Alex Honnold, star of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, will climb Taipei 101 without ropes or a harness in a live Netflix broadcast on Saturday. The 1,667ft skyscraper has been an ambition for more than a decade, and Honnold has spent the past three months training for the ascent, which he says will feel no different from any other.
The two-hour event, titled Skyscraper Live, begins at 9am local time in Taipei (8pm ET Friday) and is part of Netflix's push into live sports programming. The streaming service has previously aired NFL games and a boxing match, and has secured rights to future events. Richard Deitsch, a journalist covering US sports media, said the strategy is to “eventize sports” with one-off spectacles.
The climb has generated both excitement and criticism. Some in the climbing community have branded the event “voyeuristic, ghoulish and irresponsible”, pointing to the high number of free-solo deaths and Honnold's role as a husband and father. Netflix will run the live stream on a 10-second delay and carry a viewer-discretion advisory, with Honnold in constant communication with his camera crew.
Production is being handled by Plimsoll Productions and Secret Compass, which have worked with Honnold on previous high-stakes projects. A small live audience has been invited, and a panel including elite climbers, a former ESPN anchor, a WWE champion and a Nasa engineer turned YouTuber will provide context.
Among those who will not be watching is Chien Ai, an amateur climber at Long Dong, who said: “I don't want to see something I'm not supposed to see.” Yang Tse-hsiao, a teacher who has climbed for six years, said he expects Honnold to succeed but opposes the live stream, adding: “If he falls, the price is huge.” Bets are already being placed on Polymarket, with current odds suggesting a completion time of around 75 minutes.
