A few weeks ago, my buddy and I decided to finally investigate the huge silos across the street from his house. Apparently they're left over from an old cement business that closed up long ago.
Here's a quick pic I ripped off google maps


We had no trouble getting in.
The first thing we found was an old schoolbus! People from nearby highschools hang out here sometimes, so we didn't linger too long.


We quickly moved on to the task at hand: Scaling the silos themselves.
There were no open exterior doors, so we decided to take the ladders (in the rain!)


The climb took about 10 minutes, mostly because we were cold and damp and didn't want to risk our safety.

Once we reached the top of the ladders, there was a hole in the wall that led straight in! Someone had been so kind as to leave us a measuring tape to show us just how far we'd fall if we were to slip.


The interior was pretty bland, consisting of a concrete floor and a few pipes jutting out. We found an elevator shaft, but power had been long cut from this building so our frantic button-mashing was fruitless.




There was a short flight of stairs inside, leading to the roof! The view was absolutely gorgeous, but my terrible phone camera couldn't get enough light to show it off.


After hanging out at the top for a while, we decided to climb down and check out the under construction train tunnel in the area.

It took us about a half hour of carrying our bikes through mud and up and down ledges to get where we wanted. After finally hopping a few last fences, we made it down right into the belly of the beast:


We biked this for about 10 minutes till we had to get up and carry our bikes again. There was a lot of active construction equipment we were careful not to disturb.



This was the end of our journey, so after dragging ourselves over a few more fences we made it out only partially coated in mud.

I learned a few valuable lessons:
1. Don't go in dirt filled holes when it's raining
2. Don't climb slippery ladders when it's raining
3. It's really hard to take photos in low light

Even with all those pitfalls, it ended up being a spectacular trip and I really want to visit those silos again soon.
^{Hope you enjoyed my first exploration post! More to come soon, hopefully}

We found an elevator shaft, but power had been long cut from this building so our frantic button-mashing was fruitless.

Long-term Toronto people will laugh at this one.

Posted by Aero The climb took about 10 minutes, mostly because we were cold and damp and didn't want to risk our safety. Once we reached the top of the ladders, there was a hole in the wall that led straight in! Someone had been so kind as to leave us a measuring tape to show us just how far we'd fall if we were to slip.

Those silos are nowhere near 300ft tall, would have def taken more than 10m to climb if they were, even if you hurried.

nice set, and those silos are not 300ft tall, that would mean something like 25 storeys tall

They are historic though. They were built by the flour mill that operated on the site from the 1890s to the 1980s--Maple Leaf Mills. The cement operation only came after the mill closed and much of it was demolished.

Did you have any luck with the elevator, the ticket on it was safety of 2013.

I knew this day would come...

You should've tried to get the elevator working.... It sure is fun!

Posted by kowalski Long-term Toronto people will laugh at this one.

Heh...
ahhhhhh. I forgot about that.

So did I. Thanks Jerks!

Posted by sQualie Those silos are nowhere near 300ft tall, would have def taken more than 10m to climb if they were, even if you hurried.

It would not take 10 minutes to climb 300 ft.

Tekriter and Myself climbed the 705 ft Hearn Stack, I took 14 minutes and Tekriter took 17 minutes.

Looking at the photo of the silos with the tractor trailer in it.

If the trailer is at absolute maximum allowable height (most trailers are not), in Ontario that's 4.15 meters = 13.6 feet.

In that picture, I wouldn't guess I could put more than 10 trailers on top of each other to reach the top of the silos. Certainly not the 20+ it would take to get up to 300 feet, unless there is more depth in there under ground level.

Posted by Nvr2loud It would not take 10 minutes to climb 300 ft. Tekriter and Myself climbed the 705 ft Hearn Stack, I took 14 minutes and Tekriter took 17 minutes.

Oh look at Mr. Ultra Fit He-Man over here. 705 feet in 14 minutes? Via ladders? That's a feat.

It took me about 5 minutes when I climbed the silo a couple of years ago. I went a bit slower since I checked each section of ladder for sturdiness from the landing below it. The interior wasn't accessible back then, but the views were great.

Posted by Rust Oh look at Mr. Ultra Fit He-Man over here. 705 feet in 14 minutes? Via ladders? That's a feat.

I'm just responding to a statement that climbing 300 ft by ladder in 10 minutes isn't possible when clearly it is possible.

You can lose the attitude.

Posted by kowalski Long-term Toronto people will laugh at this one.

I certainly did.

Posted by Aero This was the end of our journey, so after dragging ourselves over a few more fences we made it out only partially coated in mud. I learned a few valuable lessons: 1. Don't go in dirt filled holes when it's raining 2. Don't climb slippery ladders when it's raining 3. It's really hard to take photos in low light Even with all those pitfalls, it ended up being a spectacular trip and I really want to visit those silos again soon. Hope you enjoyed my first exploration post! More to come soon, hopefully

Be careful out there little dude, make smart decisions and don't get hurt!!

Long-term Toronto people will laugh at this one.

Entertainment is wonderful.

This silo was still active this winter, in the spring they started ripping the railway tracks out and prepping the building for demolition.

Hey I went in and checked it out again another day with my buddy Aero. Still not sure on the height of the towers but found the electrical room in the basement. We didnt want to flip any switches because we could hear a very faint electrical hum and didnt want to risk death. along with a small office space after crawling through a basement window, the doors on the outside are unlocked but chained to the railing from the inside. There is only about two stories of underground levels, rooms still filled with cement fix and safety equipment. Still no way into the main level which is where I wanted to see if that measuring tape was hanging or not. Maybe better luck next time.

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