Tag Archives: security
Above Montreal
It was the first time I ran into security while on a rooftop. I was sitting on the edge of the roof and a door opened about 20 feet away. The guy spotted me immediately. He barely spoke english and my grade 9 french was shit. I didn’t understand half the stuff he was going on about, but I figured he saw the camera and tripod and thought I was supposed to be up there. After a friendly wave, he left me alone and headed back inside.
BUT….
A while later on an adjacent connected rooftop we ran into another security guard. This time he spoke perfect english and kindly escorted the five of us off his rooftop. But not through the stairwell to the groundfloor, merely past the property line of the building he was patrolling, and onto the roof we had permission to be on (and had somehow wandered off of?) Ya, that’s it…
We are all merely lost tourists trying to find our place within this urban jungle.
Le silophone
Grain Elevator 5, otherwise known as Silo 5 is a very intimidating structure. The 1/4 mile long hulking mass of abandonment is situated in the Port of Montreal right next to the downtown core. There were no shortages of rumours about the Port Authority arresting people on site, but strangePlaces and I decided to attempt it anyways. We had approached the location with some information from a scouting trip a few weeks before. Carrying about 50 pounds of equipment including climbing gear, cameras, sleeping bags & food we climbed over 3 barbed wire fences. All access from the ground floor looked to be sealed, so we made use of our rope and entered from another avenue. It was late by the time we finally got inside, and we quickly unpacked and got some sleep.
We awoke early the next morning and were anxious to get underway and see the interior. We slowly made our way though each floor, and after lunch we headed for the roof. Just as we reach the top floor, an explorer’s worst nightmare came true. A motion sensor and camera are pointed right as us as we turn a corner. The motion sensor immediately blinks red. GAME OVER.
We were certain that there were alarm bells ringing back at the guard hut. Our options were limited, it was daylight outside, and we couldn’t exactly make a speedy exit out the front door. We decided to hide in some sort of giant funnel at the base of one of the silos. Within 3 minutes we hear a truck pull up beside the building outside. A million things are racing though my head, will they enter the building? do they have dogs? and what the hell is in this place that makes it worth securing? we hear the a car door open and someone walks up to the building and rattles one of the doors on the ground floor. After a couple of minutes the car door slams shut again and the car drives off. It was a close call, but we were safe.
