Who Are Angela Nikolau And Ivan Beerkus? Skywalkers Stars Behind The Empire State Building Proposal

Daredevil climbers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus bypassed security to scale the nearly 1,500‑foot spire of New York's Empire State Building on Wednesday afternoon, unfurling a banner and sharing what appeared to be a marriage proposal high above Manhattan.

Photographs taken on 1 July showed the pair clinging to the very tip of the landmark, drawing international attention to the Russian rooftoppers as one image captured a man dropping to one knee at the base of the spire, confirming the romantic nature of the high‑altitude intrusion.

The pair are not strangers to romance thousands of feet above the ground. Over the past decade they have built a large online following by illegally scaling skyscrapers, construction cranes and landmarks without ropes or standard safety gear.

Their exploits were recently chronicled in the 2024 documentary film Skywalkers, which explores how their relationship is closely tied to a shared focus on extreme, unprotected urban climbs.

The Rise Of Angela Nikolau And Ivan Beerkus In Rooftopping

Ivan Beerkus is a 32‑year‑old self‑described rooftopper who has spent years making extreme climbs part of his routine. He first gained online notoriety by posting views from his illicit ascents around the world.

By treating tall glass structures and steel frameworks as his personal playground, he carved out a specific niche in the urban exploration community. To most people, the idea of stepping onto a wet ledge over a hundred storeys in the air without a safety harness appears highly risky.

His partner is 33‑year‑old Angela Nikolau, who brings a different physical background to their work. A former gymnast and the child of circus performers, she developed a physical discipline that transferred into rooftopping. She gained her own following by travelling internationally to climb at height, regularly posting images from those locations for a large online audience.

Early in her career, she was the less experienced climber of the two. According to her own statements in their recent documentary, she looked up to Beerkus and tried to follow his precise climbing techniques. What began as a professional mentorship later developed into a closer personal relationship.

Turning A Landmark Into Their Proposal Stage

A warm Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan created a clear backdrop for their latest public climb. The couple reached the uppermost exterior of the Empire State Building, a structure that has been part of the New York skyline for nearly a century.

Holding on to the metal spire, they revealed a large banner directed at people on the streets below. The fabric read: 'When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace', a statement that was widely shared on social media platforms.

The proposal followed moments after the banner was displayed. After moving from the narrowest section of the spire to its slightly wider base, footage showed the male climber going down on one knee. It was a traditional proposal gesture carried out in an unusual setting.

The Role Of Trust In Their Partnership

Their relationship is based on a high level of physical trust. The couple first felt a romantic connection during a 2016 trip to Tianjin in China, where they climbed the Goldin Finance 117 skyscraper together. That experience set the tone for a partnership that relies on close coordination. When standing on a ledge barely wider than a footprint, a miscommunication or brief loss of focus can have severe consequences.

That level of reliance was also evident during their 2022 climb of Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At 2,227 feet, the structure required careful planning and execution from both climbers. Their chosen approach to rooftopping requires them to depend on one another in environments where height, wind and other factors are constant considerations.