New attraction lets you climb 1,271ft skyscraper and hang over the edge

NYC activity will be world’s tallest external building climb

Would you scale one of Manhattan’s tallest skyscrapers and, once at the top, dangle on ropes over the edge?

That’s the challenge posed by NYC’s newest attraction, City Climb, which opens on 9 November at the Edge observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards.

The adrenaline-junkie activity will attract some of the first UK travellers to the US in 20 months, as the country reopens to fully vaccinated tourists from Monday.

This “urban mountain climb” involves scaling 32 steps from a “basecamp” level, then ascending 161 outdoor steps wrapped around the side of the skyscraper.

Once at the summit, thrill-seekers will be able to dangle (with ropes supporting them), from the ‘Apex’, an outdoor observation deck cut into the pyramid-shaped top of the tower.

The whole experience lasts around 90 minutes to two hours, with climbers spending around 45 minutes at the “summit” of the tower.

The steps up the side of the 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper (Edge)

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the western hemisphere, making The Climb the world’s tallest external building climb.

Visitors to the glass-floored Edge observation deck will be able to see visitors of The Climb dangling above them.

It’s not the cheapest ticket in town, however - tickets are currently $185 (£136) per person, which includes the Climb experience, entry to the Edge, and a photo of your death-defying dangle over the skyline.

“Everyone gets a thorough briefing, and our guides harness them onto the course with two cables that are attached to a trolley,” says Cassie Davidson, the vice president of marketing at Hudson Yards Experiences. “Climbers are very secure.”

The Climb isn’t the only New York experience to make the headlines recently - new observation deck SUMMIT at One Vanderbilt recently made the news when patrons found its reflective floors a little too revealing.

The attraction was nudged to add a dress code to its FAQs, advising guests to wear trousers or leggings, after early visitors realised the mirror-effect floors in its “Air” installation were having an unintentional “upskirting” effect.