TAIPEI (TVBS News) — It took Alex Honnold 91 minutes to scale 101 floors with zero ropes. Millions watched live Sunday (Jan. 25) as the American climber conquered Taipei 101 (台北101) — and captured Taiwan's heart — in a spectacle that celebrated human achievement while sparking debate over livestreaming potentially fatal stunts.
The climb attracted massive international media coverage, with CNN featuring continuous updates on its homepage and The Washington Post framing the event as Taiwan seizing an opportunity for global marketing amid pressure from China. Taiwanese flags flew beside Honnold at each rest point, a visual that organizers appeared to design for maximum international visibility. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) offered his congratulations on social media, writing that "the world saw not only 101, but also the spirit and beauty of Taiwan."
The broadcast drew both celebration and criticism. In the days before the climb, Taipei 101 Chairwoman Janet Chia (賈永婕) defended the event against accusations that it amounted to "irresponsible gambling," arguing that free soloing is "an internationally recognized extreme sport" built on "long-term training, risk assessment, environmental calculation and psychological control." Critics, including a Wall Street Journal columnist, had branded the livestream "voyeuristic, ghoulish and irresponsible," while Saturday Night Live skewered the ethics in a recent sketch.
Netflix disclosed that the livestream carried a 10-second delay, allowing producers to cut the feed if necessary. Honnold remained in constant communication with his camera crew throughout the ascent. The production company, Plimsoll Productions, worked with risk management firm Secret Compass, which has supported high-stakes filming projects including documentaries in Greenland and Alaska.
A Decade-Long Dream Finally Realized
Honnold, 40, began his ascent at approximately 9:11 a.m. local time — delayed 24 hours from Saturday due to rain — pulling himself up using horizontal metal beams and small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds. He wore custom climbing shoes made by Italian brand La Sportiva, featuring soft yellow rubber designed specifically for glass and building surfaces. The most challenging section was the middle 64 floors — the "bamboo boxes" (竹節) that give the building its distinctive appearance — divided into eight segments of steep, overhanging climbing tilted outward 10 to 15 degrees.
Free soloing — climbing without ropes, harnesses or protective equipment — differs from "free climbing," which uses safety ropes but no aid equipment. In free soloing, a single mistake means death. Honnold's brain has been studied by scientists who found that his amygdala, the region responsible for processing fear, shows almost no response to extreme visual stimuli — allowing him to remain calm in situations that would paralyze most people.
The climb had minor technical difficulties: Honnold briefly lost audio contact with his team, and his in-ear music cut out temporarily before being restored. Near the summit, he admitted he was "a little tired" and noted the wind was growing stronger.
Honnold told reporters after the climb that the crowd's presence initially felt intense, but their support made the experience feel festive — unusual for a climber whose ascents typically take place in remote wilderness areas far from spectators. Upon reaching the summit, Honnold stood beside the lightning rod, took selfies, and shouted in celebration. He later described the view as "incredible" but admitted the wind had made him nervous near the top, joking that he had to remind himself not to fall off the spire.
At the Summit: A View Worth the Risk
Honnold had trained for three months for the climb. The concept was simple but unforgiving: scale the exterior of a 508-meter skyscraper with nothing but climbing shoes and chalk. He said he hoped the climb would inspire viewers to "be more active and get outside and do more things," adding, "I think that's a beautiful thing."
His wife, Sanni, who typically does not watch his climbs, waited at the summit and greeted him with an embrace. The couple waved to the camera to say hello to their two young daughters, then took an elevator down with the film crew. "I knew the second he left the ground, it would all just kind of not fade away, but get quieter, kind of be a little bit more of an internal experience, and then just be joyful," Sanni Honnold said.
Emily Harrington, a five-time U.S. national sport climbing champion who watched from the ground, said she was "pretty stressed out" during the ascent but marveled at Honnold's unique abilities. "There's only one person who's capable of doing something like this, and it is Alex," Harrington said. "I don't think that many people are drawn to free soloing. I get enough of my fear management out of just rock climbing with a rope."
The climb was years in the making. "I first saw Taipei 101 over 10 years ago and was like, 'Wow, that's incredible for climbing. That would be amazing,'" Honnold said. "At the time, I thought about climbing it without permission, you know, don't tell anybody. But out of respect for the building and respect for all the people on the team who'd allowed me access to look at it, I was like, 'Well, obviously I'm not going to poach this.'"
Honnold has previously explained why he chose Taipei 101 over Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building: the Burj's all-glass surface was "too slippery," while Taipei 101's window ledges were manageable for his finger strength and arm span.
James Smith, executive producer at Plimsoll Productions, said Taipei 101 management approved the project after seeing Honnold's 2018 documentary "Free Solo." "About halfway through my presentation, Janet Chia just said, 'Stop, stop, stop, stop. We're going to do this,'" Smith recalled.
Honnold is not the first to climb the tower. French climber Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman," scaled Taipei 101 with ropes on Christmas Day 2004, during the grand opening of what was then the world's tallest building. Robert, 63, took four hours in poor weather while nursing an injured elbow. Covering the event for CNN on Sunday, Robert offered congratulations. "I know Alex — all along I was confident," he said. "I didn't worry at all."
Unexpected Winners: Advertisers Seize the Moment
The event also produced unexpected commercial beneficiaries. Brands including Viartril-S (維骨力) and flu vaccine campaigns had placed support posters on office windows that became visible during the global broadcast. One local politician estimated the advertising value at "several million" New Taiwan dollars (around US$64,000-96,000 or more) for printing costs of just "a few hundred" New Taiwan dollars (around US$10-16).
Concerns about livestreaming extreme sports have intensified since October 2025, when Alaskan climbing influencer Balin Miller, 23, died in a fall at Yosemite's El Capitan while livestreaming on TikTok.
Honnold dismissed suggestions that having children had changed his appetite for risk, noting that Taipei 101 was "an incredibly family-friendly climbing objective" compared to remote expeditions. "For most climbs, you go to some far-flung place, you don't have cell service, you're gone for months, you're living in a tent," he said. "Here we FaceTime the kids. We fly home tomorrow. It's pretty chill in the grand scheme of climbing objectives."
Asked what he planned to do next, Honnold shrugged. He would train tomorrow morning, he said, then fly home with his family. Another climb awaits. For 91 minutes on Sunday, millions had watched a man risk death in real time. By Monday, he would be back on the hangboard, preparing to do it again. Whether that inspires awe or unease may depend on who is watching. ◼
