US climber hopes ascent of Taipei 101 inspires others to use time in ‘most meaningful way’

Alex Honnold said he hoped to inspire people to use their time meaningfully after completing a free solo climb of Taipei 101 on Sunday.

American climber Honnold conquered the 508-metre (1,667-foot) tower without ropes, harnesses, safety gear or parachute in one hour, 31 minutes and 36 seconds to complete the tallest urban free solo climb in history.

“I’m so psyched,” he said after climbing the 11th-tallest building in the world. “[I’m] pretty tired actually. The whole top of the building is pretty physical actually … but it was so amazing.”

With a predetermined two-hour time slot allocated for his climb, which was streamed live on Netflix – with a 10-second delay to prevent viewers from witnessing any unsettling sights – Honnold reached the summit much faster than expected.

Taiwanese media reported that the post-climb press conference had to be “moved forward” by 30 minutes because Honnold had climbed too quickly.

Originally planned for Saturday morning, Honnold’s climb was delayed for a day by bad weather.