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Everyone has the same concern after watching Alex Honnold cheat death and climb 1667ft skyscraper without ropes
Home>News>World News
Updated 11:58 25 Jan 2026 GMTPublished 11:57 25 Jan 2026 GMT

Everyone has the same concern after watching Alex Honnold cheat death and climb 1667ft skyscraper without ropes

The free solo climber scaled Taipei 101 on Sunday morning (January 25)

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

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Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Netflix, Viral, Celebrity

Callum Jones
Callum Jones

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After Alex Honnold incredibly scaled one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, fans are taking to social media to point out one main concern.

The rock climber made history on Sunday (January 25) by climbing Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot, 101-story structure in Taiwan's capital.

While that is incredibly daunting even with all the safety equipment, the 40-year-old remarkably scaled the building without any ropes or safety gear.

It took the daredevil American one hour and 35 minutes to climb the skyscraper, which was streamed live on Netflix in the form of Skyscraper Live.

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And while he completed the challenge, everyone on the internet has voiced their same concern regarding how Honnold managed to get down to the bottom.

"HOW DOES HE GET BACK DOWN," one person on X asked. While a second more politely requested: "How does he get down?"

How did Alex Honnold get down?

Well, after looking at the view very briefly, Honnold put on a harness and rappelled down from the gigantic building.

Yep, that's Alex (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images
Yep, that's Alex (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images

Taipei 101 is a working skyscraper with interior access, which meant Honnold could catch an elevator to the bottom.

I mean, it's certainly a tame way to get back down to civilisation if you compare it to how he got up.

What would have happened if Honnold fell?

It's something you don't really want to think about, though there was the real possibility the event could have ended in tragedy.

Honnold is an experienced climber, having become the first person to climb El Capitan, the granite cliff in California's Yosemite National Park, without ropes or any form of safety equipment.

However, things can go wrong, and Honnold explained to CNN prior to his climb how falling off Taipei 101 would likely have been fatal.

Alex Honnold remarkably made it to the top (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)
Alex Honnold remarkably made it to the top (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

"If something happens, I would die, though actually, on this particular building, that’s not even totally true because there are balconies every few floors," he told the outlet.

"The geometry of the building, the shape of the building, is such that you actually could fall in tonnes of places and not actually die, which makes it in some ways safer than a lot of rock-climbing objectives."

Has Honnold been paid for the stunt?

The rock climber was asked by the New York Times whether the stunt was his biggest payday, to which he said: "Maybe. It’s less than my agent aspired to. I mean, I would do it for free.

"If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing. I mean, just sitting by yourself on the very top of the spire is insane."

Honnold's death-defying climb was originally aborted on Saturday (January 24) due to adverse weather conditions. However, he was able to complete the incredible feat a day later.

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