//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
“The Eiffel Tower has been one of my goals for quite a while,” daredevil free-climber James Kingston revealed. It was not an easy task, especially with security stalking him, and the amazing trek took over 8 hours, but Kingston can cross the Eiffel Tower off his list.
Kingston makes a living by climbing ridiculously high buildings and structures. His tremendous YouTube channel has nearly 200,000 subscribers and features stomach-churning videos of his brave achievements. In his latest feat, it was skirting around security that was more time-consuming work than the actual climb.
The adrenaline junkie planned to buy tickets to the second platform and climb out of one of the stairways, however it was too busy to escape without witnesses. Plan B was to climb right up the iconic iron lattice tower. However security all around France was ratcheted up following the Charlie Hebdo shootings that happened in January.
“We started the climb at 1 a.m. narrowly avoiding the patrolling security (which seemed more like the French army as they were in full camo & had massive guns) & wormed our way through what seemed like endless CCTV cameras,” Kingston said. “Once we reached about 20 meters up the side of the tower it appeared we’d made it through what would normally be the riskiest part of any climb. As far as I could tell, the tower was ours for the night.”
Kingston and his team continued to scale the tallest structure in Paris and finally reached the top platform, which was fully lit up. That would have been more than sufficient for most urban adventurers, only whetted Kingston’s appetite for more danger.
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 & found a couple of holes inside the framework that we had no choice but to hide in. Hours went by with security going up & down with torches & they even turned on all of the towers lights during their search. The lights finally went off and the tower was ours again so we began the wait for sunrise. After a few more hours playing around on the tower workers & tourists started coming up in the lifts.
Around 9 a.m., Kingston was spotted by security and agreed to finally come down. He and his team were handcuffed and taken to the local police station. They were questioned for around 6 hours before being released without charges. He did however have to promise that he wouldn’t climb the 1,063-foot tall tower again for 3 years. What a country, just do a pinky promise and you don’t go to jail.
“I can now officially tick the Eiffel Tower off my list,” Kingston said.