On January 5th, 2025, revered climber Alex Honnold achieved a feat that no other has attempted in history: climbing a skyscraper with no ropes. He climbed the Taipei 101 building in Taipei, and amassed 6.2 million viewers on his Netflix livestream called “Skyscraper Live”. He successfully climbed the perilous tower in around an hour and thirty minutes.
The event was originally supposed to take place the day prior, but due to rain, it had to be postponed. Still, the weather made the climb more perilous, providing the danger of wind as Honnold ascended.
The livestream highlighted the danger of this journey by informing viewers of the difficulty of the terrain. Levels 1-64 of the 101 story building were dubbed the “Bamboo boxes”, as they are made to resemble bamboo. This was said to be the easiest part of the climb, with its repetitive movements. Still, this was extremely difficult to climb because of its “ruyi” accents. Every eighth floor contained a balcony, providing the climber with a moment of rest.
Honnold was easily able to clear this and continue to the next part of the building, moving on to the next. He now had to climb more box resembling structures, but these were slanted outward. At the end of this, he had to scale some outshoots using only his arms, leaving him dangling over Taiwan.
The most difficult part, however, would prove to be climbing the spire. At this point, Honnold was already tired, and having climbed almost the entire skyscraper. Now he had to climb 60 more meters, while battling with the wind and his own fatigue.
After approximately an hour and a half of climbing, Alex Honnold was able to reach the spire of Taipei 101, a never before reached feat that will be remembered for years to come.