Trump Tower Stunt Update: Veteran Climber Weighs In, Says Incident Could Have Been Deadly [VIDEO]
A 19-year-old climber has made headlines across the United States on Wednesday after he attempted to scale real estate mogul turned U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's headquarters using a number of industrial-grade suction cups.
In a rather dramatic, three-hour vertical cat-and-mouse game, the climber, whose name has not been released by authorities, cleverly avoided capture by police and rescue personnel. He climbed as high as the 21st floor of Trump Tower before ultimately being apprehended.
Police later identified the man as a 19-year-old from Virginia. After he was apprehended, authorities took him to a medical facility, where he was physically and psychologically evaluated.
As of writing, authorities have not announced what charges will be brought against the Trump Tower climber.
While the climber's stunt was ultimately cut short when two police officers grabbed him and yanked him inside the building, the three-hour incident nonetheless incited many gasps from spectators below.
As it turns out, the man's stunt, especially the way he climbed the tower, was extremely dangerous. Speaking to the New York Daily News, famous climbing expert Dan Goodwin, who climbed the World Trade Center using suction cups in 1983, stated that it was almost a miracle the Trump Tower climber was not hurt during his stunt.
Goodwin, who has been in the climbing business for decades, stated that the man's way of climbing was completely against the practices of experienced climbers like him. Apart from this, the man's equipment were all wrong as well.
"He needs to reevaluate everything about his equipment, his climbing abilities and his techniques. He wasn't climbing the way an experienced climber would," Goodwin stated.
"If he was, he would be mixing free-climbing with the suction cups, at least. An experienced climber would have been doing that instinctively. To me, that tells me that he was probably a political activist who was expressing himself."
Goodwin further stated that the Trump Tower climber could have given himself a far easier time had he used some equipment for his feet.
"He needs what's called an artier. It has a series of loops for your feet. You could climb it like it was a little ladder. I would have a little hook that was attached to my waist, and I would clip it into my suction cup, and I would lean back," the veteran climber said.
"You feel like you're gonna pop off, but in the back of your mind, you know the suction cup is the strongest at this point. The way he climbed is just the opposite. Every time he stood on it, it was strictly pull-down power, and that's at its weakest point," he added.
Though it still remains to be seen what the Trump Tower climber really aimed to do, a video he posted on YouTube the day before his fateful climb stated that he wishes to speak to the GOP candidate about something extremely important.
