Alex Honnold completes rope-free climb up Taipei 101 skyscraper
Alex is familiar with the challenges of free-soloing, but ascending a skyscraper came with its own unknowns.
Famed rock climber Alex Honnold masterfully ascended one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers without a rope. “Sick,” he said, standing atop Taipei 101 with a panoramic view of Taiwan’s capital after the climb, which unfolded Sunday morning. Before taking a selfie, he added that it was very windy.
Honnold said the climb up the 1,667-foot building was very physical and that he was tired. The climb, which was shown live on Netflix, took a little over an hour and a half.
As he began his descent, Honnold put on a harness and grabbed some rope for the first time in the climb, rappelling down to a staging area where his wife was waiting. The commentators said he would be taking an elevator most of the way down.
A little more than an hour into the climb, Honnold was nearing the final sections of the building. He paused after completing the “bamboo boxes” to speak with commentators and wave down at onlookers before continuing his ascent of the tower.
Ahead of the climb, the 40-year-old seemed to be ready and focused.
“I try to take some deep breaths, compose myself, take some time,” Honnold said in a Netflix statement. “There’s never any time pressure, so you can spend as long as you need just hanging in one space basically trying to compose yourself.”
His official bio notes that he’s accomplished a “triple solo” free climb of Mt. Watkins, Half Dome and El Capitan within 24 hours. Honnold said before the climb that he believed Taipei 101 would present its own opposition. “The challenge comes from the overall physicality of it,” he said. The fatigue that sets in over the course of the building is slightly harder to anticipate. I don’t know how it’s gonna feel.”
“There’s a plan,” he said, “and I’m executing the plan.”