American mountaineer Alex Honnold climbed the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan's capital today without a rope or any protective equipment.
People gathered on the street below the skyscraper cheered as Honold reached the 1,600-foot (508-meter) summit after a 90-minute climb. He was dressed in a red short-sleeved T-shirt and waved as he reached the top.
Honold is famous for his ropeless climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in America.
He climbed up one corner of Taipei 101 using small L-shaped ledges. At times, he had to maneuver around large decorative structures jutting out from the tower and pull himself up with his bare hands.
The building has 101 floors, and the most difficult part is the 64 floors in the middle, the so-called "bamboo boxes" that give the building its special look. They are divided into eight, and each section has eight floors of steep climbing followed by balconies where he had short breaks while climbing.
Honolulu's free climb of the iconic building in Taiwan's capital was broadcast live on Netflix with a ten-second delay. The climb was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed 24 hours due to rain.
His endeavor has sparked excitement, but also concerns about the ethical implications of attempting such a high-risk climb while broadcasting live.
Honold is not the first climber to scale the skyscraper, but he is the first to do so without a rope. French climber Alain Robert scaled the building on Christmas Day 2004 as part of the grand opening program for what was then the world's tallest building.
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