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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 25, 2016 - 04:37pm PT
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On May 25, 1981, 'Spiderman' Dan Goodwin climbed the Sears Tower in Chicago. It took him 7 hours to ascend the 1400+' at the time the tallest building in the world. He used a specially made clamp that slotted into the window washing tracts to ascend the side of the building. When officials tried to stop his upward progress he used suction cups to move sideways into another tract.
Halfway up the building Goodwin finally agreed to tie into a safety harness on a window washing scaffold so he could continue. He was arrested at the top.
More on Dan Goodwin here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Goodwin
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 25, 2016 - 05:25pm PT
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"On Memorial Day, May 30, 1983, using suction cups for the first four floors before switching to a camming device he connected to the building’s window-washing track, Goodwin successfully scaled the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Goodwin attached an American flag, the same one he taped to the Sears Tower in 1981, to the upper-most floor of the North Tower in tribute to Americans who died in war. Goodwin said he made the climb to call attention to the inability to rescue trapped occupants from the upper levels of skyscrapers."
Apparently, there was no great stir in the offices of the FDNY over this problem.
Nice of you to remember, Bruce.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 25, 2016 - 05:33pm PT
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Robert
From FB page--appeared in thread on stemming here recently.
Some of us are not easily impressed by what they consider "stunts."
I find these stunt men to be fun beings with some sort of message.
Angels, even.
CamRon could unbend or lighten up or just STFU, but it's a forum.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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May 25, 2016 - 08:17pm PT
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" . . . he broke with rock climbing tradition by climbing without a rope, performing acrobatic maneuvers including the one arm fly-off and flag maneuver . . ." (Wiki)
One arm fly-off ?
????
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pn
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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May 25, 2016 - 08:22pm PT
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Hey Camaron, Because I remember Spidermans stunts I appreciate the post from Bruce.
Thanks for posting Bruce
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WBraun
climber
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May 25, 2016 - 08:28pm PT
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I'd be scared shitless doing this especially without a rope.
Spiderman Dan Goodwin and Alain Roberts were way cool.
They un-drooled the sterile mundane urban environment and made hearts pound ....
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KP Ariza
climber
SCC
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May 26, 2016 - 12:37am PT
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The crux moves of that route were almost identical to those of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades in TM as I remember it. Before it fell into the ocean that is. Insecure offsize finger/thin hands. Don't be fooled by the posing for the camera with big hair and pink undies, that was one badass free solo ascent. Especially considering it was over three decades ago.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 26, 2016 - 07:24am PT
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Memorial Day, 1983. I had just moved from Oxnard, where I worked installing water well pumps and was in the best climbing shape ever. I had sustained an eye injury and that was all she wrote for heavy lifting, so I came to Merced with my little girl to recuperate. I kinda lost interest in climbing because I could not do it, suddenly.
In the time I spent with the folks, I'd seen a TV show featuring John Bachar free soloing on Lost Horse Wall, probably in 1982, but I saw it in 1983. This was about the time when climbing really became more prominent in the eye of the public. And it was thanks to the lack of a rope, for the most part.
Frankly, I knew it wasn't for me--I'm too lazy to work that hard.
It was still compelling to watch these "stunts."
NOTHING attracts human interest more than the spectre of imminent death. History shows this time and again. The Roman "Games" and Wild West Shows are two primary examples.
If you want people to notice, threaten to scare them to death or put your life at risk and film it.
It's too bad what happened as a result of the interest aroused by Dan and John and Alain and the rest of the crowd I will call The Young and the Ropeless.
SPIDER--That was a good slogan in the Willis Tower link.
"110 floors, countless stories."
edit: rather than do another post, I'll just add this video and the commentary from ewtube.
The Telephonica Ascent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csEAZCKlld8
Published on Sep 29, 2014
On March 1st, 2014, Dan Goodwin scaled the Telephonica Building in Santiago, Chile for Stan Lee's SuperHuman TV series. Talk about coming full circle. Stan Lee was Dan''s age (watch interview at end of video), when Stan received a call from the District Attorney in Chicago, wanting to know if he put Dan up to climbing the World's tallest building dressed as SpiderMan. Who would have guessed, 33 years later, Dan would be climbing a building for him!
Watch as Dan establish a New World Record for the longest lead climb on a single rope: 453'
Originally, Dan intended to scale the building without a rope as he did on the World Trade Center, the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, the Millennium Tower, and the CN Tower, which he free soloed with his hands in feet [sic]. Unknowingly, the attorneys representing the building owners, made the ascent far more dangerous because of the weight of the rope. By the time Dan reached the summit the rope weighed nearly 42 lbs!
Ascent time: 2 hrs 15 min
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Tom Patterson
Trad climber
Seattle
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May 26, 2016 - 08:22am PT
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I like Dan. I like what he did. We'd done some bouldering together for a couple of days at Woodson not long before he did the Sears Tower, and I thought it was pretty cool then, and pretty cool now. No need to take potshots at someone for doing something most of us wouldn't have the nerve to do.
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brotherbbock
climber
Alta Loma, CA
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May 26, 2016 - 08:30am PT
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We were in Paris the week a guy climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Authorities tried to intercept him at the different platforms but he was able to evade them and make upward progress. Listening to his headphones the entire time he completely ignored authorities demands and kept ascending. When he finally got to the top he faced outward and proceeded to do a swan dive for the last 984 ft ride of his life. The next day was business as normal, the hordes of tourists had no idea what had just happened the day prior.
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rick sumner
Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
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May 26, 2016 - 05:38pm PT
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I crossed paths with this guy at Calaveras in 1981 and teamed up for the 2nd, or 3rd, or whatever ascent of Set The Controls For the Heart of the Sun. We didn'the exactly run up the thing, in fact we probably spent more time working it than his later tower climbs.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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May 26, 2016 - 05:42pm PT
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Ah....the apex of climbing. Was it really 35 years ago....it's been all downhill for quite sometime then.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 26, 2016 - 06:06pm PT
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It's on the upward swing, Jim. Has been for quite some time.Snagged from Valley Uprising.
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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May 26, 2016 - 07:54pm PT
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Met him at his place in Lake Tahoe. Had a hell of a boulder in his yard. Dug a big hole in front to make it bigger.
Funny thing...if you google "Dan Goodwin suction cups" a picture of Locker shows up in the mix.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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May 27, 2016 - 06:21am PT
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I used to climb on Dan's backyard Boulder. Good guy. I'm still friends with his former girlfriend.
Good guy.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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May 27, 2016 - 10:08pm PT
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What does (did) he do for a living? Just curious.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 28, 2016 - 06:52am PT
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^^^Good question.
If your building needs repair
Ivan's the man to see.
He goes by the nicknames Eigerman and the Canadian Spiderman.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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May 28, 2016 - 07:10am PT
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He is/was a contractor, jgill.
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