What possesses a man to risk his life scaling the world’s tallest buildings, and vow to keep climbing, even after a stint in prison?
In an exclusive interview with the News, notorious free-climber Adam Lockwood speaks about his time in jail, the thrill of conquering The Shard, and his mental health struggles.
“It’s quite hard to explain what it’s like [climbing The Shard]. You’re in a flow state… you’re so invested and present in what you’re doing that nothing else matters. It was peaceful and surreal. Then I got halfway up and it clicked – I’m up The Shard.”
On Sunday, September 4, 21-year-old Adam Lockwood stunned the world when he climbed the Shard , the second tallest building in the UK, without ropes or shoes.
On December 21, he was given an eighteen-month suspended sentence, and five-year-long criminal behaviour order (CBO) designed to stop him from repeating such stunts.
He has been widely criticised for his actions. A judge previously described Adam’s stunts as the “height of stupidity” and motivated by “arrogance” and a “greed for celebrity.”
It has also been noted that the climbs preoccupy emergency service workers when they are already stretched to the limit.
Adam is now free following a three-and-a-half-month jail stint while awaiting sentencing. Despite a “soul-destroying” jail experience, where he was forced to mix with “rapists, murderers, kidnappers”, Adam has vowed to climb in the UK again when his five-year CBO expires. “There’s nothing else that gives me that feeling… can’t stop, won’t stop,” he says.
But having struggled with personal demons, his stunts are about more than the thrill. “One of the biggest reasons I climb is to promote mental health,” he said.
Adam grew up in Wigan just outside Manchester and recalls a difficult childhood. “I hated school… was bullied. I didn’t want to go there so left a couple of years early and was at home for about a year and did absolutely nothing.
“One day, I just thought I’m going to climb something and it just spiralled.”
That first climb was an abandoned 198ft chimney. When he reached the top, he was treated to a panoramic view of Manchester, sparking an obsession that has never subsided. Various stunts around Manchester, including bus-surfing (clinging to the side of moving buses) saw him slapped with a civil injunction in 2019. To keep climbing, he left the country.
So he spent much of 2019 and 2020 homeless, travelling around the world, climbing buildings and sleeping in scaffolding, rooftops and hotel rooms he’d sneak into.
Adam said: “I had a little bit of money from selling hoodies and posters and stuff and I had some brand deals which was just enough for living and food.
“I find I don’t really prioritise money, I prioritise experiences. Sleeping on the floor is a small sacrifice to make to do what I get to do.”
During his travels, he climbed multiple structures, including a 400 metre Dubai crane and the 381ft Hotel Meliá Sky in Barcelona. He even spent one night sleeping inside Barcelona Cathedral.
In 2022, Adam set his sights on The Shard. “The other buildings were a lot smaller so I didn’t really train too much… The Shard was more than twice the size of any building I’d free-climbed before so I spent six or seven months training in the climbing gym, four days a week.
“The day and the morning before my hands were shaking… I knew climbing it would be one of the most important days of my life.”
Adam describes entering a “flow state” during the climb as he focussed his mind and body on each movement. “The last 70 metres was different. My climbing style changed because I no longer had footholds and was putting my bare feet on a metal surface covered in grease which was very slippery. But it was really interesting and that top 70 metres felt more comfortable.”
When Adam reached the top, he cried with joy.
He was immediately arrested and remanded in HM Forest Bank for three-and-a-half months while awaiting sentencing. “[It was] sh*t, horrible, soul-destroying. You’ve got no freedom, no phone, the food you’re given is sh*t. It’s quite intimidating because there are lots of dangerous people around you.
“They separate the gangs and try to put people from the same ones in certain wings but generally the wings just have all sorts of people… rapists, murderers, kidnappers. When I got there, everyone knew who I was and people instantly respected me but that didn’t change the fact I was in that situation.”
Adam was given 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirements. But free from prison, he describes it as “the best outcome”.
Asked about the possibility of death, and the heartache he could put friends and family through, Adam said he does “as much training as possible” and only does climbs he knows he can complete.
He believes his brain must be wired differently and says he would like to get a brain scan to find out exactly how so.
Once his CBO has expired in five years’ time, he says he plans to climb a building that nobody has ever climbed before. “Can’t stop, won’t stop,” he says.
Adam has battled his own mental health struggles for the last eight years and currently lives in a van in Manchester. He is using his profile to encourage people to look after their own mental health. When he climbed The Shard, he wore the number of suicide charity Samaritans on his chest.
In a recent Instagram post, he wrote: “I wanted the climb to be for me but the inevitable worldwide attention to be directed to mental health support and to let people now they absolutely don’t have to deal with their problems alone, as difficult as it is, there’s always a way”.
For mental health support visit: https://www.samaritans.org/
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