Alex Honnold Free Solos Taipei 101
The ascent is a landmark in urban free soloing, garnering worldwide attention on Netflix’s Skyscraper Live
Alex Honnold has sent Taipei 101, successfully completing the most high-profile urban free solo climb of all time.
Honnold scaled the 508-metre (1,667 ft) landmark on Jan. 24. The ascent took a time of one hour and 31 minutes with the whole world watching Skyscraper Live on Netflix.
“I’m so psyched,” he said after making it to the very top of the spire. “And you know what? Pretty tired actually. The whole top of the building is pretty physical actually…But it was so amazing.”
He made it to the top after climbing the 101-storey structure, which is the 11th tallest building in the world. The route starts at a lower slab angle. Then, it moves into a section known as the bamboo boxes; eight-storey overhanging segments which end in a balcony each time. Finally, it ends with a push to the spire.
On his podcast, Climbing Gold, Honnold said the difficulty and length of Taipei 101 could be compared to climbing Astroman and the Rostrum stacked on top of each other.
Both routes are classic Yosemite lines, both rated 5.11c.
For the non-climbers joining us today, the average climber generally starts at 5.4 to 5.6 and can usually work their way up to 5.10 with regular practice. Very good athletes can break into the 5.11 to 5.12 range. The hardest climbs in the world are rated 5.15d.
This climbing difficulty scale, the Yosemite Decimal System, only rates the difficulty and athleticism of the movements and does not take into account the potential danger the climber faces.
Honnold’s El Capitan free solo ascent of Freerider is rated at 5.13a at a distance of roughly 1,000 metres, or 3,300 feet, so it was well expected that Taipei 101 would be a relatively easy climb for him.
The successful ascent came with a slight hiccup the previous day. The event, initially scheduled for Friday in North American time, was postponed after a bout of wet weather made the holds too slick to climb.
After soloing El Capitan, a climb of far greater difficulty and distance, it’s clear that Honnold has nothing left to prove, leading many to speculate on the Netflix payout from this event.
However, The New York Times quoted him as saying that the amount was “embarrassingly small.” Two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement said the amount was in the mid six figures, the paper reported.
It also appears Honnold’s kept himself insulated from much of the terms of the contract. So it’s unclear if money was to be withheld if he didn’t complete the climb.
“I actually don’t know what the contract is, and, honestly, I don’t care. If I’m bailing for some reason, it’s because I need to bail, and then it doesn’t matter what a contract says,” he told The Times.
Honnold’s ascent is the first free solo of Taipei 101, but it’s not the first time a climber has scaled its walls.
Previously, Alain Robert climbed the building on top rope about two decades ago. Robert is a preeminent free soloist, but was forced to comply with local safety regulations at the time of his ascent.
Years ago, Honnold had tried to solo Taipei 101 for a TV production, but those plans fell through.
Honnold’s climb has been billed as the biggest urban free solo of all time. In terms of a single bottom-to-top ascent of a structure, this would likely be the case.
However, there have been disputes over the criteria determining which ascent gets this title.
Dan Goodwin, a prominent urban soloist, has told Gripped his double-lap free solo of the CN Tower elevator shaft in 1986 was of greater difficulty and covered more distance. He also instructed Guinness World Records to avoid counting the spire, as he believed it was too easy a challenge to climb that section of the building.
