Alex Honnold to make rope-free ascent on Taipei 101 in his ‘most ambitious urban climb' – When and where to watch LIVE

In his most ambitious urban climb to date, Alex Honnold will take on Taipei 101 in a thrilling, rope-free ascent next month. The popular US climber said it has been his “long-time goal” to climb the 1,700 ft skyscraper.

This summit will be aired live on Netflix in a two-hour show.

Sharing the news with his followers, Alex wrote: “On January 23, I’ll be free soloing Taipei 101 in Taiwan. It’s been a long-time goal of mine, and it’ll be the most ambitious urban climb that I’ve attempted.”

“It’s a nearly 1,700 ft tower! What’s not to like?! And I’ll be doing it LIVE on Netflix. Tune in Friday, January 23 at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT,” he added.

In India, the “Skyscraper Live” will air on January 24 at 6:30 AM.

Netflix first previewed its upcoming live show in October after Taiwanese social media began flooding with videos showing Alex Honnold practising for the climb, waving to people from outside Taipei 101's observatory, and even ascending the tower's spire.

About the Taipei 101 climb

When it was completed in 2004. Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world at 508 metres. It is now the world's 11th-tallest building, though it remains the tallest building in Taiwan.

According to the Focus Taiwan website, Taipei 101 is the first big man-made structure that Alex Honnold will be climbing. This marks a shift in his 30 years of rock climbing.

Alex acknowledged that the climb on this skyscraper is “a little different” and involves more repetitive movements, making it technically less tricky but physically more demanding.

He also told the news outlet that the most challenging part of the climb would be what he called the “bamboo boxes,” the eight segments comprising 64 floors in the middle of the building that are overhanging.

In each section, there is an overhang of 10 or 15 degrees, and then a balcony every eight floors, Alex shared. This means that you do “quite a hard effort for around 100 feet” and then reach a balcony, multiple times, he added.

When asked about his aspirations for the climb, Alex Honnold said his goal was similar to the trail running events he'd done, namely to “not injure myself and comport myself with dignity.”

(With ANI inputs)