Nestle Building - Piekstraat - 2
Saturday 26 June 1999 - In fact, the building is very easy to enter. The front door is always wide open. But Walter and I discovered a back-entrance, that looked much more adventurous. There was a fence with a hole in it, but this still looked too easy. So we acted as if the hole was not there and climbed above the water. I tried to place protection, but that made the climb only more awkward. Walter climbed the fence unprotected and very elegantly. I got a few spikes in my chest and it bled a little.
The black thing sticking from Walter's butt is his little box with his glasses. He takes them off while climbing and hangs them on his climbing harness. I have another solution. I use a rubber band around my head to keep them on my nose. Having strong (-7) glasses I'm almost blind without them.

This is a picture of te interior. The door leads to the open stairs.
Once inside the terrain you have to walk down an easy looking slope. But the plants camouflage a slippery layer of algae on the dyke and I fell down on my butt. Hard. I scratched my elbow and my backside was extra sensitive for many weeks afterwards. Fortunately the camera-man had it on film and I didn't have to repeat it:

From here you proceed under the quay. Impressive concrete structures. At the moment this entry is blocked. The water level in winter is at least 1,5 meters higher than in the summer.

The TV-channel SBS6 made video recordings of this expedition. It was aired in the programme "Explosief" on Thursday 8 July 1999.

That's me, explaining the delights of urban adventure - Notice the microphone on my collar. I was asked not to look into the camera.

More pictures of this same spot : Discovery of the Piekstraat

More climbing pictures : Cold winter climbing at the Piekstraat

We walked the dark upper floors. Below Walter shows how to free-climb up an empty elevator shaft and almost tears his balls apart. These are only the first 3 meters.

In fact we never got around to climbing this shaft. We made more pictures when we were preparing for a TV appearance in 2000. But we never got the permission to climb here, the building was in a state of demolition and the builders wouldn't let us in.
Rappelling was very easy. The top-anchor was rock-solid. The only tricky part is shown in the middle picture - no place to put your feet and a sharp edge that might damage the rope. Notice my funny helmet, I chose the darkest colour they had so I could use it at night. It has served me well, but I sweat like a pig in it.