The Psychology of Rooftoppers

The majority of people may call them crazy, but are rooftoppers really? Ever since this trend began increasing in popularity after 2010, many teens and young adults have been trying their luck at getting the next best picture on the internet. "It's a contest between us to see who will go further than the last person" says twenty-five year old James Kingston. A high school drop-out who has dedicated his time to photography and extreme rooftopping stunts. These stunts consist of climbing the Moscow Bridge in Ukraine as well as his famous stunt of hanging off a crane in London. These are very dangerous stunts, but from a rooftoppers perspective it's much different.

Most would continue on to say that "They're stupidly risking their lives" or "They must be insane", but in reality that may not be completely accurate. When climbing a crane or large building or even hanging your legs off the edge of a skyscraper you have to have the right mindset. When doing these things your adrenaline is most likely going to be flying through the roof. This is a large factor in what draws people to rooftopping. "The feeling of being up there and staring death in the face, but also seeing the view is incredible" says James Kingston. Many rooftoppers are photographers and want to get the best perspective, one that no one else has seen yet.

It's a matter of how you think up there on the roofs or cranes or wherever you may be. "Whether you're ten feet or 150 meters (492 feet) above the ground, it takes the same amount of strength to hang off a ledge" says James Kingston "It's just a matter of getting over the height." This statement alone brings a light to how rooftoppers think. It makes complete sense though. For example when a person is hanging off of a pull-up bar it is taking the same amount of strength as it would if they were hanging off of a twenty story building. Facing our fears takes effort, but in the end it's all just a mind game. Once you get over the fear you can do just about anything.