American Free-Climber Scales 508m Taipei 101 With Zero Gear

By Danial Martinus  •  26 Jan 2026 in News

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You’re probably familiar with Taipei 101 as the tallest building in Taiwan. It was also the first building to overtake Malaysia’s very own Petronas Twin Towers as the tallest building in the world back in 2004.

For most people, it’s a building best admired from a distance. But for American free solo climber Alex Honnold, the 101-storey tower would become his next big climb, and the most daring one yet.

All risk, zero margin for error

On 25 January 2026, Honnold became the first person in the world to scale Taipei 101 without any ropes, harnesses, and other safety equipment. Naturally, hundreds of people gathered at the base of the tower, looking skyward in awe (and racing nerves).

Those of us not in Taiwan managed to watch it all unfold live on Netflix’s aptly named Skyscraper Live broadcast.

At 508 metres tall, Taipei 101 is a towering behemoth of glass and steel, which makes it less forgiving than conventional climbing surfaces like granite. It’s much more slippery, and there aren’t many anchor points, if at all. Still, the 40-year-old climber moved up its south-east face with a calm efficiency.

What makes this stunt so death-defying is the fact that Honnold free-climbed it. If there’s one thing you could technically count as equipment, it was his custom pair of climbing shoes, and that’s about it. While this is absolutely terrifying in all senses of the word, it’s just Honnold’s style.

The American first shot to global fame in 2017 when he scaled El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park. Yes, it was probably your iMac or MacBook wallpaper at one point, and it’s even more imposing in real life. It was a rope-free ascent that basically cemented his reputation as one of the greatest climbers of all time.

“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to climb a skyscraper,” Honnold said in a Netflix promotional video. “So I am going to be free-soloing Taipei 101. No ropes, no gear, just me and the building.”

It took him about an hour and a half to reach the pinnacle of Taipei 101. And of course, he struck a quiet victory pose above the city’s skyline, declaring it as the “biggest free solo climb” ever attempted.

To some, this climb might conjure some déjà vu, though. Back in 2004, Alain Robert (popularly known as the “French Spider-Man”) also scaled Taipei 101, except he did it with safety ropes, and it was also raining at the time. Honnold is the first one to do it without any equipment at all, albeit in good weather.

Relive the climb in Skyscraper Live on Netflix.

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