For many of us, the fear of heights prevents us from riding roller coasters, wanting to skydive or even adding climbing Mount Everest to our bucket lists. For the rest of us, the adrenaline rush of doing these things is a feeling that can't be replaced. But even if we're daredevils at heart, we might not have enough courage to do what this brave YouTuber just did.
Adventurer and professional free climber James Kingston had the brilliantly insane idea to climb the world's tallest residential building, documenting his solo climb from his point of view so that the audience can get a taste of just how terrifying and exhilarating it was without them having to experience it for themselves.
Located in Dubai, the Marina 101 features 101 floors aboveground that consist of 506 apartments and 281 hotel rooms. Coming in at 1,399 feet, the Marina 101 is the tallest residential building that has ever been built.
While exploring the views inside the skyscraper may seem like a safer choice, Kingston decided to climb the building to take in the views while standing atop the city of Dubai.
It took the solo climber about an hour and a half to get to the roof of the building. He did so by climbing a crane to get up to the first 50 meters. Kingston then climbed the stairs for an hour out in the warm, dry air, while "trying not to die of dehydration," something that was worrisome since he only took a small water bottle with him.
Once he reached the rooftop, he had some time to chill and take some pictures since the sun wasn't yet up. As it began to get lighter out, Kingston then made his way to the backside of a crane that ran up the side of the building that is used as a counterweight.
"Put it this way ... you'd be dead if you fell off the top of the crane and landed on top of the building," Kingston said.
From here, he watched the sunrise and soaked in the sights — that is, until the crane started moving.
"Out of nowhere the crane fired up and things started twisting and moving. I had no idea what was going on so I climbed back down to where the crane driver's cabin was to see if I could see anyone," he said.
While climbing the building is illegal, he didn't run into any trouble, even chatting with the crane operator, who then let him climb to the end of the crane's arm.
He describes his climb on the arm as very steep and said it was "completely covered in grease," making it the most slippery crane he had climbed.
If you're holding your breath, don't worry, he safely made it to the top and lived to tell the tale. He also revealed he will release a video about the climb down, along with more stories.
This isn't the only noteworthy building Kingston has climbed. The pro free climber previously released videos of climbing the Eiffel Tower and the Wembley Arch, as well showing off his parkour skills by jumping rooftops in Cambridge.
Check out this POV solo climb of the world's tallest residential building below.
Source: Gizmodo
