Netflix's live broadcast of Alex Honnold's free solo climb of Taipei 101 has been described as 'the most stressful TV experience on record', but viewers were left frustrated by the commentary. The 508-metre ascent, part of the Skyscraper Live event, saw Honnold scale the building without ropes or safety equipment.
While many praised Honnold's achievement, critics argued that the commentary detracted from the experience. Some viewers took to social media to complain that the narration was distracting and unnecessary, with one calling it 'the most stressful TV experience on record'. The broadcast lasted 90 minutes, during which Honnold repeated similar movements hundreds of times.
The event drew comparisons to Felix Baumgartner's 2012 space jump, with some questioning the ethics of broadcasting events where death is a possibility. One commentator noted that 'you were simply a rubbernecker, tuning in to the macabre possibility that something would go wrong'.
Despite the criticism, the climb itself was widely acknowledged as extraordinary. Taipei 101's structure provided three distinct stages of increasing difficulty, including a particularly tense moment where Honnold had to climb at a 45-degree angle. However, the overall verdict was that such live events should remain rare to avoid turning television into a 'Victorian freak show'.
