'Spiderman' scales world's tallest building

A French urban climber who calls himself “Spiderman” today climbed to the top of the world’s tallest building – Taipei 101.

Alain Robert, 42, took almost four hours to reach the top of the 1,679-foot building – nearly twice as long as he expected – because of the rain.

Wearing a red jacket, red trousers, and red shoes, Robert climbed the tower using only a safety belt attached to a rope. He paused every eighth floor.

Before tackling the final 10 floors, he rested, drank some water, and chatted with the president of Taipei 101.

As dark clouds drifted around the top, Robert climbed onto the roof with a tired smile. “It was very wet ... and there was a strong wind,” he said.

At the top of the building, he waved at people crowded on the ground below and took down a light blue flag bearing the building’s name and logo.

Most of the climb took place under grey skies and heavy rain, raising fears the building’s management, who invited Robert to climb the tower, would be forced to cancel the event.

Organisers said teams of safety personnel and nurses were standing by on different floors to intervene if necessary.

Robert, who is renowned for climbing without ropes, has also scaled the Eiffel Tower and more than 30 skyscrapers around the world, including New York’s Empire State Building in 1994 and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1997.

The Christmas Day climb opened a week of media events leading up to the official inauguration of Taipei 101 on New Year’s Eve. The building houses office space and an observatory. A shopping mall at the base of the tower opened last year.

The 101-story skyscraper is 184 feet taller than the previous record-holder, the Petronas Towers. Taipei 101 also claims to have the highest structural top, the tallest roof and the highest occupied floor.