American climber Alex Honnold pulled off a breathtaking and unprecedented feat on Sunday, scaling Taiwan’s iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper without ropes or any safety equipment in a landmark live broadcast that gripped audiences around the world.
Thousands of spectators lined the streets of Taipei to watch Honnold’s dance up the 508-metre (1,667-foot) tower, gripping tiny metal protrusions and sheer glass surfaces as he inched skyward in a 91-minute ascent that combined precision, endurance and nerve-shredding balance. The event, titled Skyscraper Live, was streamed globally by Netflix in real time with only a short broadcast delay to ensure safety protocols.
At the summit, Honnold, 40, let out a triumphal shout and smiled broadly as thousands cheered, some waving Taiwanese flags and capturing the moment on their phones. “Sick!” he exclaimed as he reached the top spire, later describing the spectacular vantage point as “a beautiful way to see Taipei.”
Originally scheduled for Saturday, the climb was postponed by 24 hours because of wet weather that left parts of the building slick. Organisers and Honnold’s team emphasised that safety considerations were paramount, even for a challenge defined by the absence of safety gear.
Taipei 101, a towering glass and steel structure that dominated the skyline as the world’s tallest building from 2004 until 2010, presents a unique challenge for climbers. Its distinctive architectural features, including a set of eight segmented “bamboo box” sections in the middle of the structure, forced Honnold to navigate steep overhangs and narrow ledges as he ascended.
The climb was given full permission and logistical support by both the management of Taipei 101 and the city government. Officials embraced the spectacle, with Taiwanese politicians taking to social media to congratulate Honnold and thank Netflix for showcasing Taiwan in an unusual and globally visible light. President Lai Ching-te wrote on social media that the broadcast had not only displayed the engineering marvel of Taipei 101 but also “the warmth and passion of the Taiwanese people.”
Honnold, already celebrated for his 2017 free-solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite — a climbing achievement that brought him global recognition — has long spoken of his respect for the fine line between risk and reward. In interviews ahead of the Taipei 101 climb, he said that while the urban challenge was physically different from climbing natural rock faces, the mental discipline required was “no less intense.”
While he is the first to complete a ropeless ascent of Taipei 101, the building has been climbed before. French climber Alain Robert, known as “Spiderman,” scaled the tower in 2004 using a safety rope, taking nearly four hours to reach the top. Honnold’s rapid, unaided ascent has now rewritten the record books and captured the world’s attention once again.