LIVE VIDEO: Man climbing San Francisco skyscraper

ABC-TV San Francisco ^ | September 6, 2010 | ABC-TV-San Francisco

[DUMBGRUNT]

They slip!!!
Many years on rock and ice and this is one I would pass on.
Right after Goodwin did Sears tower I was out with friends and their friend was a TV reporter who had been inside Sears. He was 100% sure that the vacuum cups were sliding on the glass! Few years later I met Goodwin at the local cliffs. he said there was a grease film on the glass that made them slide!

[Erasmus]

“When there’s a Willis, there’s a way.”

[Roccus]

George Willig climbed 1 WTC in the 70's. IIRC, Mayor Koch had him fined a dime for every floor of the tower.

[Erasmus]

Maybe it was just condensation—that deadly dihydrogen monoxite.

Perhaps incidentally, the windows on the observation deck make it impossible to get really clear pix.

I was using a brand new 70-200 zoom; I had to check it out later to make sure it wasn’t at fault.

Don’t know if the problem was just the dirt and moisture on the windows, or something about the window glass itself.

[Roccus]

Correction, it was 2 WTC.

[Roccus]

OK. Now instead of trusting my memory, I decided to look up Willig’s feat. As I corrected myself up-thread, it was 2 WTC. The Mayor was Beame and the fine was 1 penny/floor.

I saw part of his ascent at the time, and my mind’s eye is still telling me, 1 WTC. Guess I’m just gettin’ old. LOL

[JSteff]

There is probably a law about being a nuisance or threat to safety too.

Sounds like some deadly force is required. After all it is about the safety of the overpaid city workers we are talking about here.

[bert]

Wood’s power grip cups are a standard glazier’s tool and have a substantial holding capacity. I can believe there might be slippage but on most glass, especially if it were wiped with a cloth, the cups should fast.