Free solo climber Alex Honnold conquers one of the world’s tallest buildings

For 92 minutes on a clear Sunday morning in Taipei, thousands of spectators with jittery nerves stared upwards, while people across the world were glued to their screens, as famed climber Alex Honnold made a death-defying attempt to scale one of the tallest skyscrapers on Earth.

He clambered up the last inch of the metal spire atop Taipei 101 at 10:43 am local time and stood on the 1,667-foot (508-meters) summit with a grin, waving to the cheering fans below – a sight that will undoubtedly become an iconic moment in climbing folklore.

He’s the first known climber to free solo Taipei 101, meaning an ascent without ropes, safety nets, or other equipment – just his bare hands and a chalk bag to help with grip.

“It’s amazing, I’m sure I’ll be glowing for days, it’s incredible,” Honnold said in a news conference after finishing the climb. “You spend so long thinking about it and imagining it's possible, but then to actually do it always feels different.”

Honnold, 40, has been a recognized figure in the climbing community for nearly two decades – rising to prominence in his early 20s for successful free solo climbs of challenging routes.

But he became a household name worldwide after becoming the first person to free climb El Capitan, a vertical rock formation at Yosemite National Park, in 2017 – a nail-biting ascent that was captured in the award-winning documentary “Free Solo.”