Undisclosed location.
We tried to get an early start to avoid all of the people who might be hanging around at the building, as it is well-known for attracting tourists and photographers. Unfortunately, things don't always go to plan, and Helmar ended up waiting for Jordan for almost an hour. Of course, Jordan knew that waiting was obviously better because of the lighting conditions of the project, and was careful to plan his schedule according to his photographic spider-sense.
Upon arriving, we found the situation a little unnerving. We approached from the bridge above, looked down only to see two surveyors making their way onto the premises. We had no interest in attracting their attention, so we waited. Eventually, they walked out of sight, but not so far, and we decided to move down to the staircase and debate what we should do.
After setting down the gear, we sat on the steps for a while to figure out if we should go ahead with the project; meanwhile, a few guys showed up with camera equipment. We approached them and asked if perhaps they had a permit to be filming there and if they planned to go inside. They didn't, and told us that you can't get inside, but we new better :)
We all entered the grounds together, and while the others busied themselves with filming some of the ruins, we began our 'entrance procedure,' which consists of several steps:
1. Climb a tree to gain access to the first roof
2. Walk along sketchy roof to reach broken window
3. attach rope to sharp-edged pillar, crawl through tiny space, and lower 10m down
4. lower backpacks separately because you can't fit with backpack through the crack
They had this building pretty much sealed up tight, except for a few small exceptions which we were able to take advantage of. We had actually been inside a few weeks before, so we knew how to get inside and had already scoped out the line. Once again, the plan changed, the original idea was to go from the pillars between the windows, but the location is very near to a well-trafficked road and our cautiousness told us this was not the best idea. Instead we rigged from two large steel pillars on either side, we couldn't go directly across because there was something hanging in the middle, but the line ended up about 45m long. We rigged on threaded tubular with a dynamic backup, very loose, Helmar is quoted at saying 1.5 m sag.
Jordan got on the line first, and had some trouble getting his head straight. But after a couple of catches, he sent in both directions several times. Helmar walked onsight fullman, much to the shagrin of Jordan :)
Some kids ended up coming by and watching for a while, we asked them politely not to make too much noise and try not to draw attention. 'Of course,' they replied. Then we hear from the side of the building closest to the Subway platform, that they are using rocks to try and break the lock on the large metal door...
But all in all, a good day :)
no police, a new line, slacklife.
We were really really really hoping that Janek could be there with us, but unfortunately he couldn't make it, but we both walked the line an extra time for him :)
