American climbing star Alex Honnold will solo a Taiwan skyscraper on January 23 as the whole world watches live.
Honnold became world-famous after the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, and Netflix advertises that this will be an “even bolder” stunt. It will be broadcast as it happens in a two-hour event they’ve called Skyscraper Live.
In it, Honnold will climb a building for the first time in his life. The chosen goal is Taipei 101, the 508m-tall, 101-floor structure that towers over Taiwan’s capital.
Physical strain
“Skyscrapers are steeper and more repetitive than most natural rock faces, the movements tax his body in a different way, and he’s simply never climbed a building this big before,” Netflix magazine Tudum reports. As Honnold explained, instead of varied climbing and cruxes along the way, climbing a building involves repeating the same moves one after the other, with an accumulated strain on certain muscles. It is also completely vertical — when it is not overhanging.
So far, the climber and the media platform have overcome the first large obstacle: getting a permit to climb the building. Other urban climbers, such as French pioneer Alain Robert, often end their adventures handcuffed on the roof of the skyscrapers they just climbed.
Pagoda-like overhangs
Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from its inauguration in 2004 until it was dethroned by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in 2009. It is still the tallest building in Taiwan. Its design is inspired by traditional Chinese pagodas, including eight sections in the shape of bamboo boxes that will pose a challenge for Honnold, since their walls are slightly overhanging (see picture below).
The Taipei 101 building in Taiwan. Photo: Wikipedia
Yet, the overall level of difficulty is easily attainable for Honnold, who said he is pretty confident he will enjoy the climb.
Asked about the pressure of being watched by millions, Honnold said: “My life is on the line — I don’t really care who’s watching. I care about doing what I’m doing and doing it well.”
El Cap’s Platinum Wall, for starters
For the time being, Honnold is sticking to the familiar granite rock of Yosemite. He has just climbed the formidable Platinum Wall on El Capitan, teaming up again with Tommy Caldwell, over six days.
As Honnold described it, “It’s a 39 pitch 5.13+ with 29 pitches of 5.12 or harder — very sustained and very high quality. It only got better the higher we made it up the wall.”
He considers this climb the highlight of his 2025 Yosemite season.
Alex Honnold, 40, began climbing as a child and became a professional at 18. He is well known for hard routes, speed climbing records, and free solo climbs without ropes or safety devices. He made the first free solo ascent of Half Dome in 2008. In 2014, he did the first traverse of Patagonia’s Fitz Roy ridgeline with Tommy Caldwell. And in 2017, of course, he free soloed the 5.13 Freerider route on El Capitan.
He has also completed the link-up of Mount Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome (the so-called Triple Crown of Yosemite) in less than 19 hours. He is married to Sanni McCandless and the father of two daughters.
