Check out the article Tentanda Via, originally published in the zine Infiltration by the late Ninjalicious and its easy to see why I absolutely love the steam tunnel system at York University. A rich history of exploration by former students and adventurers literally covers the walls of this infamous network. Wandering the many corridors and mechanical rooms you cannot help feeling like you’ve stumbled onto some Sci-Fi movie set.

Your senses are bombarded with a million things. Wafts of warm air, the grumble and whizzing of machinery, and like other explorations there is always a gut-wrenching feeling that you’ll find some authority figure down there- ready to chase after you at any time.

For years I’ve heard stories about the viewing port under the school swimming pool, and rooms filled with the strangest assortments of odds and ends. Although the epic nicknames given to sections of the tunnel such as “chemical corner” and “the caves” may not be entirely truthful , there is no denying the fact that for over 40 years people have seeked out these tunnels, and this spirit of urban exploration at YorkU continues on to this day.