徒手登顶帝国大厦：网红情侣的惊天一爬，是浪漫还是玩命？

Today we'll talk about something that's been all over the world's social media these past few days.

The stars are two young people from Russia.

They did something that makes your palms sweat just watching — they free-climbed New York's Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building is New York's most famous landmark, and one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world.

Just days ago, the two climbed up the outside all the way to the antenna tower at the very top.

Note: bare-handed, with no ropes or safety equipment at all.

At that height, a single wrong move means being smashed to pieces.

Yet they not only climbed up, but at the top unfurled a banner reading 'peace'.

Then, the most dramatic moment happened.

The two are actually a couple.

On the roof, the man knelt on one knee and proposed.

She said yes, and they put on rings against the New York night skyline.

In no time, the photos and videos spread across the entire internet.

So, who exactly are they?

They are not ordinary tourists.

The two — Ivan and Angelina — are famous 'rooftoppers' in the scene.

They specialize in challenging super-tall buildings worldwide, using no protection at all.

Their exploits were even made into a popular documentary.

Worth noting: among the climbs that made them famous is a Chinese skyscraper, in Tianjin.

You could say climbing the world's landmarks is both their career and how they got famous.

But this time, the ending was not so romantic.

When they came down, the New York police were waiting.

Both were arrested on the spot and charged with eight counts in all.

These include unlawful entry, reckless endangerment, and more.

The Empire State Building also stated that throughout, its tenants and visitors were never in danger.

At this point, I want to say a bit more to you.

The reason this is so conflicting is that it's two things at once.

It's both an extremely romantic love story and an extremely dangerous illegal act.

We sit in front of our phone screens, hearts racing, crying out how thrilling it is.

But every like and every share is telling them: this works, this makes you famous.

And this may well encourage more inexperienced people to imitate such deadly acts.

Finally, I want to leave you two questions.

First, gambling with your life to chase thrills and fame — should there be a line, or not?

Second, when we like and cheer these videos, do we too become part of this dangerous game?

These two questions have no standard answer, but they're worth thinking about seriously.