On January 25, 2026, legendary climber Alex Honnold made history by becoming the first person to free solo the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan, completing the ropeless ascent in just over 91 minutes. Honnold’s climb was broadcast globally as a Netflix live event. Originally scheduled for January 24, the attempt was pushed back by 24 hours due to heavy rain that made the building’s glass and steel surfaces too slick for a safe attempt.
Honnold had envisioned this climb for over a decade after a previous project fell through in 2012. Beyond the personal challenge, he aimed to test his skills on a unique man-made structure and inspire viewers to pursue their own “meaningful” goals.
The climb was a vertical marathon of repetition. Honnold navigated the building’s signature “bamboo box” segments (eight stacked sections of eight floors each that overhang by 10 to 15 degrees). To maintain his grip, Honnold utilized the building’s horizontal metal beams and “sidepulls,” which provided more consistent friction than natural rock. Because of the building’s repetitive architecture, he performed the same sequence of moves approximately 92 times during the ascent.
To prepare for this 101-story journey, Honnold adopted an extreme fatigue training regimen. He performed hundreds of daily repetitions of “box pinches,” pull ups on squat racks, and core work to ensure he could remain functional even when his muscles were screaming with exhaustion. He also conducted several scout climbs on ropes to memorize the route and test custom climbing shoes designed specifically for gripping glass and steel surfaces. “It’s incredible conditioning. Unlike a mountain, a skyscraper has no natural ledges to rest on. Maintaining that level of tension for 90 minutes straight is a brutal, relentless muscular burn,” explains Schilling (HVHS Health and P.E teacher). “By hitting his physical limit in the gym, he learns to see exhaustion as a technical problem rather than a reason to freak out. It turns a life-threatening moment into a routine.”
Despite the life or death stakes, Honnold appeared remarkably relaxed throughout the broadcast, occasionally waving to onlookers through office windows and commenting on the amazing view through his live microphone. “I was rooting for him but also felt like I was watching a disaster waiting to happen,” Isabella Jentzsch (11) explained. ” It was very nerve-racking especially since it was live and anything could happen.” The production, which utilized 19 cameras and a 10-second delay for safety, allowed millions to witness the technical precision required for such a feat. Mr. Schilling agreed that the climb exists in a unique space: “Perfection is the total absence of error, and that’s exactly what this is. It’s an athletic masterpiece, but because of a single mistake equals death, it sits in a category of risk all its own.”
While Taipei 101 is a massive architectural feat, Isabella observed a distinct difference between this urban climb and Honnold’s famous ascent of El Capitan. “I think there was a huge difference between El Capitan and Taipei 101, Alex mentions it himself in an interview. He says that it’s more repetitive and more taxing on his body,” she said. “His climb of El Capitan felt much more impressive to me because there was so much more danger involved; he also practiced for El Capitan over the span of 10 years but only practiced for Taipei 101 over the span of 3 months.”
Upon reaching the final spire, Honnold admitted to feeling “pretty tired,” noting that the overhanging sections were particularly taxing on his endurance. After reaching the summit and taking a historic selfie, he was met by his wife, Sanni McCandless, on a balcony for an emotional reunion.
As Honnold descended from the spire to the 88th floor to take the elevator back to the ground, he left behind a new record for the highest urban free solo in history. By turning one of the world’s most iconic office buildings into a vertical playground, he once again redefined the limits of human focus and physical capability.
