A 21-year-old climber scrambled up a London skyscraper Thursday — stopping halfway to use his vape —and marked his second ascend in a little over a week, and his third ever.
George King-Thompson of Oxford, England, climbed a 23-story, 305-foot, residential building without ropes in 10 minutes, according to The Associated Press (AP). He took on the more daunting Stratosphere Tower on Aug. 3, successfully climbing 384 feet, the outlet noted, and during the latest climb, he managed to hit a puff of a CBD vape two stories from the top of the building.
“I know how to get into that mindset, I know how to not be overwhelmed by fear but to control it and utilize it, and use it to my advantage, and that’s what I do every single climb and that’s what I did today,” he told The AP following the climb.
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“No matter how easy the technical climb is and aspect of it is, you can never underestimate the potential for death,” he said. “So every climb, I treat and focus with the same level of intensity, otherwise it could be fatal.”
King-Thompson also told MyLondon News that he scaled the tower in order to raise awareness for climate change following flooding in London in July.
“I was in London a couple of weeks ago and there was a heatwave it was f*cking hot, and then a week later I was in Stratford and this Stratford station was under f*cking water,” King-Thompson said, according to MyLondon News. “And I was like, this is unbelievable. When I saw that flood I thought, what can I do to help raise awareness?”
King-Thompson was arrested in 2019 for climbing the U.K.’s tallest skyscraper, The Shard, and served three months in prison for trespassing charges, The AP reported. (RELATED: Chinese Man Famous For Scaling Skyscrapers Films His Own Death As Stunt Goes Horribly Wrong)
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“I have no issues with the police … They make my challenges more interesting,” he wrote in an Instagram caption Thursday. “I love playing the game and winning. I love the planning aspect of my challenges. Right down to the tiniest of detail.”