Alex Honnold successfully scaled Taipei 101 in a live Netflix special, reaching the top of the 1,667-foot skyscraper in one hour and 35 minutes. The climber, known for his Oscar-winning free solo ascent of El Capitan, exclaimed 'Sick!' upon completing the ascent, which was broadcast live on the streaming platform.
The climb, which began at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (9 a.m. Sunday Taipei time), presented a few challenges for Honnold. He experienced intermittent audio contact with his team and briefly lost his in-ear music soundtrack, though it was eventually restored. Towards the end, Honnold admitted he was 'kind of tired' and noted increasing wind strength near the summit.
Thousands of spectators in Taipei watched from the ground, while hundreds inside the building cheered and gasped as Honnold progressed. The climb marked a departure from Honnold's usual solitary feats; his wife, Sanni McCandless, was present, a rarity for her. After the climb, the couple shared a long embrace.
Speaking to Variety from the 88th floor about an hour after the climb, Honnold described the experience. He said he had no sense of his pace during the ascent and was unsure if he was fast or slow. He also noted that the wind intensified as he climbed higher, particularly affecting the corner he was ascending. 'The top of the building rips wind and then, just by coincidence, the wind direction happened to be hammering the corner that I was climbing,' he said.
Honnold highlighted the repetitive nature of the bamboo boxes, which required careful execution to avoid complacency, and described the dragon sections as 'probably the scariest thing to actually do.' He explained that while the dragons were fun and offered a cool position, they felt 'kind of crazy' due to the exposure over the abyss. The climb set a record for the highest free solo ascent of an urban structure.
