Great feat of strength, determination and athleticism! I also hope Netflix stays as far away from this as possible.
Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
61–70 of 153 posts
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not saying money wasn't a factor in his decision to do this for a livestream, but it clearly wouldn't be the only factor and I doubt that would make him stop. (He free solo'd before, without cameras, although not this building). For people like Alex, it's much more about the thrill, the experience, and 'proving' themselves than it is about money.
He didn't have kids when he free soloed the mountain.
Sure but that is not related to the argument I'm making (or the post I commented on)
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm wondering if this is because El Capitan is a much more technically difficult climb and thus posing much more risk than Taipei 101.
He was able to practice El Capitan over and over, though. Was he able to in Tapei?
I'd assume - unlike El Capitan - the pitches here are all pretty much identical, so by the time he got to the third or fourth floor he had it figured out
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm wondering if this is because El Capitan is a much more technically difficult climb and thus posing much more risk than Taipei 101.
He was able to practice El Capitan over and over, though. Was he able to in Tapei?
He must have. My impression from the documentary is that he practice the climb route many times with safety gear first.
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
You put your life in danger every time you get behind the wheel of a car. Statistically more danger than a free solo climber.
False equivalence. It's by no means required to free climb a skyscraper. While you might say it's also not required to get behind the wheel of a car, the difficulty in getting places (like a job, for example) without doing so in many locations makes it more or less required.
Except, using your malleable logic the response is easy, this is Honnold's job.
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not 25% per climb, but it's not near zero either, especially in aggregate. It only takes one mistake. A fairly high percentage of famous free soloists (I'd say over 25%) have died prematurely, either while free soloing, or during other extreme sports.
>A fairly high percentage of famous free soloists (I'd say over 25%) have died prematurely Yes but I'd also say Alex is a bit of a different beast. He's clearly not a thrill seeker who attempts climbs he isn't sure about. And as he has once said, there's a very real risk of dying when you get in your car, play football, are a boxer, and so on. People have a stark reaction to the visual of a guy being 200 meters above…
> People have a stark reaction to the visual of a guy being 200 meters above the ground but the reality is if you're a circus acrobat and you're 10 meters up the air you're also likely dead or maimed if something goes wrong.
No, it's the large number of free soloists that have died. And the small number of circus performers who have died. People's intuitions about the relative risks are actually very accurate here.
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#67[flagged]
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#68Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm wondering if this is because El Capitan is a much more technically difficult climb and thus posing much more risk than Taipei 101.
He was able to practice El Capitan over and over, though. Was he able to in Tapei?
Yes. You can see him here climb with ropes: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/24/world/video/alex-honnold-...
It would be insanely reckless to free solo without practicing first.
Re: Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net
#70[flagged]
People often confuse severe consequences (a fall = death) with high probability. Alex, like most climbers, reduce that probability to near zero through obsessive prep. The travel to/from Taiwan was statistically riskier than the climb. Selfish? Not even close.
Near zero is a bs number you pulled out of thin air.
Selfish is too harsh, but don’t go making up stats for this.