Climb 508 meters barehanded, without ropes or harnesses, equipped only with climbing shoes and a chalk bag. It seems like something out of this world but it was the feat accomplished tonight in live streaming from Alex HonnoldAmerican professional climber, on Taipei 101the eleventh tallest skyscraper in the world with its 101 floors and one of the symbols of Taiwan. The climb up the steel and glass building, which began today January 25, 2026 at 9:00 local time (2:00 in Italy), lasted 1 hour and 31 minutesleaving both the crowd gathered under the building and spectators from all over the world speechless.
Honnold has spent his life accomplishing these challenges in “free solo” – this is the name of the climbing discipline – against himself, nature and death. The story that made him famous more than others is the climb of El Capitanthanks to which he also won a Oscar with the documentary “Free Solo“.
Alex Honnold climbing the Taipei 101 skyscraper
There climbing Taipei 101 rightfully enters history. For Honnold, the structurebamboo box” of the skyscraper, with balconies every eight floors, transformed the climb into a rhythmic sequence, offering precious rest points. Unlike the rock, here the unpredictability of nature was not present and the building had been studied in every detail by the climber.
The choice to broadcast tonight’s event live attracted many criticismsalso by the community of climber. Free soloing remains a controversial practice due to the very high risk and numerous fatal accidents that have occurred over the years, sometimes live on social media. To protect itself, the streaming was broadcast with a 10 second delaymargin necessary to interrupt the transmission in case something went wrong. Fortunately, however, there was no need: Alex reached the summit, where the famous one is located anti-seismic steel ball of the building. According to rumors, for this event Alex would have received a fee six figures.
The feat had already been attempted by the French Alain Robertbut forced to use one safety rope due to bad weather which would have made the surface slippery.
Honnold, a Californian from Sacramento born in 1985, is a husband and father of two daughters under the age of four. A factor that weighs when he has to face his challenges even if, as he declared to the Guardian, «Death is part of life». Behind this coldness there is meticulous preparation: the climber is followed by sports psychologists who train him in stress management through visualization and internal dialogue. And the thought of the end? It’s a topic that Alex tries not to discuss with his wife, except jokingly, to play down the inevitable risk of his profession. Even the climb of Taipei 101, however controversial, is a story with a happy ending.
The American he is no stranger to feats that defy logic and fear. His consecration came in 2017 with the ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Park – an almost vertical granite wall 1000 meters – tackled in 3 hours and 56 minutes. Obviously without strings. A feat immortalized in the documentary Oscar winner “Free Solo”, which revealed to the world not only his superhuman technique, but also an uncommon mind control of fear.
Free soloing is the closest thing to perfection… and it’s nice to feel perfect, at least for a moment (Alex Honnold)
What is Free Solo
To understand Honnold’s madness (and preparation), we must distinguish between “free climbing” and “free solo”, two terms that are similar but hide a profound difference. In the’free climbing (free climbing), the most widespread discipline, the athlete uses his hands and feet to climb, but it is secured by a rope which protects him in the event of a fall but which does not help him in the climb.
The free aloneInstead, eliminates any security system. The climber goes up without ropes, without harness and without companions. He only has his shoes and chalk bag with him to wipe the sweat from his hands. In this sport, mistakes are not contemplated, a slip almost certainly means the most tragic end. Those who practice it consider it the purest and freest form of this sport but those who see it from the outside consider it pure madness and recklessness. This last vision might seem the most appropriate definition given the numerous deaths linked to this practice, including those of Brad Gobright And Austin Howell died at 31 and 32 while climbing rock faces. Or the case of Balin Millera young climber from Alaska who died in 2024 at age 23 while climbing El Capitan live streamed on TikTok.
Free soloing has several variations. There are the deep water soloing which is practiced on cliffs overlooking the sea and the basic soloing in which the athlete has a parachute to open in the event of a fall, the two versions we can say are “safer” however extreme. Then there is theurban soloing in which buildings and skyscrapers are climbed as in the case of Alex Hollond. Before the American, however, another pioneer made these crazy challenges famous, the Frenchman Alain Robert. Known as “Spiderman” – a costume he actually wore during some ascents – in the 1990s he conquered global icons such as the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Sydney Opera House.
Finally, the bouldering. Also in this case no ropes are used, but the context is different because you are climbing on boulders (bouldering) up to 15 meters high and mattresses (crashpad) at the base to cushion falls. This practice, very widespread among climbers, combines strength and explosiveness in short and intense routes.
