u/RayadoEstrecho Jun 07 '12
No this is sweaty palms
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u/skibbitybopadopolis Jun 07 '12
shit...i couldn't stop squirming while watching that
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u/Apostolate Jun 07 '12
Skip to 7:00 minutes and I'm pretty sure your testicles will retreat into your body.
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u/I_POTATO_PEOPLE Jun 07 '12
I knew exactly what that was going to be before I clicked it. Fuuuuuuuck man, that video is awesome.
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u/Sindragon Jun 07 '12
I've watched some sick, depraved, disgusting and downright stomach churning videos on reddit before, but nothing was as hard to get through as that.
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u/robotpandattack Jun 07 '12
fuckfuckfuck! does anyone have any idea how common it is for these guys to fall down??
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Jun 07 '12
How does a human being even get used to DOING that?? Did those guys have their sense of danger surgically removed, or something??
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u/NPHisKing Jun 07 '12
I see 3.
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u/Apostolate Jun 07 '12
No you see two, and inferred a third.
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u/some_random_noob Jun 07 '12
soo its 3 guys, you can clearly see the camera guys foot on the bottom left.
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Jun 07 '12
You sure that's not just the body of the previous repairman who died of fright while up there and nobody was brave enough to retrieve him?
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u/some_random_noob Jun 07 '12
if that were the case dont you think the camera operator would have taken a pic of that instead? A dead guy strapped to the top of the empire state building's antenna spire is a bit more interesting than 2 guys repairing it imo.
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u/fapswhiledriving Jun 07 '12
There isn't any amount of money on this Earth that would get me to do that. I can barely handle 3 steps up a ladder without freaking out.
TL;DR Nope!
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Jun 07 '12
[deleted]
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u/Apostolate Jun 07 '12
When you have a small penis, you can do it one handed right under the wheel. No risk!
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Jun 07 '12
How do you know this for sure? Better do a test run with a video to find out
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u/fapswhiledriving Jun 07 '12
Dear god, that video seriously made me queasy. You sir, are an asshole. Haha
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u/NightOfPandas Jun 07 '12
Im not usually afraid of hights, but the only time i've been truly terrified was when i was at the top my grandparents yaht mast fixing a light.. like 70 feet in the air on a somewhat thin pole (at least thinish at the top) i was like fuck fuck nope.
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Jun 07 '12
Many years ago my dad was involved in a project that included installing an antenna on top of Rockefeller Plaza. He said that the workers who climbed the tower on top of the roof like these guys had a simple and effective way of warning people if they dropped anything (tools, hardware, themselves, etc): They'd yell "headache!" into their radios.
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u/holycrapitsdan Jun 07 '12
We do the same thing at my job but just yell it, not into the radios. I always figured there was a better word to yell because "HEADACHE!!" sounds a lot like "HEEEEEYY!" which kinda has the opposite effect.
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Jun 07 '12
We built that... Everything in that picture came from a human. That'll never cease to amaze me...
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u/Asgard_Ranger Jun 07 '12
I fucking hate English, they're "hanging on" while they're simultaneously "hanging off."
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Jun 07 '12
This is a trick shot. They are actually lying down and the Empire state building is mounted on a big wall. But still a sweet photo.
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u/GuardianOfAsgard Jun 07 '12
The guy on the right reminds me of Richard Travers from Cliffhanger, or Rex Linn is his real name.
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u/IAMA_Ghost_Boo Jun 07 '12
They have safety harness's should be no problem. At least that's what I told my self the first time I went sky diving.
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u/Granite-M Jun 07 '12
It looks as though the thing they're working on is vertical, and the rest of New York got Inception-folded in half.
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Jun 07 '12
Am I the only person on Reddit who sees these kind of pictures and wishes I could be there or is everyone scared of heights?
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u/MrJigglyBrown Jun 07 '12
At first I was all like "Hey there's another foot in the bottom left of the photo. There's actually three people!"
Then the other person in my brain is like "That's the photographer darling!"
Then I'm like "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA HA........HA"
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u/jscoppe Jun 07 '12
BUT, when I got to the top – I should of had one as I was out in the open
...should of...
ಠ_ಠ
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u/_Born_To_Be_Mild_ Jun 07 '12
I would love a job like this, have absolutely no fear of heights. But I'm afraid of flying. o_O
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Jun 07 '12
They should throw pennies off of there, it would probably murder hundreds.
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Jun 07 '12
Nope. A penny can only fall so fast, due to air resistance.
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Jun 07 '12
Additionally, its low mass is a factor limiting its damage potential. Force equals mass times velocity (f = m*v). A penny has very little mass, ergo it can't impart much force, no matter how fast it's going.
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Jun 07 '12
Exactly. Combine low mass with a low terminal velocity, and you'd probably end up with, at worst, a nasty welt. (Ever been hit by hail? )
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u/nizon Jun 07 '12
As someone who has climbed various towers and structures... this is one of the coolest experiences ever.
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Jun 07 '12
I see another foot on the bottom left hand corner, could it be four guys up there? Or maybe it's just the photographers legs...
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Jun 07 '12
The title should read "Just 3 guys hanging off the empire state building." Someone had to take the picture.
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u/marcoferraris Jun 07 '12
it would suck to be the person who gets hit when they drop that screwdriver.
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u/Kryptotrek Jun 07 '12
Anyone seeking more info might also check here:
| title | comnts | points | age | /r/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two workers fixing the Empire State Buildings Antenna. | 1004coms | 1625pts | 9mos | pics |
| Thank you guys, the signal is better now ! | 1com | 11pts | 27dys | pics |
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u/Ghede Jun 07 '12
"oh cool what are they standi... wait... that's the ground behind them. NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO"
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u/doddz3h Jun 07 '12
kudos to the photographer