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FREE SOLO CLIMBER TAKES ON URBAN LANDSCAPES

by PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Alex Honnold became a legend when he climbed Free Solo the Freerider Route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 3 hours 56 minutes, on June 13, 2017.

El Capitan in Yosemite National Park looms 3000 vertical feet above the Yosemite Valley. The granite monolith in California has become a climbing mecca for climbers from all around the world.

Honnold climbed the 1667 feet Taipei 101 Skyscraper on Saturday night, the tallest building in the sky of Taipei, Taiwan.

The building architecture is ornamental Asian with 101 floors distinctly reflecting the ancient culture, which made the climb a bit more than extraordinary. Honnold, for example, had to Free Solo 10 ornamental dragons, 8 bamboo boxes, a set of empirical coins and a beacon tower.

An extra challenge occurred as people working inside the building clustered around the windows taking photos of Honnold and selfies with Honnold in the background, climbing outside or momentarily taking a break while he chalked up his hands.

Previous free solo climbs occurred in the solitude of a mountain ranges and the surrounding landscapes. Honnold is so singular that he trained out of a van, and then a tent when the van broke down, and then a better van. Honnold only purchased a house a few years ago, after getting married and undoubtably deciding to have children and raise a family out of something other than a bigger van or recreation vehicle.

Honnold is not only respected for his fearless climbing exploits, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest athletes in the world, completing sporting feats that require physical strength, endurance and psychological stamina – with which he has found a nexus of perfection.

No one else can do what he can do – or do it as good as he can do it. No one is as fast, with Honnold completing the Taipei 101 climb in just 1 hour and 35 minutes. No one is as fearless, with Honnold completing many climbs without any safety ropes, and frequently not even deploying the use of the buddy system.

The free solo city climb was well staged with a 3 acre exclusion zone negotiated with Taipei authorities, while spectators stood behind street barricades on the two sides of the skyscraper that could offer a view of the spectacle, as Honnold climbed one corner.

Honnold engaged in the programming by waving at the spectators inside the building. Honnold also wore a mic so he could talk to the broadcast team and comment with them for the live streaming viewers to hear. Sports broadcaster Elle Duncan hosted the live stream event, with professional wrestler Seth Rollins, climber Emily Harrington and YouTuber Mark Rober providing background information, color commentary and play-by-play reporting.

The production was organized by the Taiwanese government and the Taipei Film Commission.

One camera man dangled from a rope and harness system to film Honnold from just a few feet away. Camera crews were also positioned on platforms of the building, at different elevations, so the stream could be shown from different perspectives.

Netflix created a 10 second delay in the live stream in case Honnold fell, so as not to stream someone dying in real time.

Honnold mostly used the window frames to climb. There was variety though, other than the dragons. Once Honnold climbed the bamboo boxes he had to climb five overhangs.

And the higher Honnold climbed, the stronger the city winds blew.

There was a lot of smearing on the windows to find a bit of friction for a fourth point of contact with Taipei 101. Honnold had to clean his hands and climbing shoes from time to time to get the building grime off of him.

Just when the dragons seemed too scary, Honnold climbed the overhangs by initially letting go with his feet and then pulling himself up by his arms.

When success was almost at hand, Honnold hung from his legs to give his upper torso and arms a much needed break.

The free solo climb of Taipei 101 was at times difficult to watch. The dragons required Honnold to slide his leg up and over onto an outline of the ornament, which created a slight body swing when he let his leg go off the building and then swung his leg up and over.

The first time was suspenseful, and the tension simply continued to rise with each dragon as he got higher off the ground.

Everything seemed to simply get more and more precarious, especially when the wind clearly began to pick up, rippling the red shirt Honnold was wearing, more and more so, the higher he climbed.

Even repelling down the beacon tower seemed precarious from that height.