Taiwan gains global visibility with Alex Honnold’s Taipei 101 climb, but were the risks justified?

TAIPEI – Shortly after American climber

Alex Honnold completed the historic ascent of the Taipei 101

skyscraper on Jan 25 – done entirely without ropes or a harness in a live spectacle broadcast on Netflix – Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te weighed in.

“Thank you to every unsung hero behind the scenes who made this challenge possible and brought Taiwan to the international stage,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

He added: “The world not only saw Taipei 101 but also the passionate people of Taiwan and the beautiful hills and landscape of this land.”

Social media users chimed in in agreement, many expressing gratitude to Mr Honnold for achieving the feat in their home town. “It was so moving to watch him climb with our flags waving in the background,” one said.

The comments reflect Taiwan’s eagerness to boost its international visibility and assert its presence on the global stage, at a time when the island faces intensifying efforts by China to isolate it diplomatically. Beijing views the island as part of its territory, a claim the democratically elected government in Taipei rejects.

On the morning of Jan 25, viewers from around the world tuned in to watch a live stream of Mr Honnold climbing up the side of the iconic building – once the world’s tallest – without any safety gear.

I was among the thousands of spectators who thronged the streets near the tower’s base, many cheering in support and waving handmade posters and colourful banners. 

When the 40-year-old father of two girls completed the daring feat around 90 minutes after he started, even pausing to snap a selfie amid strong winds at the top of the 508m-tall building, I felt a sense of relief.

While the event showered much global attention on Taiwan, I am not sure that the risks were justified.

It is worth noting that Netflix beamed Mr Honnold’s climb with a reported 10-second delay in the telecast – just in case a mishap were to happen. His climb was also postponed for 24 hours after it rained on Jan 24, the day that he had originally been scheduled to attempt the feat.

Any free solo climb – that is, done without protective equipment – comes with risks, no matter how talented the climber or perfect the conditions.

Some commentators noted how Mr Honnold had to pause mid-climb to clean the building’s accumulated grease off his shoes, and how the blazing sun had appeared to make his palms sweat more than usual. 

On the building’s 89th floor, where the enclosed observation deck is, people could be seen tapping on the glass and taking flash photographs as he crawled past, which could have been distracting.

Any mistake would have likely been fatal, and traumatic not just for his wife – who said afterwards that she was “basically having a panic attack the entire time” while watching him climb – but for everyone else watching so intently.

Mr Honnold is known for his legendary ropeless climb up Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, a 914m rock formation, which was documented in the 2018 Oscar-winning film Free Solo. 

In October 2025, 23-year-old American climber Balin Miller was live-streamed on TikTok ascending and subsequently falling from El Capitan by another climber. Hundreds of viewers reportedly witnessed the moment he fell to his death, with many saying that they were “traumatised” by the incident. 

The fact that the Taiwanese authorities allowed the controversial climb to go ahead demonstrated how they had hoped to leverage the event as a soft-power win. It is believed to be the first time a government has authorised a completely ropeless ascent of a building of this magnitude.

Mr Honnold, who had been seeking to scale a skyscraper for years, admitted that he could not pass up the opportunity as it is “really hard to get permission to climb a building”. 

To be fair, Taipei likely granted him permission with the belief that Mr Honnold, one of the world’s most celebrated climbers, would more than likely succeed in his attempt. 

Given the complexities of some of his past climbs, experts said that the Taipei 101 climb would, in all technical aspects, be a piece of cake. Indeed, Mr Honnold made his ascent appear almost too easy, stopping every now and then to smile and wave to the crowds below. 

The unique design of Taipei 101 also makes it “uniquely suited” for climbing, he had said in previous interviews. 

The building’s “bamboo box” architecture in the middle features balconies every eight floors, providing natural segments where he could rest or even bail into the building if necessary. This would have allowed him to take physical and mental breaks periodically rather than climbing the entire height in one continuous push.

The fact that another climber had made the summit of Taipei 101 before – albeit with ropes and a harness – was evidence that it was possible.

In 2004, the “French Spider-Man” Alain Robert successfully ascended the skyscraper by invitation of the building’s management, as part of a promotional stunt to celebrate its status then as the world’s tallest skyscraper. 

Today, Taiwan can celebrate Mr Honnold’s incredible achievement in completing the highest free solo of an urban structure in history, and its role in paving the way for him to do that.

But there was also a chance that things could have gone horribly wrong. Taipei needs and desires international visibility, but it should not come at an unacceptable ethical cost.