Racing up staircases or jumping down them gives you that I’m-in-a-rush rush. Handrails play helper as you leap on stage as the quick-zipping star of the show.
Here’s how to make the magic happen.
Okay, if you’re going up, two of the classiest moves include:
1. Roboto Man. You’re a straight-faced, mild-mannered Stairskipper 4000, an advanced prototype who skips steps nonchalantly and even does the triple step every so often. Robotos sometimes act super casual because they’re quietly racing someone in the escalator beside them.
2. Eager Beavers. These are sweaty six-year olds who just scarfed all their candy, businesswomen racing to catch the commuter train, or teenagers in ballcaps and baseball gloves running to the park. Eager beavers sometimes leap up two, three, four stairs at a time. Although it’s in their best interest to avoid you, keep your eyes peeled for sharp elbows and sweat showers.
Okay, now if you’re going down I recommend one of the following:
1. The Tarzan. Some lords of the jungle motor down the stairs and then plant their hands on the rail to swing themselves the rest of the way. We’ve all heard long tales of six, seven, even eight steps at once, but details are always fuzzy and hard to check out. Still, if done well The Tarzan can be very majestic. If done poorly, it can be very ankle sprainy.
2. Cliff Jumpers. This one’s for pros only. This is just a huge, free falling jump, generally on the way down to the rec room to play video games. Hopefully you’ve got a padded cushion landing and don’t crash head first through the thin wood veneer wall. There is no limit to the heights you can reach with this move.
Yes, jumping stairs gets your blood flowing from mini cardio workouts throughout the day. For a few brief moments you transform from a gal on her way to biology class into an animal in the wild again — scaling mountains, leaping rivers, and jumping cliffs like you were born to do. So as you go about your day don’t forget about your primal roots and caveman instincts.
Jump up. Jump down.
Jump forever.
AWESOME!
I did the Tarzan once down the basement steps of a house I was renting… the wood railing snapped right in half. Luckily my keen sense of balance kicked in and I landed on my feet (a bit shaken).
It was awesome while it lasted though!
Something about this numbering eludes me. Personally, I’m always an eager beaver at home but a mild mannered stair stepper in public. There’s something about rushing in front of strangers that irks me, but when I’m at home, I try to conserve time.
Is there a directors cut version that has what was between the tarzan and cliff jumpers?
My staircase is 13-14 steps depending on how you count it, and I can Tarzan m way down in 2 steps if I want to. I’ve never tried putting mattresses down there and going for it all in one shot, but maybe I’ll do that some day.
Is it just me or is there no number two for going down ?
Well, I guess the missing “2” for down goes well with the skipping-steps theme going on here.
The free-fall is the best.
You’re also willing to try it from farther when inebriated.
Yes!! I actually was planning on commenting this! Tried it on the 31st thanks to champagne and whiskey… Now Im wearing a cast =S
I can still rock the tarzan every now and then.
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I enjoy the variation on Tarzan that involves putting one hand on the rail and the other on the wall with just the right amount of pressure that you slide down the whole flight without ever touching the stairs with your feet. =)
Just had a nightmare last night that my boyfriend did a backflip down some stairs and split his head open and died.
:(
I spent so much time skipping stairs in my life that I feel silly only taking one step at a time. They’re just not far enough apart. I don’t have any staircases in my life that lend themselves to the ‘cliff jump’, but there have been in the past, and God willing, there will be in the future.
YES! I love that!!
Excellent post! Love the pics of the kids in mid-leap.
So glad that the Tarzan jump was named! Great Post, thank you: )
I believe you forgot a category: the Clumsy-Dumbsy. You know, those of us who don’t pay attention when walking down stairs and think there’s one more step .
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Oof!_____
I always felt cooler taking more than a step at a time.
I used to do the cliff jump all the time! My friend and I used to go to her place and jump from the landing at the top of her stairs down to the couch on the floor below. We were bloody lucky we didn’t miss and break an ankle!
I remember in high when i ran frm security and did a Tarzan dwn like 15 steps then tried to jump the nxt flight without the rail and missed by one step and broke my ankle I got away but he “caught” me when the ambulance came lol AWESOME
I totally rocked the cliff jumper when I was 11.. no mattress on the bottom for me, it was straight onto the carpet-clad concrete floor. Well, ‘straight’ might not describe it well. I fractured my ankle and lost a lot of calf muscle in the following 6 weeks. Still, I hold the record for jumping down my parents’ basement stairs.
AWESOME!
Oh god, this brings back so many memories. When I was a kid, my friends and I would pad the floor with as many cushions and pillows as we could find, then jump off the highest stair we can. We did this almost every day after school, starting from the fifth step and then advancing to the wonders of the 11th and 12th steps. I even managed the 13th once, due to sheer adrenaline. The tenth will always be my favorite, though.
The problem with jumping down the stairs is you have to make sure the head room is clear. There was a door at the bottom of our stairs and I can’t tell you how many times I hit my head on the door jamb!
Going down, hop in a laundry basket and skip the steps all-together.
My house has 13 stairs,I usally Tarzan the last 5, which is easy because whoever built my house made 65 degree stairs,the lunatic.
I jump the stairs at work too. I plant my left hand on the left rail and my right hand to the right rail. Then i swing myself and make the perfect landing!
I must look like a 6-yr old kid, but i dont care! :)
It would make my day to see a working man do that :)
And if I did, I’d make sure to give him a good high-5
Well, it’s cool beans at my dad’s house. Since it was a U-turn staircase, you can do *two* Tarzans. ^__^
Only one problem with that. There is a wall with a window at the midpoint. And my stepbrother, a can of coke in one hand and hand on rail with the other, flies down the top of the staircase, and ends up smashing his hand through the window. He was okay though, and best part was, my dad didn’t really yell at him, I think he understood how irresistible stair jumping is.
Second story:
When I was little, real young, my sisters and I would fly down the stairs in laundry baskets. Sometimes we would go down separately, and other times, two of would cram into one. It was very fun, and a tad scary. It was kind of like personal indoor sledding, and even though you might get some bumps while riding down, but it was so worth it. Might have broken a laundry basket or two, but never so it was beyond repair ;)
When I was a kid (10-15 maybe) we spent time at the beach and had a great seawall. It was wooden and shingled on top for great traction. At the end of the property it angled back at 90 degrees for about 20 paces. We would run along that and leap as far into the beach sand as possible (it was about a 6 foot drop). They were wonderful times, but that wall got washed away and replaced by a stone wall with no 90 degree angle runways. Also, the beach is less than a foot down from the top of the wall now. Probably just as well as I am no longer into risking my ankles like that anymore. It was Awesome at the time though.
there is a third going down technique…
it’s when you go down the stairs so fast and smoothly it looks like an escalator or a slide.
Also I’m someone who can easily make it five steps at a time going UP with out jumping or railing assistance.
i have a fourth going down technique!! you go down as fast as you can making as much noise as possible on each step. my mom always got mad at me and called it ‘Elephanting’ down the stairs cuz i guess it sounds a bit like a herd of stampeding elephants. I just couldn’t resist because it was way too Awesome!!
I love the tarzan I used to do all the stairs at once though now I can not. Knee problems. Though I am still 13.
Oh, I’m very good at falling both up and down stairs; save time, lose grace!
Curious, did all the people survive these stunts in the pics?
I’m far more talented on a skateboard;)
I once tried a cliff jump down to basement… I ended up smashing against the low ceiling in midair, falling straight to the ground. Man, it hurt.
Oh, and to add to the techniques: when landing, try and land on all fours… made me feel so cool as a kid.
I did that once. I have a set of stairs with about 20 stairs (I know, huge right!?) and I jumped them all. But I landed funny and I sprained my ankle! Don’t try it at home
Don’t know how you can do the cliff dive one without a mattress! I just started reading this post and the first picture was cut in half, so it looked like the kid was falling onto plain hard ground! Just a picture but it freaked me out!
Is it just me or does it look like the cliff at the end is a face?
I sprained my ankle doing the free fall jump. But the rush just before it.. was awesome !
I used to do this all the time as a kid, the exhilaration of falling from so high is crazy :p
I always skip stairs at school:)
The 3rd picture is a face plant waiting to happen!! Lol
Totally Awesome!!!! I always did this as a child!!! Seeing who could jump the most stairs, I would win!! LOL!! AWESOME!!!
When I was 2, I fell down the stairs abd broke my arm. Also, i have this bannister that is perfect for sliding down ;)
I jumped over 100 steps then I Brock my leg
….100 steps… realy!!!! *liar*
Don’t forget the “All-Fours” method! Running up the stairs like an animal was a very liberating feeling when I was a kid. Lol:)
I think the most that i can manage is four but then it also depends on the height of the stairs :p
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I always try to do that but I fall all if the time
I like to go up on all fours. Don’t know why, just do.