Eiffel Tower: Watch daredevil James Kingston climb iconic Paris landmark
Fearless James Kingston just added another free-climb video to his YouTube channel. This time, the British adventurer took on the Eiffel Tower − one of his goals for a long time.
"Plan A for the tower was to buy tickets to the second platform and climb out of one of the stairways. This immediately failed as it was just too busy. We didn't really have a plan B so we decided to commit to climbing right up the side from the ground and see what happens. We started the climb at 1am, narrowly avoiding the patrolling security," James explains on his YouTube video.
After climbing 65ft (20m) − the tower is 1,063ft (324m) − James and his friend had made it through the riskiest part of the climb and successfully went on unnoticed. They were able to reach the fully lit-up top platform − 896ft (273m) above the ground − before things started to go out of control.
"This is where we should have probably stopped, but my curiosity got the better of me. I unlocked the door, slowly crept in and was immediately hit with the sound of a walkie talkie going absolutely mental in French. It was clear we'd been spotted, so we legged it down a few stories and found a couple of holes inside the framework that we had no choice but to hide in," James continues.
The security was going up and down with torches during hours, even turning on all the tower's lights at some points but eventually gave up, leaving the two adventurers to play for a few more hours as the sun was rising in the city of lights.
"After a few more hours playing around on the tower, workers and tourists started coming up in the lifts. We were spotted again around 9am, so we climbed down and met with security. We were handcuffed and taken to the local police station, where we were held and questioned for around six hours before being released without charges," James admits.
He also had to promise the police that he would not try to climb the Eiffel Tower for three years.
Everything was worth it for the reckless thrill-seeker, who was able to share another breathtaking video with his 183,600 followers.
Earlier this year, Channel 4 aired a documentary on Kingston's climbing adventures called Don't Look Down.
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