American rock climber Alex Honnold successfully climbed the Taipei 101 skyscraper on Sunday without using any safety ropes or gear. Spectators cheered as he ascended the 508-meter tower, utilizing the horizontal metal beams for support with his bare hands.
The crowd erupted in applause when Honnold paused during the climb to face them, wearing a distinctive red short-sleeve shirt. The daring feat was broadcast live on Netflix with a brief 10-second delay after being postponed by 24 hours due to rainy weather.
Honnold’s ropeless ascent of the iconic Taipei building in Taiwan’s capital city sparked a mix of excitement and ethical concerns surrounding the high-risk nature of the live event.
Renowned for his ropeless climb up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, Honnold tackled one corner of Taipei 101 using small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds. Negotiating around ornamental structures that protrude from the tower, he faced the challenge of climbing the building’s 101 floors, with the most difficult section being the 64 floors in the middle known as the “bamboo boxes.”
Each segment of the climb involved eight floors of steep, overhanging sections followed by balconies where Honnold took brief rests before continuing his ascent. While he wasn’t the first climber to scale the skyscraper, Honnold distinguished himself by accomplishing the feat without a safety rope, contrasting with French climber Alain Robert’s climb with ropes in 2004 during the building’s grand opening.
