They call it ‘urbex’, which stands for urban exploring.

Sounds harmless but a secretive group of young people in Brisbane is risking life and limb to capture the thrill on camera.

Mackenzie Lyon reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Mainly teenagers, these urbex warriors operate undercover in suburbia.

Showing off their escapades on social media, they expose Brisbane’s hardest to reach and often most secure sites.

A network of old drains wind their way under the city, a mecca for these thrill seekers and above the summit of skyscrapers offer another muse.

Yoduz, a Brisbane adventurer, understands it’s extremely risky but says it isn’t hurting anyone.

Yoduz, Brisbane Urbexer: “We just go to a roof, we leave it as it is, so no other people know we’ve been there, not really destroying anything.”

Bats, floods, guards and fellow trespassers are other hazards, but they say to avoid being busted their planning is methodical and meticulous.

Yoduz, Brisbane Urbexer: “It’s basically a community, like we all chat and talk what we’re going to do, plan it out over a weekend. It’s not just like meeting and hitting stuff, we sort of plan it out week by week so you’re not caught.”

But other would-be explorers, following this trend unaware and unprepared can find themselves in real trouble.

Graham Quirk, Lord Mayor: “They themselves might being taking all the precautions, it’s the messages they send to other young people and particularly kids.”

Explorers go deeper and climb higher, risking it all for recognition in the Urbex community.

Urbexers sneak their way past security, slip through fire escapes and race for the rooftops.

Knowing full well these activities are highly illegal and highly dangerous.

And it’s now become a global phenomenon which continues to grow.

More and more sites scatter the net, uncovering Brisbane’s nooks and crannies to the world.

Mackenzie Lyon, QUT News.