Climber Alex Honnold successfully completed a “free solo” ascent up the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan on Saturday, doing so without a rope or harness in an event that streamed live on Netflix for a worldwide audience.
Honnold reached the very top of the tower in 1:31:40, less than the alloted two-hour time created for the Netflix stream. Standing at the very top of the structure, he took a selfie to note an accomplishment no other climber will likely achieve. (Perhaps he’s saving that exact photograph for himself.)
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In climbing Taipei 101, Honnold finished the highest “free solo” climb of an urban structure in history. It topped Alain Robert’s climb of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, done in 2009. (Robert scaled the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in 2011 but was required to use a rope.)
Battling steel and glass surfaces that were much smoother and provided less grip than the rock walls he typically climbs, Honnold demonstrated the impressive strength in his hands, feet and upper body, creating grip where none really exists and pulling himself up to scale the curved features of the building’s outer architecture and its 101 floors.
Additionally, the wind became stronger as Honnold climbed higher and higher. Windy conditions were one of the factors that could compel organizers to call off the event had they become too dangerous, engineer and “CrunchLabs” personality Mark Rober said on the Netflix telecast.
Yet as an experienced climber accustomed to letting his feet or hands go from the surface — either to swing his legs to a higher foothold or giving his hands a rest — Honnold had no issue dangling the parts of his body seemingly vital to prevent from falling.
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Seeing those feet and hands let go and hang free elicited gasps from the spectators watching in Taipei, both down on the street and through windows inside the structure.
One more factor adding to the difficulty and unusual circumstances of the climb was the dirt that typically collects on the outside of a large building. That may have been increased by rain which postponed the event originally scheduled for Friday. The exterior grime created grease on the bottoms of Honnold’s shoes, which he would wipe off while taking a break after reaching one of the skyscraper’s ledges.
After reaching the very top of the spire and taking in his achievement, Honnold donned a harness and used a rope that he went without during his “free solo” climb, descending the tower to meet his wife, Sanni McCandless, for a celebration and photo. Honnold said before the event that he would take an elevator down to the ground. The climbing part was over for him.
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For the feat, Honnold was reportedly paid in the “mid-six figures,” which he called “an embarrassing amount.” (He may have meant embarrassingly small, based on his interview with the New York Times.)
Honnold, 40, gained notoriety after the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary, “Free Solo,” and has conquered his latest test. Taipei 101 stands at 1,667 feet, making it the 11th-tallest building in the world. Because of the structure of the building, the climb involved three phases, as the building juts inward and outward at various points.
He didn’t sound too daunted, though, On a recent podcast with Robert, Honnold said: “I don’t think it’ll be that extreme … We’ll see. I think it’s the perfect sweet spot where it’s hard enough to be engaging for me and obviously an interesting climb.”
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Follow the progression of the 1,600-foot climb with updates from Yahoo Sports’ live blog of the event.
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Ian Casselberry
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold may have climbed without ropes or other safety equipment, but he’s putting a harness on to get down from the very top of the spire. He’s using a rope to descend and get to an elevator.
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold reached the very top of the tower in 1:31:40, less than the alloted two-hour time created for the Netflix stream.
Standing at the very top of the structure, he took a selfie to note an accomplishment no other climber will likely achieve.
Will the Netflix stream follow Honnold getting down from the top to get inside the building and take a ride down in an elevator?
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Ian Casselberry
Upon reaching the upper portion of the tower with rings, Alex Honnold hung on solely with his legs, letting his hands go.
He had a strong grip with his legs and as Emily Harrington pointed out, it was actually an opportunity to rest. But letting go and letting his arms hang put a scare into everyone, maybe a bit of a show-off move.
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Ian Casselberry
Navigating the overhangs is a harrowing visual as Alex Honnold has to let his feet go and let them hang as he swings them up to get a foothold on the edge, a technique referred to in climbing as “canvassing.”
But he’s hanging on solely by his hands without his feet underneath them. Every time Honnold lets his feet hang, the crowd gasps.
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Ian Casselberry
Something Alex Honnold doesn’t typically encounter while climbing mountains is spectators taking pictures and recording video of him from inside the structure as he climbs.
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold has climbed past the bamboo boxes, Ruyi and dragon features that created some of the curved obstacles on Taipei 101. However, he now approaches the overhangs on the higher stages of the building that jut out from the facade.
Perhaps those features are more similar to the mountains Honnold is accustomed to scaling. He seemingly had no difficulty in freeing his legs to swing up and pull himself up on the edge of each overhang.
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold’s incredible hand strength is one of the talents that allows him to climb, especially on the smoother surfaces of the Taipei 101 facade.
During a break, he could be seen stretching those hands to work out any soreness or cramping that may develop as he has to squeeze constantly to maintain grip.
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Ian Casselberry
“See you at the elevator.”
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Ian Casselberry
On the telecast, Emily Harrington said that Alex Honnold noted that the outside of Taipei 101 is naturally dirty. That can get grease on his shoes, which he stopped to wipe off while taking a break on a ledge.
Meanwhile, Honnold complained a bit that the music he was listening to cut out.
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Ian Casselberry
Sanni McCandless, Alex Honnold’s wife, watches him climb by from a nearby window.
Almost like watching from the side of a course during a marathon, right?
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Ian Casselberry
Just a morning climb in Taipei…
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold stood way too close to the edge of one of the ledges while talking to broadcasters Elle Duncan and Seth Rollins, also waiving to the spectators surrounding the building.
Honnold is obviously conditioned to deal with heights, but his brain may truly lack a fear impulse. That was something explored in “Free Solo.”
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Ian Casselberry
As Mark Rober pointed out on the telecast, the steel and glass surface of Taipei 101 doesn’t have the nooks and crannies, nor the give, that rock would on a mountain. That doesn’t appear to be a problem for Alex Honnold, however.
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Ian Casselberry
Alex Honnold is 33 minutes into his climb and wife Sanni McCandless said on the Netflix telecast that she thinks he might be going too fast.
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Ian Casselberry
Spectators gasped in admiration at Honnold’s upper body strength, appearing to easily pull himself up to climb up the curved Ruyi features on the Taipei 101 facade.
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Ian Casselberry
Another feature of the Taipei 101 facade are ornamental dragon heads that are more difficult to navigate without obvious footholds or grips.
Honnold climbed the features with no apparent difficulty, as if tipping his cap to the traditional Chinese architectural flourishes.
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Ian Casselberry
Taipei 101 is a public building and people are inside the building taking pictures of Alex Honnold as he climbs past them.
“Kids with their phones,” joked Honnold, who is wearing a microphone during the climb.
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Ian Casselberry
One of the tricky parts of the climb was navigated rather easily by Honnold. Taipei 101 includes some curved decorative features called Ruyi on its facade.
There are no obvious footholds or grips on the Ruyi, but Honnold stretched his right leg out to push up on the structure and pulled himself up to gain a hold on the upper part of the feature.
He was able to stand on top of the Ruyi and took a brief break.
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Ian Casselberry
There is some wind. Alex Honnold’s shirt is visibly moving.
Engineer Mark Rober is part of the Netflix streaming telecast and he explained to viewers that wind is one of the things that could call off the climb if conditions are perceived to be unsafe.
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