World

Climber Honnold scales 101-floor skyscraper without safety gear

American climber Alex Honnold has successfully scaled a Taiwan skyscraper without a rope, harness or safety equipment.

The building, named Taipei 101 for the number of its floors, is 508m (1,667ft) tall, made of steel, glass and concrete and is designed to resemble a stick of bamboo.

Honnold is renowned for being the first person to climb El Capitan without ropes or safety gear. The 915m (3,000 foot) granite cliff is in California’s Yosemite national park.

The climb was originally set to take place on Saturday but was delayed by wet weather.

His ascent in Taiwan’s capital was streamed live on Netflix, which said there would be a delay on the live feed should the worst happen.

Honnold completed the climb in one hour and 31 minutes and celebrated the achievement with one word: “Sick.”

His time more than halves the record of the only other person to scale the tower.

Alain Robert, a Frenchman who called himself “Spiderman”, made it to the top of Taipei 101 – at the time the world’s tallest building – in four hours. He did so with ropes and a harness.

 

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