US climber Alex Honnold set to take on Taipei 101 rope-free ascent

TAIPEI: Alex Honnold, the renowned US climber, is set to take on Taipei 101 in a thrilling, rope-free ascent, which will be broadcast live on Netflix on January 24.

Netflix previewed ‘Skyscraper Live’ in October, after videos shared on Taiwanese social media in September showed Honnold practising for the climb, waving to people from outside Taipei 101’s observatory, and even ascending the tower’s spire.

Honnold’s thrilling, rope-free ascent of Taipei 101 will be broadcast live on Netflix as ‘Skyscraper Live’, airing on January 23 in the United States, accounting for the time difference, the two-hour show will be available to stream on January 24.

At 508 metres, Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 2004. It is now the world’s 11th-tallest building, though it remains the tallest building in Taiwan.

I’ve spent the last month at home in Vegas projecting a hard sport route at a local sport crag (in between parenting and work travel – there’s been a lot of real life mixed in!). When I started working on the route I thought it was maybe the hardest thing that I’ve tried, but now… pic.twitter.com/oFsqXTnty7

— Alex Honnold (@AlexHonnold) June 2, 2025

According to the Focus Taiwan website, Honnold notes that his first big man-made structure will be a departure from his 30 years of rock climbing, saying it’s “a little different” and involves more repetitive movements, making it technically less tricky but physically more demanding.

Honnold said the most challenging part of the climb would be what he called the “bamboo boxes”, the eight segments comprising 64 floors in the middle of the building that are overhanging.

In each section, there is an overhang of 10 or 15 degrees, and then a balcony every eight floors. This means that you do “quite a hard effort for around 100 feet” and then reach a balcony, multiple times, he said.

Asked about his aspirations for the climb, Honnold said his goal was similar to the trail running events he’d done, namely to “not injure myself and comport myself with dignity.” (ANI)