Social media reacts as Alex Honnold climbs Taipei 101 skyscraper

One of the wonderful athletic feats in latest reminiscence occurred final Saturday when legendary rock climber Alex Honnold free-soloed up the Taipei 101 skyscraper stay on Netflix.

Previously generally known as the Taipei World Monetary Heart, the constructing is 1,667 ft tall and is the eleventh tallest construction on this planet. From 2004 to 2009, the constructing really held the title of the tallest constructing on Earth earlier than Burj Khalifa took that crown. Late Saturday evening for an American viewers, Honnold made your complete climb with out ropes, harnesses or security gear, finishing the climb in simply over 90 minutes, turning into solely the second individual in historical past to finish the climb.

It is exhausting to overstate how unstable that is. Hundreds of individuals watched the pure, panic-inducing spectacle of a 40-year-old man scaling a skyscraper utilizing solely his fingers and footwear. It is like your mind instantly rejects it as a foul concept. Nonetheless, Honnold made it appear nearly routine.

Once we lastly reached the highest, his first phrases summed up the entire expertise completely. “really feel in poor health”.

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Naturally, social media additionally attracted consideration. The clips and screenshots went viral nearly immediately, with equal components awe and disbelief, with individuals marveling not simply on the bodily feat, however at how casually it was offered. A historic sporting achievement was broadcast stay, however by some means it felt very foolish in the very best sense of the phrase.

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For these unfamiliar with Honnold, this isn’t the primary time he has pulled a stunt like this. He’s finest generally known as the primary individual to solo free climb El Capitan, Yosemite’s almost 3,000-foot vertical granite wall that has killed a number of climbers through the years. Its rise is documented in free solothe 2018 movie received the Academy Award for Finest Documentary.

In different phrases, Alex Honnold isn’t reckless. However to place it as respectfully as attainable, he is completely insane and excellent at what he does.

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