Even the world’s greatest climber can’t scale a skyscraper slick with rain — especially without ropes or a safety net.
World-renowned rock climber and Free Solo star Alex Honnold was slated to attempt a daring ascent of Taipei 101, one of Asia‘s tallest buildings — at 9 a.m. local time in Taipei on Saturday, or 8 p.m. ET, on Friday — in an event broadcast globally as Skyscraper Live, Netflix’s latest foray into live sports programming.
But as the sun rose on Taipei Saturday morning and revealed a cityscape drenched by a steady drizzle, it was clear the spectacle was in jeopardy.
About 30 minutes before Honnold was originally scheduled to begin piecing his way up the base of the tower, Netflix revealed that the climb would be delayed by exactly one full day, in the hopes of clearer local weather on Sunday. The streamer said the decision whether to postpone was entirely Honnold’s to make, since it was his life literally on the line.
“Ultimately, this will be Alex’s decision,” a representative for Netflix had told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. “How is he doing and how is he feeling about the conditions?”
It soon became obvious in Taipei on Saturday morning that Honnold was feeling his feat simply couldn’t be done when his 1,667-foot target was slick with rain and whipped by gusts of wind.
“We’re confident we’re gonna have a great show here — we just need the weather to be kind,” said Grant Mansfield, CEO of Plimsoll Productions, one of the companies behind Skyscraper Live. “That building is very climbable when it’s dry, but when it’s wet, it just becomes so slippery. Alex couldn’t possibly climb it wet — even with ropes.”
“Due to weather, we are unable to proceed with today’s SkyscraperLIVE event,” Netflix’s official statement read. “It has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 24 at 8 p.m. ET | 5 p.m. PT. Safety remains our top priority, and we appreciate your understanding.”
The postponement underscores the real-life risk of Honnold’s planned attempt.
Netflix says it is confident in Honnold’s ability to return to ground safely, but it has taken the uncommon step of planning a 10-second delay of its live stream of the climb — to give parents confidence that their kids won’t potentially witness a real-life tragedy.
“We don’t have any concerns about profanity at all, but we want to make sure that we’re responsible for our audience,” explained Jonathan Mussman, Netflix’s vice president of production for nonfiction and live programming. “Just in case, God forbid, right?”
Climbing experts, and Honnold himself, have said Taipei 101’s geometric structure makes for a relatively straightforward challenge compared to the technical complexity of many of his most awe-inspiring climbing feats, especially Yosemite’s El Capitan, which was famously documented in the Oscar-winning Free Solo. But the building is nonetheless staggeringly tall, making the ascent something like a vertical marathon.
“One of the big differences between climbing a building and rock climbing is that there really isn’t a hardest single move,” Honnold said in a promotional piece released by Netflix. “In some ways, it’s less intimidating than the big free solos [on rocks] that I’ve done. The challenge comes from the overall physicality of it. The fatigue that [sets in] over the course of the building is slightly harder to anticipate. I don’t know how it’s gonna feel.”
“Buildings are steeper than rock faces,” he added. “Most rock faces aren’t actually vertical. Or, they’re not vertical the whole way, [like] the building is.”
Honnold has been spotted practicing on Taipei 101 this week with ropes — occasionally by office workers peering out their windows in awe at the real-life Spider-Man gliding past their desks.
Before Netflix’s rescheduling was revealed, disappointment was palpable in Taipei, where local news coverage had been building excitement around the spectacle on the city’s most famous landmark for weeks. On Friday night, Taipei 101’s face was lit up with neon lights reading: “Go Alex!”
Spectators were expected to gather by the thousands at the base of the tower to witness the spectacle, but the streets were deserted early Saturday amid the ugly weather, with Honnold’s many local fans clearly banking on a rain-out.
