US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday.
Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement.
Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo.
Photograph by Corey Rich for Netflix
Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos shared on Taiwanese social media in September showed Honnold practicing for the climb, waving to people from outside Taipei 101’s observatory and even ascending the tower’s spire.
In an interview published with the statement, Honnold said that while he had spent 30 years climbing rock faces, Taipei 101, his first major structure climb, would feel a little different.
Honnold said that climbing a building involves more repetitive movements, which make it a little bit less tricky technically, but more physically demanding.
The hardest part of the climb would be what he called the “bamboo boxes” — the eight segments comprising 64 floors in the middle of the building that are overhanging, he said.
In each section, there is overhang of 10 or 15 degrees, and then a balcony every eight floors.
This means that you do “quite a hard effort for around 100 feet” (30.5m) and then reach a balcony several times, he said.
Asked about his aspirations for the climb, Honnold said his goal was similar to the trail-running events he had done, namely to “not injure myself and comport myself with dignity.”
While some viewers might feel nervous watching the broadcast, Honnold said he hoped they would appreciate the fun, the beauty and the joy of the experience.
At 508m, Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 2004.
It is now the world’s 11th-tallest building, remaining the tallest building in Taiwan.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
A man walks past elementary school artworks at the Taipei Lantern Festival in Ximen District yesterday, the first day of the event. The festival is to run from 5pm to 10pm through March 15.
RSS