Dan Goodwin

Dan Goodwin
Born	(1955-11-07)November 7, 1955 Kennebunkport, Maine
Nationality	United States
Other names	SpiderDan SkyscraperMan
Known for	Building Climber Rock/Sports Climber Skyscraper Defense Advocate
Website	http://www.skyscraperdefense.com/

Dan Goodwin is an American building, rock, and sports climber originally from Kennebunkport, Maine, and living as of 2010 in Lake Tahoe, California. His life story, entitled Skyscraperman, written by Dan Goodwin, co-written and edited by D. B. Guidinger, has a foreword by Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man. It was published on January 1, 2010, in an e-book format.

Building climber

On November 21, 1980, Dan Goodwin witnessed the burning of the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, resulting in the death of 84 people. Because of a rescue attempt Goodwin had witnessed on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, he believed many of the people trapped in the MGM Grand could be rescued. However, when he presented his plan to the on-location fire boss, which included his climbing up to the trapped individuals and connecting cables to the floors to enable rescue baskets to be ferried to and from helicopters, he was called a "lunatic" and threatened with arrest. The day after the fire, he approached a Las Vegas Fire Department fire chief and once again presented his ideas on rescue. He was told he needed to climb a building to learn of the dangers of high-rise firefighting and rescue. As a result, the following Memorial Day, Goodwin climbed the then-tallest building in the world, the then-named Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

History of Building Climbs
Date	Name of the building	Location	Height	Tool
May 25, 1981	Sears Tower	Chicago, Illinois, United States	110 Floors	Suction Cups / Camming Device / Sky Hooks
November 7, 1981	Renaissance Tower	Dallas, Texas, United States	56 Floors	Suction Cups / Hands & Feet
November 11, 1981	John Hancock Center	Chicago, Illinois	100 Floors	Self-Made Climbing Device
February 7, 1982	Simon Bolivar Centre	Caracas, Venezuela	30 Floors	Hands & Feet
February 14, 1982	Parque Central Complex	Caracas, Venezuela	56 Floors	Suction Cups / Sky Hooks / Hands & Feet
May 30, 1983	World Trade Center - North Tower	New York, New York, United States	110 Floors	Suction Cups / Camming Device
March 9, 1984	Nippon Television Tower	Tokyo, Japan	10 Floors	Suction Cups
February 27, 1985	Bonaventure Hotel	Los Angeles, California, United States	30 Floors	Suction Cups / Hands & Feet
June 26, 1986	CN Tower	Toronto, Canada	100 Floors	Hands & Feet (scaled twice on same day)

Notable building climbs

Sears Tower

On Memorial Day, May 25, 1981, wearing a homemade Spider-Man suit and using suction cups, camming devices, and sky hooks, Goodwin successfully scaled the then-tallest building in the world, the 110-story Sears Tower, now known as the Willis Tower, in Chicago, Illinois. For seven hours Goodwin fought severe winds, slippery glass, and repeated attempts by the Chicago Fire Department to stop him. A few feet below the top Goodwin taped an American flag to the building to honor his father who fought in the Korean War. Chicago’s press dubbed him "Spider Dan". Goodwin stated the reason he scaled the building was to call attention to inadequacies in high-rise firefighting and rescue.

Renaissance Tower

On November 7, 1981, Goodwin was in Dallas, Texas, United States where, disguised as a homeless person, he approached the 56 story Renaissance Tower, stripped to his Spider-Man suit, and, using suction cups, his hands, and his feet, successfully climbed the building. At the ensuing press conference, Goodwin said the reason he made the climb was to keep a promise he made to a young Dallas resident stricken with Cystic Fibrosis.

John Hancock Center

Four days later, on November 11, 1981, wearing a wetsuit and using a climbing device he designed for the building, Goodwin scaled the 100 story John Hancock Center in Chicago. He again met resistance from the Chicago Fire Department, which, while Goodwin was climbing at height of over 30 stories, directed a gushing fire hose toward Goodwin, slammed fire axes onto windows as he approached them, and blocked his path with long poles. At one point Goodwin, using a rope, swung across the building in an attempt to elude the fire department. Chicago’s Mayor, Jane Byrne, intervened and allowed Goodwin to continue to the top. Once again, Goodwin said he had made the climb to call attention to the inability to successfully fight fires in high-rise buildings.

North Tower of the World Trade Center

On Memorial Day, May 30, 1983, using suction cups for the first four floors before switching to a homemade camming device on the building’s window washing track, Goodwin successfully scaled the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, United States. Just prior to reaching the top, Goodwin attached an American flag to the side of the tower in tribute to all Americans who died in war. Again, Goodwin said he made the climb to call attention to the inability to rescue trapped building occupants from the upper levels of skyscrapers.

CN Tower

On June 26, 1986, Goodwin successfully scaled what was at the time the world’s tallest structure, the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. Using only his hands and feet he climbed one side, rappelled down, then, seconds later, climbed the far side and rappelled down again. Goodwin's climb was a sponsored publicity event celebrating the tower's ten-year anniversary.

Rock and sports climbing

As a rock climber, Goodwin made several first ascents of challenging climbs and regularly broke with rock climbing tradition by free soloing without a rope, performing the One Arm Fly Off, and the Flag Maneuver. Goodwin responded to those in the rock climbing community who disparaged his acrobatic maneuvers as "stunts" by saying he was "sport climbing" and therefore not bound by the rules of traditional rock climbing.

Rock climber Jeff Lowe, along with Dick Bass, the owner of Utah's Snowbird ski resort, appreciated Goodwin's innovative climbs and invited Goodwin to build the climbing wall for the First International Sport Climbing Championship held at Snowbird in 1988. Goodwin did not participate in the championship, serving instead as a commentator for CBS Sports.

History of First Ascents
Date	Location	Climb	Rating
January 1980	Joshua Tree National Park, California	White Rasterfarie	V3+
November 1980	Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada	Ixtlan	5.11c
February 1984	Joshua Tree National Park, California	Apollo	5.12d
July 1984	Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah	Fallen Arches	5.13c
August 1984	Quoddy Head State Park, Maine	Maniac	5.13c
August 1984	Quoddy Head State Park, Maine	Stiletto	5.12b
August 1984	Quoddy Head State Park, Maine	Yellow Dagger	5.11c
August 1984	Quoddy Head State Park, Maine	Triangulation	5.12b
November 1986	Tahoe Donner, California	Neanderthal Man	5.12a
November 1986	Smith Rock State Park, Oregon	Sign of the Times	5.12d

The Skyscraper Defense Act

Following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Goodwin wrote the first version of the Skyscraper Defense Act, which calls for a special section within the United States government for skyscraper defense.

Gallery

• 
  The Sears Tower
  (now the Willis Tower)
• 
  The Renaissance Tower in Dallas
• 
  The John Hancock Center in Chicago
• 
  New York City's World Trade Center towers
• 
  The CN Tower in Toronto

External links

• SkyscraperDefenseAct
• BBC news report on climbing of the Sears Tower
• Buildering, Climbing Buildings