Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

8-Year-Old Girl Shows How 'Impenetrable' Trump's Border Wall Actually Is By Easily Climbing Up And Over It

8-Year-Old Girl Shows How 'Impenetrable' Trump's Border Wall Actually Is By Easily Climbing Up And Over It
Karla R Hancock/Facebook
Make us preferred on Google



The owner of a rock climbing facility in Kentucky built a life-size replica of the border wall for climbers to scale.

An 8-year-old girl recently assisted him with testing the belay system attached to the wall segment for climber safety, and was able to easily scale the obstacle.


Rick Weber, co-founder of Muir Valley rock climbing park, decided to test the President's claim that the border wall was "virtually Impenetrable" by putting together a replica of the bollard fence for climbers to climb at "Rocktoberfest", a festival for rock climbers at the nearby Red River Gorge canyon system.

Weber told Time what he thought of the President's claim about the wall and his motivation for building the replica:

"You don't tell a bona fide rock climber something's impossible to climb."

Weber invited a few local climbers to help test the replica and the included belay system installed for climber safety.

Among those who made the climb was 8-year-old climber Lucy Hancock. Hancock and the other climbers used no additional equipment while climbing, just the belay and climbing harness for safety.

An adult climber who also scaled the wall, Erik Kloeker, managed the climb in around 40 seconds.

Karla Hancock, Lucy's mother, told Time that her daughter has long showed an inclination toward both rock climbing and politics.

She said that Lucy is confused by the current discourse on immigration, however.

"To her, it's black and white: If somebody's hungry, and you have the means to give to them, why couldn't you?"

Karla posted a series of photos and videos of Lucy's climb to Facebook.

President Trump has claimed that mountain climbers have said the fence can't be climbed.

"We actually built prototypes and we have, I guess you could say, world-class mountain climbers. We got climbers. We had 20 mountain climbers. That's all they do; they love to climb mountains."
"...This wall can't be climbed. This is very, very hard."

Weber, and other rock climbers, had a hard time believing this is true, however.

"We were all very puzzled because none of us in the climbing community had heard of these 20 people that had supposedly tried this wall."

Weber opted to build the shorter of the two possible wall heights, 18 feet vs. 30 feet, to save some money. Because the flat panel at the top of the wall is the same height either way, Weber said the wall should be equally easy to climb either way. The taller wall just means having to shimmy up the bollard portion for a slightly longer distance.

When climbing, Lucy used the edge of the top panel to climb the flat surface, which Weber allowed because the panels on the actual fence appear to have significant gaps that would allow a climber to get a good grip.

Reactions to Lucy's climb on social media were varied, but many poked fun at the "virtually Impenetrable" wall.




Lucy may have had to use the edge of the flat panel at the top to climb it, but that is largely because of her height. Weber estimates that a climber who is at least 5' 10" could climb the face of the panel even if the gaps at the edges were not there.

The climbers who will have a chance to climb the wall replica at Rocktoberfest this weekend will also help to prove how far from "virtually Impenetrable" the wall really is.

Weber said that his aim in making the replica to climb wasn't to say that the United States should not have a secure border, merely to point out that bollard fencing was not the way to go to achieve that.

"I'm not making an argument that we shouldn't have a secure border. I'm not doing that at all."
"What I'm trying to do is to make sure that we're not blowing a lot of money on some silly nonsense of putting up something that he thinks can't be climbed. Because it can. And will be."

If there's a budding climber in your life, this set of 22 Assorted Deluxe Rock Climbing Holds for Kids with 44 Swing Safe Fasteners + Drill Bit, available here, can be used to create your own climbing wall.

******

Have you listened to the first season of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!'?

In season one we explored the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.

We're hard at work on season two so be sure to subscribe here so you don't miss it when it goes live.

Here's one of our favorite episodes from season one. Enjoy!

More from People/donald-trump

Tom Holland
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Tom Holland's Reaction To Journalist's Heartfelt Comment About The Impact Of His Sobriety Has Fans Tearing Up

Spider-Man actor Tom Holland has been open about his sobriety after sharing on Jay Shetty's podcast that he'd taken a break from alcohol, only to realize how hard it was for him to say no or even to be around people who were drinking without feeling uncomfortable.

He's since gotten sober and even founded a non-alcoholic brand, Bero, that he and his wife, Zendaya, who also does not drink, can enjoy together.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cookie Monster and Elmo; Spanish World Cup team
Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images; Diego Radames/Anadolu via Getty Images

Cookie Monster's Tweet About Eating Cookies For The World Cup Final Sparks Hilarious Jokes

Okay at this point I think it's time we get a memo to the Sesame Street characters to stay out of sports commentary!

Because just weeks after Elmo became public internet enemy #1 for refusing to back the Knicks in the NBA playoffs, now Cookie Monster has egg on his face. Or cookie crumbs, as it were.

Keep ReadingShow less
Larry David; Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Araya Doheny/Getty Images for HBO; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Larry David Just Brutally Ripped RFK Jr. On His New HBO Show—And It's Everything

In the latest installment of Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions executive-produced HBO sketch comedy series Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, star Larry David took aim at his former costar Cheryl Hines' husband, conspiracy theorist and antivaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a series that has reunited many of her Curb Your Enthusiasm cast mates.

When asked why Hines wasn't asked to make a cameo, co-creator and director Jeff Schaffer told Variety:

Keep ReadingShow less
Hunter Biden; JD Vance
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Hunter Biden Just Epically Trolled JD Vance On National Ice Cream Day—And He's Far Too Good At This

Hunter Biden celebrated National Ice Cream Day by mocking Vice President JD Vance following Vance's complaint that former President Joe Biden eats ice cream in a "suggestive" manner.

Vance raised eyebrows several days ago after he claimed during an interview with conservative podcaster Joe Rogan that Biden's staff had him eat ice cream "in the most suggestive way possible."

Keep ReadingShow less
Kash Patel
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Kash Patel Roasted After Sharing Cringey Video Patting Himself On The Back Following 'Flawless' World Cup

FBI Director Kash Patel was widely mocked after sharing a gloating video touting "zero major security incidents" after Spain claimed the World Cup title on Sunday with a 1–0 victory over defending champions Argentina.

Patel said the statistic is remarkable given that the United States "hosted the equivalent of 78 super bowls in 38 days, along with 40 base camps, endless fan zones, and celebrations in nearly every state."

Keep ReadingShow less