6.7M views · Jan 10, 2008 · 5:52 · 3 HN recommenders · 5 mentions · discussed 2015–2025
Footage of British steeplejack Fred Dibnah climbing a chimney overhang at over fifty years old, without a harness. It is a short clip from his steeplejack work.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN shares it as a dizzying example of Dibnah's fearless chimney work, in threads about heights and climbing.
“the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy”HN comment, 2015
“Extra bonus video: here he is at age 50 scaling a chimney...”
Fred Dibnah scaling a chimney overhang at 50 without harness.
As an American, I had to Google Fred Dibnah since I had never heard of him. The quick-and-dirty: link Extra bonus video: here he is at age 50 scaling a chimney... this video . Made my palms a bit sweaty just watching it. Amazing that he didn't even use a harness.
“the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy”
Dizzying chimney overhang climb by Fred Dibnah.
If anyone is wondering how he got the ladders up the side of the chimney in the first place: link I rediscovered Fred on YouTube a couple of years ago, and spent far too much time watching pretty much everything I could find. As the title suggests, watching the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy: this video
“The steeplejack work of Fred Dibnah is quite a thing to watch.”
Steeplejack work of Fred Dibnah worth watching.
I free climbed radio towers on mesa's in the Pilbara as part of work experience in high school .. bit before health and safety was a thing. The steeplejack work of Fred Dibnah is quite a thing to watch. this video link
“one of the many Fred Dibnah videos on YouTube”
Example of chimney climbing safety practices.
Those are good points - and match what I've seen with arborists who climb trees, prune, and do full removals for a living - chunking trees down from the top, oftentimes while they're in them. A lot of safety procedures and best practices diverge wildly from those in other industries. I get the impression it's probably the same way with chimneys in the UK, given that industry's long history. [1] In arboriculture, the following weird things are acceptable(-ish, depending on the country): - The climber is often supported by a single non-redundant rope, unlike rope access in other fields where two ropes are required. - "Riding the ball", or using a crane to hoist a human load, is done in exceptional circumstances. - Some critical PPE gear is often hand-made, it's very common for climbers to splice their own ropes. - Even the most die-hard chainsaw-safety advocates will grudgingly acknowledge that sometimes situations call for one-handed use. Some of these industry practices are in direct-conflict with more broad OSHA and/or EN safety standards. It isn't that the industry disregards safety - most climbers and crews I know are very safety conscious. Rather, the situations are different enough that the risk-mitigation calculus arrives at different answers. Where a ladder climber may be not-always attached to the ladder, in the tree-care industry, that's utterly unacceptable. [1] eg, one of the many Fred Dibnah videos on YouTube this video
“How to climb a chimney overhang at 50+”
One in a list of Fred Dibnah videos.
Whole host of his videos are on Youtube, many hours worth: link link link link link link link *Other videos* - [Fred Dibnah laddering a chimney (Part 1)]( link ) - [Fred Dibnah laddering a chimney (Part 2)]( link ) - [Fred Dibnah How to climb a chimney overhang at 50+]( this video ) - [Fred Dibnah How to erect a chimney scaffold]( link ) - [Fred Dibnah Tribute (2004)]( link )
