Thread: Dangerous and Crazy Trend in Russia - filming yourself risking it all

I read an article about this absolutely mad trend in Russia. OMG
How many people have to die until this game stops being cool?

It reminds me of the "chicken" game that British kids play with trains, but it was never as dangerous as this seems to be.

Scary viewing if you are afraid of heights! There are tons of videos like this on Youtube, mostly with Russians. What is going on?

...


Oh my stomach can't take any more!!!
And how do they get up in these towers, should be thoroughly sealed off.

I have never heard of that.

OMG!!




And I was beginning to think that Russians were normal people.... LOL!!!

Somebody should have called the police!

Originally Posted by Marcus

I have never heard of that.

I read about it in the swedish paper. They only said that the kids do it for the adrenalin rush and post the video on youtube. Looks like RT has covered it too.

Here is a news story about it>

Actually not really a new trend It's been going on for at least 5-6 years in russia. While you call it dangerous and crazy, I'd say thrilling and daring
I am myself is kind of an adrenaline addict, unfortunately I'm afraid of heights :/ So I'm stuck on ground level haha.
I agree that those videos makes my stomach tingle though

And for getting into those structures, all of them are more or less open and easy accesible. I don't know if you ever been to a construction site of the sort, but even here in sweden, most of the doors and stuff are open.
UErs, aka Urban Explorers often uses construction sites to get to places where normal human beeings usually dont have acces to. (I know that UErs usually go to old ancient places, but still)

Incidentally, there's a theory that people don't fear heights as much as they fear the urge to jump. Have you ever had an eerie feeling when you stand on a brink of a roof or something high and can barely restrain yourself from diving into the void?

Originally Posted by Man About Town

Incidentally, there's a theory that people don't fear heights as much as they fear the urge to jump. Have you ever had an eerie feeling when you stand on a brink of a roof or something high and can barely restrain yourself from diving into the void?

you need to quit on that stuff, man, you can't fly

Seriously
As a man who afraid of heights I can tell that hypotheses doesn't work for me. I'm afraid of fall and I don't feel any urge to jump, only urge to runaway somewhere safe But I only afraid when I can see the height below and if it's open air I'm not afraid inside building or elevator

PS: I remember "funny" moments when I had to work on a 6 meter height having only half a dozen of two-by-fours under my feet and nothing else. You get used to it eventually, after you sweat through your bones

Думаю, что это действительно тренд.
Специалисты наверное могут сформулировать причины. Почему именно у нас и именно сейчас.
Наверное сочетание нескольких факторов:
- стремление к удовольствиям, как основной принцип жизни в последние 20 лет.
- традиционная алкоголизация населения.
- сложности реализации молодых людей в обычной жизни.
- инфантилизм и отсутствие ответственности как массовое явление.
и т.д.

Вот ещё пример: Прыжок с моста оказался печальным - YouTube

Originally Posted by Fester

Actually not really a new trend It's been going on for at least 5-6 years in russia. While you call it dangerous and crazy, I'd say thrilling and daring
I am myself is kind of an adrenaline addict, unfortunately I'm afraid of heights :/ So I'm stuck on ground level haha.
I agree that those videos makes my stomach tingle though

And for getting into those structures, all of them are more or less open and easy accesible. I don't know if you ever been to a construction site of the sort, but even here in sweden, most of the doors and stuff are open.
UErs, aka Urban Explorers often uses construction sites to get to places where normal human beeings usually dont have acces to. (I know that UErs usually go to old ancient places, but still)

Yeah, yeah.... I know it's not new but the videos are good viewing, aren't they?
I think it's dangerous and should be stopped.... but of course I see that at the same time it can be a buzz - at least they are not hurting anyone but themselves, or damaging property. And the Russians are definitely "leading experts" in this particular sport - nobody else on Youtube is as daring and dangerous.

Originally Posted by Man About Town

Incidentally, there's a theory that people don't fear heights as much as they fear the urge to jump. Have you ever had an eerie feeling when you stand on a brink of a roof or something high and can barely restrain yourself from diving into the void?

Yeah, I get that! It is so creepy. It particularly hits me when I am walking across a high bridge. Sometimes also when I am waiting for the train or metro. I don't know why I get such an awful idea into my head, it is particularly disturbing since it reminds me of the suicide of a family member. I am not suicidal in the least. But I picture in my head that I jump the barrier and..... Ugh!

I've been scared of heights ever since I was on a school trip and a boy almost threw me off a cliff, as a "joke". I really thought he'd do it until he started laughing and pulled me back. But I am scared of heights ever since.

First video filmed in my native town. My friend who works in local police says there are several kids a year who fall from these masts (there are six of them here, they are 250 meters high each and totally abandoned. I wrote about them here several years ago). For police these kamikazes are really a pain in the ass.

About height fear. A man can get used to almost anything. I'm afraid of height generally. But when I was a student I had a side-job installing air-conditioners. First time I had to hang out of a window at some hight floor to install an outdoor unit I was afraid as hell. I was dropping wrenches and other tools down because my hands we shaking due to fear. But after a couple of months I was hanging from a window leaving only my heels inside (my partner was handing me to them, there wasn't any other support) at 20+ floor and making my job with an absolutely cold heart. I worked about 2 years at this job and after a year or so after I quit it the fear of height has returned. Now when I'm remembering some moments of that job and the things I did I'm starting shaking because of horror. But when I was doing it I was absolutely steady and calm.

When I was a kid I used to examine all the roofs in all the neighbouring buildings. We loved to climb high tower cranes. However, while I was able to reach only the cabin, a friend of mine avanced much higher, to the farther edge of the horizontal arm, to the wheel where the ropes hang. And he then climbed down by those ropes to the crane hook and sat on it for a while and after that he climed up and made all that way back to the cabin.

And we also used to race on beams or on the edges of walls at construction sites.

But now what's becoming more and more populare is this:

http://<a href="http://www.youtube.c... - YouTube</a>

Originally Posted by Basil77

But when I was a student I had a side-job installing air-conditioners.

Did you feel that it was safe? There are a few rather scary videos about it on youtube:
Crikey!!! Somebody installing an airconditioner on the 12th floor, in Russia:

Originally Posted by Hanna

of course I see that at the same time it can be a buzz - at least they are not hurting anyone but themselves, or damaging property. And the Russians are definitely "leading experts" in this particular sport - nobody else on Youtube is as daring and dangerous.

In the US, certain northeast Native American tribes have a long history of working on skyscraper construction, going back to -- well, to the earliest days of steel skyscrapers. It has sometimes even been claimed that fear of heights is "genetically hardwired," and these Indians lack this "normal human instinct" because they carry some sort of recessive mutant gene not found in other ethnic groups! But, apparently, it's just testosterone and machismo:

"In 1907 96 men were killed when a span of the Quebec Bridge collapsed during construction; 35 of them were Indians from Kahnawake. The dead were buried in the Kahnawake cemetery under crosses made of steel beams. Your average construction worker might have decided it was time to go into a safer line of work, but not the Mohawks. From that day forward every young male on the reservation was convinced that risking your neck on high steel was the coolest calling this world could offer."

And what self-respecting young Russian man would want to admit that he has smaller balls than an Iroquois?

Here's a base jump gone wrong:


(Note: Contains a curse word at the very end)

Also--he survived.

Here's a nice successful jump and the Moscow Microsoft Office on the background is seen very well



Here I think the building is

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

In the US, certain northeast Native American tribes have a long history of working on skyscraper construction, going back to -- well, to the earliest days of steel skyscrapers. It has sometimes even been claimed that fear of heights is "genetically hardwired," and these Indians lack this "normal human instinct" because they carry some sort of recessive mutant gene not found in other ethnic groups! But, apparently, it's just testosterone and machismo:

"In 1907 96 men were killed when a span of the Quebec Bridge collapsed during construction; 35 of them were Indians from Kahnawake. The dead were buried in the Kahnawake cemetery under crosses made of steel beams. Your average construction worker might have decided it was time to go into a safer line of work, but not the Mohawks. From that day forward every young male on the reservation was convinced that risking your neck on high steel was the coolest calling this world could offer."

And what self-respecting young Russian man would want to admit that he has smaller balls than an Iroquois?

Interesting info, but hope it was not a case that they HAD to risk their lives to make a living. I mean, if somebody wants to have a really dangerous job, it should be by choice, and the employer should have done as much as they can to minimize the risk...
The mutant gene would have been more impressive if it had meant they had the skill to actually not fall or get injured... I mean just being more foolhearty can't be much of a benefit can it? It just means a bigger risk of dying in an accident.
Similar to some of those airconditioner installation guys. I get a strong feeling they are not taking as many safety precautions as they probably can.
However I have never lived in a country where airconditioning is common, so I don't know anything about how they should be installed or what the normal safety precautions are.

Here is a picture that I've seen on many postcards - workers building a skyscraper in New York. Hard to imagine this is for real!!