Something is compelling about high places. Many people fear them, agoraphobia called, and can’t bear being more elevated than three stories off the ground.
Others adjust to it, and their daily commute to the 20th or 30th floor of a towering business complex is nothing.
For some, the thrill of reaching high places is an effortless act that gives them excitement and physical achievement.
But it’s what people climb that makes the acting special. There are mountains with paths and slopes and natural vistas, but humanity has made things so much taller and much sheerer.
Wu Yong was a daredevil. He climbed some of China’s highest buildings and snapped impossible, dizzying selfies to prove that he could.
The trend he mastered was called “rooftopping,” and it gained him a heft sum of social media followers. But what comes up must come down. Unfortunately for Wu, he went down the hard way.
10 /10 From On High
Wu Yong called himself “China’s First Rooftopper.” He was a 26-year-old stuntman with film experience and athletic training that allowed him to scale and climb the sheer vertical heights of modern skyscrapers.
His activities often took him to the peaks of downtown cityscapes, where he would take selfies and post them on Chinese social media to the tune of some 60,000 followers, whose donations made up the most of his income.
9 /10 Devil May Dare
The core aspect of “rooftopping” that differentiates it from other similar scaling and climbing “sports” is that it uses little or no safety equipment.
It’s just a man, a phone, and his hands and feet. Even the clothing is more photogenic than practical.
There are no harnesses or wires. It’s just climbing somewhere high while looking good and taking pictures or videos.