American Rock Climber Alex Honnold Scales Taipei 101 Without Ropes/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansourt/ Morning Edition/ Rock climber Alex Honnold scaled Taipei 101 without ropes. The 508-meter ascent was broadcast live by Netflix. The feat marked a historic and risky first for the iconic skyscraper.
Alex Honnold’s Taipei 101 Climb Quick Looks
- Alex Honnold completed a free solo climb of the 508-meter Taipei 101.
- No ropes, no harness, just skill and bare hands.
- The climb took around 90 minutes and was broadcast live with a slight delay.
- Honnold described the experience as windy, beautiful, and intense.
- The most challenging part: 64 floors of bamboo-inspired overhangs.
- Balconies served as resting points between grueling climbing segments.
- The climb, delayed a day by rain, took place Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026.
- This is the first rope-free ascent of Taipei 101; others used safety equipment.
- The event sparked excitement and ethical concerns due to its high-risk nature.
- Alain Robert, a French climber, climbed Taipei 101 in 2004 with ropes.
Deep Look: American Rock Climber Alex Honnold Climbs Taipei 101 Without Ropes
Taipei, Taiwan — On Sunday, American climber Alex Honnold made history by completing a rope-free ascent of one of the world’s tallest buildings: the Taipei 101.
Clinging to ledges and ornamental structures, Honnold scaled the 508-meter (1,667-foot) skyscraper without ropes, harnesses, or protective gear — a feat that took roughly 90 minutes from base to spire. As the climber reached the very top, a crowd below erupted in cheers, witnessing what is now considered one of the boldest urban climbs in modern memory.
Wearing his signature red short-sleeve shirt, Honnold paused at the summit, waving triumphantly. “It was like, what a view — incredible, what a beautiful day,” he told reporters after his descent. “It was very windy, so I was like, don’t fall off the spire. I was trying to balance nicely.”
The climb was a unique blend of natural athleticism and architectural challenge. Using L-shaped protrusions on one corner of the tower, Honnold navigated the vertical landscape with skill and calm. In several places, he had to scale around massive ornamental structures, using only his grip strength to pull himself upward.
The most grueling section? The 64 floors of the tower’s bamboo-style midsection, which gives the skyscraper its iconic aesthetic. These eight stacked segments presented steep overhangs, forcing Honnold into physically taxing sequences of vertical and overhanging moves. Each segment concluded with a balcony, where he took brief rests before continuing upward.
A global audience tuned in via Netflix, which broadcast the event live with a 10-second delay — a decision made to balance the excitement of live coverage with a margin of safety. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the climb was postponed by 24 hours due to rain, adding a layer of unpredictability to the already extreme event.
Though Honnold is renowned for his ropeless ascents of natural formations like Yosemite’s El Capitan — documented in the Oscar-winning film Free Solo — this urban feat was a departure from his usual terrain. The crowd below, numbering in the hundreds, brought a new energy and pressure.
“When I was leaving the ground, I was like, oh, it’s kind of intense, there’s so many people watching,” he admitted. “But then, honestly, they’re all wishing me well. It made the whole experience feel festive.”
Not everyone viewed the event through rose-colored glasses. Some raised ethical questions about showcasing such a high-risk activity live. Critics pointed to the inherent danger and the potential for younger climbers to emulate the stunt without understanding its risks.
Still, for many, Honnold’s performance was both a stunning athletic achievement and a meditative expression of mastery under pressure.
While Honnold is not the first to climb Taipei 101, he is the first to do so completely ropeless. French climber Alain Robert — known as “The French Spider-Man” — scaled the building in 2004 as part of its grand opening but did so with safety gear.
Honnold’s climb pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in urban climbing and highlights the thin line between spectacle and sport. Whether viewed as art, adventure, or madness, his Taipei 101 ascent cements his legacy as one of the boldest climbers in history.
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