Elevator surfing

Interior of an elevator shaft from an elevator surfer's point of view

Elevator surfing is an activity involving moving around on top of elevators, or jumping between moving elevators where possible.

Elevator surfing is illegal in most locations and very dangerous. Several people have died elevator surfing. Surfers can be crushed between the elevator and the top, sides, or bottom of the shaft, be struck by the counterweight, or simply slip or be knocked off and fall to their deaths.

Elevator surfing typically occurs in skyscrapers or on college campuses, especially those with tall buildings. Most large buildings have groups of elevators close together, which are most commonly used.

To begin, participants will usually go into such a building early in the morning, before too many of the people with normal reasons to be in the building arrive to use the elevators. Once in an elevator, they hold the elevator between floors and open the safety hatch. They then climb on top, release the emergency switch, and pull the last person out.

Another method of entry involves opening the exterior doors on the floor above the elevator, and jumping on from there. Doors are either forced or opened with an elevator key. While easier to execute, this is uncommon unless no others are nearby. Such an entry typically occurs while the building is closed. This typically means there isn't much movement with the elevators, which lowers the risk and involvement. Accomplices will sometimes press buttons on the inside of the elevators to provide the movement. Movement can also be provided by means of service controls located on top of the elevator car.

Recent history

In recent years practises of both elevator surfing, and its close relative train surfing, have become more widespread. In Toronto, late 2005, this fact was reiterated as the death of an eighteen year old boy was documented in both the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail newspapers.

The person in question, Canadian-born Louis Tornero Moffit was a political activist and renowned adrenaline junkie. In apparent defiance of the development of Toronto's Four Seasons Centre (a state of the art theatre complex) Louis had intended along with unknown accomplices to disrupt the completion of the theatre through undertaking a BASE jump within the five-tiered auditorium, seating over two thousand. The thrill seekers had intended to record the jump on hand-held video recorders and post the footage on the internet. However this would never come to be, due to the seizure of the video footage by the Toronto Police Service following the tragic death of one of the involved.

According to a report released by the TPS, Louis Tornero Moffit (deceased) had attempted to "surf" on the roof of an elevator as a further stunt when his parachute malfunctioned and deployed within the shaft. His accomplices operating the controls from within the elevator are rumoured to have then abandoned their mission, and their friend. Emergency services had been notified early in the morning following several witness reports of masked individuals leaving the cordoned off construction site. Louis was pronounced dead on the scene with cause of death being noted as: strangulation and massive trauma to the head and abdomen due to his harness and parachute becoming entangled with the machinery of the ascending elevator.

Completion of the Four Seasons Centre went ahead as planned, with the grand opening taking place on the eve of June 14, 2006.

References

• Kruszelnicki, Karl. "Surfing Medical Madness". ABC. Retrieved 2006-08-27.