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Alex Honnold successfully completed his Taipei 101 Historic Climband now he’s telling the story.
The 40-year-old American rock climber made history on Saturday when he became the first person to scale the 1,667-foot-tall skyscraper in the Taiwanese capital with his bare hands. Netflix streams Honnold’s feat, skyscraper livewatched by millions around the world.
talking type After his desperate climb, Honnold reveals ‘scariest thing’ about his journey The top is a metal dragon-like decoration climbing on the four corners of the building.
“I mean, they’re really fun, they’re really cool. It’s an incredible sequence, cool location,” he said. “But every time I set up the dragon, I’m like, ‘This is kind of crazy.’ You’re like on top of an abyss. It’s cool.”
When the interviewer suggested that he could crawl around the dragon, Honnold responded: “You could squeeze yourself in behind the dragon and squirm off its back. But it’s not actually as easy as it looks.”
“Because the inside of the dragon is actually like a smooth piece of metal. So, yes, you can climb up there, but it looks pretty undignified. It’s full-body effort, and it’s not that easy,” he added. “So, actually, the dragon is a better way to climb. If you climb with a rope, you definitely always choose the dragon because it’s more fun and happier. It’s just a little bit scary because the location is so exposed.”
Taipei 101 was built in 2004 and has mostly glass walls, with balconies tapering toward the top. was once considered tallest skyscraper in the world This was before the Burj Khalifa in Dubai received this title in 2010. Taipei 101 is now the 11th tallest building in the world.
Honnold’s event was originally scheduled to be broadcast live on Friday night, but was delayed 24 hours due to rain. Although the weather in Taipei was dry enough for him to complete the challenge the next day, he still faced strong winds during the final stages of the climb.
“The wind was blowing at the top of the building, and then, coincidentally, the wind was blowing right into the corner I was climbing. Other aspects of the building could have been more sheltered,” he explained.
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“But when I got up around the corner, I’d get hit hard. I was like, ‘Ah!’ and then the same thing when I stepped on the dragon. When I was to the left of the dragon, I’d be out of the wind. But if I reached around the dragon, it would basically be like, ‘Wow, that’s really windy!’ “I did notice the wind.”
Honnold completed his trek in 91 minutes. When he reached the top, he exclaimed: “Sick. I’m so excited!” before taking a selfie.