US climber Alex Honnold made an hour-and-a-half “free solo” ascent of Taiwan’s Taipei 101 skyscraper on Sunday (January 25) without ropes, watched by thousands of cheering and waving fans as he clambered up one of the world’s tallest buildings.
After initial nervousness about the unsecured ascent, members of the watching crowd said they had full faith in Honnold to complete the climb.
“At the beginning I was very nervous, but after Alex went up, I believed that he could do it. He is not an impulsive person and relies on a large amount of practice and on remembering which places are suitable to climb,” said Danny Lin, 30, who was watching the stunt while lying on the ground in front of Taipei 101 with a group of climbing enthusiasts.
“Sick,” Honnold said as he got to the top spire of the building, in the climb organised and broadcast live by Netflix.
“What a beautiful way to see Taipei,” he told reporters, having completed his mission, having had to postpone it from the previous day due to wet weather.
The 508 metre (1,667 feet) tall Taipei 101, which dominates the city’s skyline and is a major tourist attraction, was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010, a crown currently held by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The climb, with no safety equipment, took place with the full support and permission of Taipei 101 and the city government.
Honnold said he had once thought of climbing it without permission.
“But then out of respect for the building and respect for all the people on the team who’d allowed me access to look at it, I was like well obviously I’m not going to poach this, I’m going to respect the people and just see if it ever comes together.”
This is not the first time Taipei 101 has been scaled.
In 2004, French climber Alain Robert, dubbed “Spiderman” for his ropeless ascents of some of the world’s highest skyscrapers, climbed the building, though did so with a safety rope in a time of four hours.
About the Author
