Alex Honnold reveals impact of weather as daredevil scales 1,667ft tower without ropes or safety gear
Daredevil Alex Honnold has reflected on the dangerous weather conditions after scaling a 1,667ft skyscraper without safety gear.
It took around an hour and a half for the American rock climber to reach the top of Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
The building has 101 floors, with the hardest part being the 64 floors of the middle section.
Dressed in nothing but a red short-sleeve shirt and shorts, Honnold was seen waving to the cheering crowd at the summit during Netflix's Skyscraper Live.
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His free solo climb of the iconic building in Taiwan’s capital city was broadcast live with a 10-second delay.
“It was like what a view, it’s incredible, what a beautiful day,” he said.
But that's not to say it was an easy feat, with Honnold revealing the impact the weather conditions had on his climb.
“It was very windy, so I was like, don’t fall off the spire. I was trying to balance nicely," he explained.
"But it was, what an incredible position, what a beautiful way to see Taipei."
Divided into eight, each segment has eight floors of steep, overhanging climbing followed by balconies, where he took short rests as he made his way upward.
The ascent, however, was delayed for 24 hours due to heavy rain.
“It really feels like we’ve been here on a climbing expedition, climbing in the mountains, because of the weather swirling and the rain and the wind and everything,” he explained.
Honnold went on: “It makes the whole experience of coming to Taipei and climbing feel like a grand adventure.”
Sanni McCandless, Honnold's wife, suggested that her husband would have enjoyed the 'internal experience'.
“I was definitely pretty enlivened by the energy of the crowd. It was truly wild to walk out of the building — you just see so many people,” she told reporters after the successful climb.
“I knew the second he left the ground, it would all just kind of — not fade away, but get quieter, be a little bit more of an internal experience, and then just be joyful.
“I was really happy once it just started. There wasn’t any waiting, and he got to do what he wanted to do.”
The free climber, known for his ropeless ascent up Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, used only small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds to get to the top.
“I think that people often find the inspiration that they need to pursue their own challenges or their own goals. It’s often the kick they need to do whatever it is that they want to do in their life,” Honnold said.
“Often they’ll watch something like this and it’s a reminder that their time is finite and they should use it in the best way, the most meaningful way that they can.
"If anything, I hope that that’s what people take from it.”
Topics: News, World News, Netflix
Anish Vij