Daily Archive for July 8th, 2008

Pictures/videos of Dean Sullivan’s jump/rappel off the Skylon Tower

Published
by
Graham
on July 8, 2008
in Niagara Falls Daredevils, Niagara Falls Events and Niagara Falls Videos
. 1 Comment

So, yesterday morning I headed over to the Skylon Tower and got there a little after 11:15. I thought Dean Sullivan was going to be jumping at 11:30. It was a beautiful Summer day, with a slight wind. The wind would pick up a bit from time to time (at one point the rope going from the top of the tower to the bottom was blown quite a bit across the base of the tower), but it never seemed too much. When Dean was ready for the jump, there was barely any wind.

As we waited for the jump, more people gathered. At around 11:20 there was about a hundred people there, and within a few minutes, there was another 100 people there. I would guess there was somewhere between 200 and 300 people who gathered to watch the jump. If anything, by the time Dean actually jumped just after 12:00 pm, there may have been less people as people got sick of waiting.

Since things were delayed, it gave me a chance to see who was there. I’m sure there were more, but I saw representatives from the following media outlets:

  • The River 105.1
  • WGRZ Channel 2 out of Buffalo - they brought a van with satellite transmission equipment
  • WIVB Channel 4 out of Buffalo
  • WKBW Channel 7 out of Buffalo
  • Tony Ricciuto from the Niagara Falls Review (I was standing beside him when he interviewed the guy from New Jersey for the article)
  • Cogeco local cable TV
  • CityTV out of Toronto
  • CHCH out of Hamilton
  • FallsTV (Niagara Falls Tourism)

There were also people wearing Daredevil Days shirts (this event was to promote that event). There were cameras on the building, but I don’t know who was operating those. The newspaper had said that Inside Edition was going to be there, but I didn’t see them and there is nothing on their site yet. There seemed to be a helicopter that circled a lot. I don’t know if that (or those) was part of the regular tours that happen or if they were there for the event.

Here are the pictures I took (video is below):


People were gathered on the balcony of the new Fallsview Casino smoking room


People were standing along the walkway between the Skylon Tower and the Fallsview Casino


People were sitting on the hill waiting for the event


There were two camera operators and some other people on top of the main building


There was a van from New York state…


…with a satellite transmitter on top. It turns out the van was from Channel 2 in Buffalo


This is a nice shot of what his drop was. Near the bottom of the tower you can see a thin white line on the right side, in front of the tower. That was his rope.


This is the top of the Skylon Tower before anything was ready


This is the top of the tower just as they started to get ready


This is the top of the Skylon Tower after he had dropped his rope. There was some sort of tarp under the rope at the top which I assume was so the rope didn’t rub against the concrete and fray/break


That is Dean’s head peering over the edge


Here he is just before he started his descent


Here he is partway down


As he reached the bottom, he disappeared from view. We certainly assumed he made it, but it wasn’t until he came to the edge that we knew for sure

Here is the video I took. You can view it here on the site, or view it on YouTube:

Lastly, the word has gotten out there already. Here is a list of places where I’ve read about the jump so far:

  • Daredevil drops from Skylon Tower - London Free Press (a Canadian Press article)
  • Canadian safely leaps from top of Skylon Tower - The Tonawanda News (Niagara Falls Review reprint)
  • Man attempts jump of Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls, ON - WIVB Channel 4 (original article)
  • Daredevil plunges face first off tower - Canoe CNews (Niagara Falls Review reprint)
  • Daredevil Dean - Welland Tribune (Niagara Falls Review reprint)
  • Who needs an elevator? - Niagara This Week (original article)
  • Daredevil does rappel in Niagara - Nanaimo Daily News (original article) - note: this is a good article that mentions how he burned/melted through 2 sets of gloves on the way down. If you look at the picture as he was at the edge of the building, he seems to be looking down (maybe at his hands?)

Big Weekend a Bit Bust for Tourism

Published
by
Graham
on July 8, 2008
in Niagara Falls New York, Niagara Falls News and Niagara Falls Tourism Industry
. 0 Comments

From the Niagara Falls Reporter:

Another long Fourth of July weekend has come and gone, and many in the tourism industry here are left feeling that the sun-drenched holiday missed yet another opportunity to capitalize on as many as 100,000 who passed through town, for the most part briefly, on their way to the state park, the casino or Canada.

At the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. facility in the former Artisan’s Alley at the corner of Rainbow Boulevard and First Street, sales of sightseeing tours were halted by the city after it was discovered that none of the salespeople had the required licenses.

On Main Street between Chilton and Cedar, the “Positively Main Street Art/Music/Food Festival” drew a smattering of curiosity-seekers, mostly from the surrounding neighborhood. The wide thoroughfare seemed ill-suited for a street fair, there was little respite from the blazing sun, and more than a few hungry attendees searched in vain around dinnertime for a sausage-and-peppers sandwich, long a mainstay of the Niagara Falls street-fair scene.

At the same time, a throng of confused tourists could be found on the city’s East Mall attempting to gain entrance to the closed Smokin’ Joe’s Family Fun Center in the former Wintergarden, the shuttered and unfortunately named Conference Center Niagara Falls, or anywhere else they might be able to get out of the sun for a moment and have a cold glass of lemonade.

“What the state is doing in downtown Niagara Falls is an utter disgrace,” state Sen. George Maziarz said. “They get a million dollars a year out of the city’s casino revenue, and on the biggest weekend of the tourist season there is absolutely nothing for tourists to do downtown.”

Juliebeane: Niagara Falls

Published
by
Graham
on July 8, 2008
in Niagara Falls Trips
. 0 Comments

Someone with a Blogger blog posted about a recent trip to Niagara Falls. There are pictures as well:

We made it to Niagara Falls. What a boring trip from Michigan, through Canada, to Niagara. I’m sorry if you live on a farm, but I am sick of seeing farms. They look the same, even in Canada. We did enjoy seeing the fifty billion Tim Horton’s along the way though. That’s a chain of donut/coffee shops in Canada and on the East Coast. They are as frequent as Starbucks. Hey, where were those Starbucks?

News from Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours

Published
by
Graham
on July 8, 2008
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

Last Thursday I received the latest newsletter from Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours. This is their first newsletter.

For now, the only way I am aware of signing up for the newsletter is by visiting the web site of the company that provides the newsletter service.

Daredevil Dean

Published
by
Graham
on July 8, 2008
in Niagara Falls Daredevils, Niagara Falls Events and Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Dean Sullivan, a 42-year-old daredevil from St. Catharines, rappelled from the Skylon Tower observation deck Monday. Wearing a harness, he hooked himself to a rope hanging from the top of the 158-metre tower and slid down face-first using his hands as a brake. It was a publicity stunt to promote the downtown Daredevil Days festival, Aug. 15 to 17.

With only his hands to brake his fall, daredevil Dean Sullivan jumped face-first off the Skylon Tower Monday - attached to only a rope - and landed safely 520 feet on the ground below as hundreds of spectators cheered his success.

The jump, which took place with no safety devices outside of the rope and the waist harness attached to it, occurred around noon.

Note: I’ll have my pictures and video up later today.