Illegal Sports - Elevator Surfing

Elevator Surfing

Elevator surfing is an activity popular on college campuses and in residential buildings. Participants in this sport gain access to the top of the elevator car and "surf" it while it goes up and down in between floors. Some even attempt to jump from elevator car to elevator car while the cars are in motion. It is highly dangerous and many deaths have been accounted for due to this activity, causing many jurisdictions around the world to outlaw it. Many of those who die from elevator surfing fall off the top of the elevator car, are struck by the counterweight, or are crushed somewhere between the elevator car and the elevator shaft. First brought to the public spotlight in the late 1980s, the deaths associated with elevator surfing reached 14 in the New York metropolitan area by 1991. According to media outlets in the early 1990s, elevator surfing was described as "a fairly common activity", especially in college campuses. Since there are no official statistics kept on this dangerous activity, an official worldwide or U.S. count of deaths attributed to this sport is not available.