If you’ve never heard of “rooftopping,” you’re a lucky soul. For the uninitiated, It’s the extreme sport of climbing up to the roofs of tall skyscrapers and taking pictures and/or videos of the terrifying views.
They can get pretty crazy, but most of the time they generate really beautiful, if not heart-stopping, pictures —which the rooftoppers post on Instagram and on personal websites.
Here’s an example:
That picture was posted by @claireschilling. She posts more casual pics (if you can call dangling off a skyscraper casual) while others post videos of dares, do pull-ups, and run or jump around.
(Well here’s what I have to say: No, thanks!)
“On top of a building you can’t think of anything else,” Schilling said to CNN, “The thrill is big enough to occupy your mind.”
Sadly, one of the more famous rooftoppers, Wu Yongjing, recently died in early November, as China Daily reported. He was known on the Internet as “the Extreme.” In the report on his death, the paper wrote that “From his interactions with his audience, it seems [Wu] really enjoyed the attention. But with all the likes and comments, he overestimated his own abilities and finally lost his life because of that feeling. Had Wu not been so popular on livestreaming apps, he might not have died.”
Rooftopping isn’t a new thing. It’s been going on for a while, with the feats escalating with each post. Though it only recently rose to popularity in China because of the ban on video sharing sites like YouTube, it’s growing quickly and taking over.
Even so, you won’t catch me dangling my feet off a ledge anytime soon. I’ll still be comfy in bed watching Netflix.
Images: (1, 2)