According to University of Colorado police, the accident happened about 3:13 a.m. in the area of 18th Street and Colorado Avenue.

Police said the victim and another man climbed a construction crane at the CU-Boulder ATLAS Building site and attached climbing ropes to it. There exact plan was unknown but it appears the stunt was to swing across the street to the roof of a neighboring building. Just as his hero the Coyote had often done the man forgot to use basic geometry to determine the feasibility of his stunt. With a quick visual guesstimate of rope lenghth, angle and wind speed he was off.

The man who was killed swung across 18th Street and hit the side of the CU power plant building. Police said a wind gust might have contributed to the accident.

The second man climbed down from the crane and cut his friend loose.

Two people who happened to be in the area saw the accident and called police.

The injured man was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released.

Police said that neither man was believed to be current or former CU-Boulder students.

The crane at the construction site was enclosed by a fence and police said that the males apparently climbed over it in order to reach the crane and become Darwin winners.

Submitted on 12/06/2005

Submitted by: Aaron Lindwall
Reference: thedenverchannel.com 12/6/2005

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I REALLY like the comparison to Wile E. Coyote! He aimed for the roof, miscalculated, and hit the side of the building. I wonder if he faced the camera and held up a little sign which read "Yikes!" right before he hit...We already had a submission on this, but now I know what I need to know in order to make a decision...and I vote DA on this one!

Greg said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Oh yeh! Just read the full article. These guys were out on a thrill-seeking jolly. Top grade stupid.

Jack said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I like this version. The visual image of the climber - like Wile E. Coyote - suddenly getting that look of horror on his face just before hitting the building made me grin. Good write-up, Aaron!

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