Wild in the Streets (cont.)

You Are Here:

Home >> Wild in the Streets (cont.)

Today's Question
What should you do if you run into a cougar in the backcountry? answer

What is the number one backcountry skill people should learn? answer

Today's Question
What are the five best environmental movies of all time? answer

What are the greenest colleges? answer

What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Outside Magazine October 2001

Page:

Adventure
Wild in the Streets (cont.)


	Spies like us: Reneé Rogers commits another act of trespass, July 2001

ANOTHER NIGHT, a Saturday. 10 p.m. Back on the town with the Jinxsters. After two hours in the bowels of Grand Central Terminal, navigating maintenance and train tunnels, we make our way to the roof. My adventures with Jinx have me convinced that its members could use a few days in a climbing gym—they are clumsy at best—and I have half a mind to buy them each a good helmet. Still, moving about the roof of Grand Central in the rain, I feel the buzz that comes only from ducking under the safety railings to see what you can see. Looking up at the Chrysler Building, all the while afraid of falling or being caught—it feels like the final moments of Blade Runner. Like I'm 12 years old. Which is to say, I'm having a blast.

THE WELL-EQUIPPED SEWER RAT

It's never too late to live out fantasies that involve climbing into or crawling through the darkest corners of your hometown. But don't be a witless tourist. Gear up so you live to tell it, and peruse the resources below so you can impress the cutie at the bar with your worldly knowledge of this figurative—and literal—underground pastime. Finally, and this is rather key, please do steer clear of the third rail.

TOOLS
Newcon Optik Monocular Night Vision Scope ($449), helpful in peering down intriguing passageways. Nalgene Lexan water bottle ($8.50), because steam tunnels tend to be hot. Petzl Meteor A40 Helmet ($75), to protect your noggin from crumbling masonry.

WEB SITES

Dark Passage, www.darkpassage.com, where art and adventure intersect. Urban Exploration, www.urbanexploration.com, a forthcoming UE portal. Jinx Magazine, www.jinxmagazine.com, home of the men in black.

BOOKS AND VIDEOS
The Urban Adventure Handbook, by Alan S. North (Ten Speed Press, out of print, $12 used), an indispensable how-to. The Meadowlands, by Robert Sullivan (Scribner, $23), armchair travel through postindustrial Jersey. The Warriors (1979), a primer on how to get to Coney Island by subway in the off-hours. C.H.U.D. (1984)—it stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. Any questions?

Page: