Stegofilia, buildering, city mountaineering … These are other names that this extreme sport receives, which, in essence, consists of climbing buildings, towers, cranes and other large structures as if it were the rock walls that are attacked in free climbing . Although harnesses are sometimes used by fans of the sport, they often rely solely on their ability not to fall.
The British mountaineer Geoffrey Winthrop Young was the first to document this practice, in 1895, when he made ascents on the rooftops of Cambridge University. Today, the Frenchman Alain Robert, better known as Spider-Man , is surely the most famous urban climber. In his 50s, he has climbed the 830-meter-high Burj Khalifa in Dubai; the Empire State, in New York; the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; or the Taipei 101 skyscraper, in Taiwan.
Often times, attempts are made without authorization , thus in many parts of the world bordering on the limits of legality. In fact, Robert himself has been arrested on several occasions.
