Gary Connery, a professional stuntman who performed a Base jump off Nelson’s column in 2003 to raise awareness about China’s occupation of Tibet, has praised the bravery of the latest activists to scale the monument.
Connery said he did not necessarily agree with the Greenpeace activists but admired the audacity of the stunt, which involved fixing a gas mask to Nelson’s statue at the top of the 52-metre column in London to highlight concerns about air pollution.
“Well done to them for making the point they wanted to make,” Connery told the Guardian. “I’m not saying I agree with them or disagree. But if that’s what they set out to achieve then they’ve done it. They’ve created waves.”
He explained how he scaled the monument with the help of brothers Harry and Simon Westaway, both professional climbers.
“I managed it simply because I had two very good climbers going ahead of me. They left a rope hanging so I was able go up using a mechanical rope device.
“It was made very simple for me, which was great because I had to get my head together to then jump off it, but it was very difficult for them.”
He said: “At the time, they were two of the best climbers in Britain. There was no trickery to it. They literally climbed up the structure itself so it was very hard a climbing manoeuvre.”
The brothers used flutes in the column’s shaft and a lightning conductor to scale the Trafalgar Square monument, Connery explained.
“They literally used the fluted shape as their holds. And there was a lightning conductor that runs top to bottom, which was pinned every four feet or so, so they were putting in safety holds behind those pins. But if either of them had fallen I don’t think those lead pins would have done much good.”
Like the Greenpeace activists, Connery and his colleagues started the climb early in the morning. “We had done our homework and there isn’t actually security on site all the time. We started climbing at 4am, so they must have copied us!”
But he added: “Since we did it, they have put anti-pigeon spikes on the plinth. How they got past that I don’t know. So well done them.”
Two Greenpeace activists – Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones – were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage when they climbed down. Connery was also arrested after he parachuted from the top.
“I’m not an advocate of causing criminal damage. We did without causing criminal damage,” he said.
He described the exhilaration at reaching the top of Nelson’s column. “You can probably kind of sit on top from Google Earth, or something like that now. But to actually be there and watch the world go by and see that area of London and the hubbub was a beautiful experience.
“Base jumps are always scary, but when you’re that low to the ground and you see the whites of people’s eyes on the ground and your parachute is still packed on your back then, yes, it is super scary.”
Connery said he didn’t hesitate to volunteer for the stunt. “I was asked whether I would Base jump from the column to bring more awareness to the Tibet campaign. It was like a red rag to a bull. When someone said to me: ‘Would you like to Base jump Nelson’s column, we can get you up there,’ I said: ‘Yes please.’”
The column has been scaled by protesters several times, including by an anti-apartheid campaigner in 1979 and twice before by Greenpeace activists.
Connery said the feat would not be repeated regularly because it was such a difficult climb. “It is not a target because people have to have very specific skills to get up there in the first place so it is only a limited few who can make a protest. They not only have got to believe in what they are protesting about, but they have got to have the skills as well.”
