He’s good in the air (440ft above Wembley!)
IT was, he said, a ‘bit gusty’ as he stood on a 12-inch wide girder at a giddy 440ft above the home of English football.
But daredevil James Kingston kept his footing… and was more blown away by sheer exhilaration as he became the first person to stand on top of Wembley Stadium’s famous arch yesterday.
So relaxed was the 24-year- old, who tackled the stunt in normal training shoes, jeans and a baggy jumper, he even took selfies of himself and showed how on top of the world he felt by raising his arms in the air.
‘It was amazing,’ said the renowned free climber as he tucked into his prawn salad lunch afterwards. ‘It’s taken so long to plan that when you’re up there it hits you, “we’ve nailed it”.’
The hair-raising stunt took three months of planning and a team of 30 safety and security professionals before it was given the go-ahead. Usually Mr Kingston, of Southampton, climbs without any safety equipment but stadium chiefs’ rules were so stringent he had to wear a rope harness yesterday.
He was taken in a maintenance cradle, which runs through the 24ft diameter latticed arch, to within 30ft of the zenith – then climbed out and walked the rest.
‘My first visit to a stadium’
Bizarrely, Mr Kingston used to be scared of heights – a fear which he overcame by taking up climbing as a teenager. He said: ‘I have trained myself to be ready for anything.
‘It was a bit gusty up there and most of the beams are really slippery because they’re gloss painted.
‘But some have been resprayed and have a sandpaper-like feel which was better because they’re super-grippy.’
He added: ‘I like playing soccer more than watching it and don’t support any team. In fact, this was my first visit to a stadium. It was a weird experience to go to Wembley and climb it.’
The climb began around 7.30am amid little fanfare, as organisers were keen to discourage onlookers or copycat stunts. And despite early morning grey skies over north London, the clouds parted as Mr Kingston arrived at the top.
He was filmed from a helicopter and took footage of himself using the world’s first 4G- enabled camera – which sent ‘live stream’ video to gathered technology journalists in London’s West End.
Mr Kingston’s YouTube videos of previous climbs up cranes, bridges and other buildings have attracted more than 11 million views.
His past stunts include scaling the second tallest building in Dubai, for which he was arrested in November last year because he did not have permission.