Netflix will stream live coverage of free solo climber Alex Honnold scaling the Taipei 101 in Skyscraper Live on January 23.
Honnold will be scaling the world's tallest tower, Taipei 101, without the aid of safety nets or ropes. Taipei 101 stands at 1667 feet in Taiwan. The building was formerly known as Taipei World Financial Center and was the tallest building in the world from the time it opened in 2004 until 2009.
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Who is Alex Honnold and how old is he?
Alex Honnold is 40-years-old and is one of the world's most celebrated rock climbers. He is a pioneer in the field of scaling rock faces without any ropes or protective gear.
Honnold gained fame through the 2018 documentary “Free Solo”. The documentary chronicled his historic rope-free ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a 3000-foot sheer granite wall. The documentary won an Academy Award and made Honnold a household name.
{{/usCountry}}Honnold gained fame through the 2018 documentary “Free Solo”. The documentary chronicled his historic rope-free ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a 3000-foot sheer granite wall. The documentary won an Academy Award and made Honnold a household name.
{{/usCountry}}Climbing runs in Honnold's genes as his mother, Dierdre Wolownick, was the oldest woman at 60 to climb El Capitan. She broke her own record by climbing it again at 70.
Alex Honnold has been a climber his whole life. At age five, he started in a climbing gym, frequently with his father's assistance. In 2015, he told The New York Times that he and his father spent "like, a million hours" at gyms across California.
He is married to a fellow climber, Sanni McCandless, whom he met at a book signing event in November 2015. The two married in 2020 and are parents to two daughters, June and Alice.
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When to tune in to watch the climb live?
The Netflix special Skyscraper Live will begin at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT on Friday, January 23. The show is expected to run for two hours.
Honnold's climb of Taipei 101 is one of the most ambitious live broadcast stunts in climbing history and is the first time he is taking up such a challenge on a skyscraper.
In an interview that appeared on Netflix last month, Alex Honnold told Tudum that while he isn't the first climber to attempt the Taipei 101, he will be the first to finish it free solo. He said, “Taipei 101, as part of its opening ceremony, was climbed by a French climber named Alain Robert with ropes, and he climbed it in over four hours. He had just broken his arm or something crazy.”
He added, “I think, if I do this, it’ll be the biggest urban free solo ever. I think it’s the tallest building that’s been climbed.”