Alex Honnold free solos Taipei 101 skyscraper in live Netflix climb

Rock climber ascended the 508m Taipei 101 using the skyscraper’s horizontal metal beams to pull himself up with his bare hands

US rock climber Alex Honnold raises his arms from the top of the Taipei 101 building after he successfully free soloed the landmark skyscraper without ropes or safety gear in Taipei on Sunday. Picture: I-Hwa Cheng/Getty Images

The US rock climber Alex Honnold climbed one of Asia’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes or a harness on Sunday, fulfilling an ambition that began more than a decade ago and which he hoped would inspire people to pursue their own challenges because “time is finite”.

Honnold, who starred in the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, ascended the 508m Taipei 101 using the skyscraper’s horizontal metal beams to pull himself up with his bare hands. The challenge had originally been scheduled to take place on Saturday but was postponed because of rain.