Alex Honnold on His Record-Breaking Live Netflix Skyscraper Climb, Whether the Gasping Crowds Made Him Nervous and How Windy It Got

25 Jan 2026, 02:45 by Michael Schneider · Variety

You can exhale now: Alex Honnold successfully made it to the top of Taipei 101, in a live special on Netflix. “Sick!” he exclaimed at the top of the tower, after climbing the tower in one hour and 35 minutes. “I’m so psyched!” And then he took a selfie.

The “Skyscraper Live” climb, which started a bit after 8 p.m. ET (9 a.m. Sunday morning Taipei time) appeared to be mostly a piece of cake for Honnold, with a few hiccups: Mostly, he appeared to lose audio contact with his team at a few points — and most importantly, lost his in-ear music soundtrack. (Luckily, he eventually got it back.)

This was a different kind of climb for Honnold, who normally does his feats — including the one that made him famous scaling Yosemite’s El Capitan for the Oscar-winning doc “Free Solo” — in solitude. Honnold’s wife Sanni McCandless was on hand too, and she revealed that she generally isn’t in attendance for his climbs either. At the end of the climb, McCandless was waiting for Honnold, and the two shared a long embrace.

Variety spoke to Honnold about an hour after his climb, from the 88th floor of the Taipei 101. And given that he had just made history by finishing the highest free solo climb of an urban structure in history, he was in good spirits.

Let’s talk about the climb. An hour, 31 minutes, is that around what you were expecting? Were you a little faster, or right on schedule to what you’re thinking?

I kind of thought it’d be like between 1:25 and two hours or 2:15 even. I didn’t really have a good sense of it. And then once I started, I had no way to keep track of timing or pace or anything. So it was perfect. I felt like I was going slowly, and it was all pretty casual.

You hit the mark perfectly for this show to end at the two-hour point.

I didn’t even know! When I when I was standing on the top, I was kind of like, “Am I slow? Am I fast? Should I stay here forever?” I was just having a great time.

That king of the world shot on top and that selfie, which we need to get a copy of.

I just got one on my phone. I was gonna send it.

We need to share it with our Variety readers! Was that always the plan at the top? Had you rehearsed what you wanted to do when you got to the very top?

I definitely didn’t rehearse anything. Production had said, “would you take a selfie or anything?” I was like, “yeah, if I was by myself, I would get to the top, and definitely I would take pictures.” I would probably take some panoramas at the landscape so I could show my family. If I was totally alone and there was no came around, for sure I would take pictures when you get to a position like that. It was not unrealistic to snap a few photos when you’re on the top of this incredible spire.

It was only toward the end that we started to hear your concerns with the wind and also being a little tired. At that point, what were the conditions like? Was that the hairiest things got?

I wouldn’t necessarily say hairiest, but the wind definitely got stronger the higher I went. Which is not surprising. That’s the way the building’s been all the time. The top of the building rips wind and then, just by coincidence, the wind direction happened to be hammering the corner that I was climbing. Other aspects of the building would have been more sheltered. I don’t know if you can see, there were a few places where I would hug around to the left a little bit, because it basically was sheltering me from the wind a tiny bit more. But then when I climbed the corner itself, I would just be getting hammered. I was like, “ah!” And then the same when stepping onto the dragons. When I was on the left face of the dragon, I would be sheltered from the wind. But if I reached my hand around the dragon, it would basically be like, “Wow, it’s so windy!” I definitely noticed the wind. And then, yeah, I was getting tired a little by the top. I wasn’t concerned that “Oh, I’m so tired. I’m gonna fall off.” But I was like, “OK, I’m feeling it!”

Was there any moment where you had any real concern?

The challenge is not getting complacent up the bamboo boxes, because it’s 64 of the same sequence over and over. And each one you’ve got to make sure you don’t slip. You want to pay attention and execute each one well.

It’s climbing those dragons elicited the most gasps from the crowd.

The dragons, they’re also probably the scariest thing to actually do. I mean, they’re really fun, they’re really cool. It’s an incredible sequence, cool position. But every time I set up on the dragon, I’d be like, “this is kind of crazy.” You’re like, out over the abyss. It’s cool.

Especially because you didn’t have to do the dragons, right? Could you have climbed around the dragons?

You can wedge yourself in behind the dragon and squirm up the back of it. But that’s actually not as easy as it seems like it would be. Because the inside of the dragon is actually like a smooth sheet of metal. So, yeah, you can climb it, but it looks very undignified. It’s full body strenuous, and it’s not that much easier. And so, actually, the dragon is kind of the better way. If you’re climbing with a rope, you for sure always do the dragon, because it’s more fun, it’s joyous. It’s just slightly scarier, because the position is so exposed.

Definitely got the most reaction, although once you were on top you told Sanni that you kind of missed the dragons once you were done with the dragons. You seemed to be getting into it by the end.

Definitely after the last dragon, I was kind of like, “oh, this is probably the last time in my life that I’ll ever climb a dragon.” What an experience.

I mentioned the crowd gasping and cheering. Is that super distracting? That’s something that you don’t usually deal with when you’re doing your climbs.

No, I think it was actually kind of motivating or enlivening. This is probably true for all athletes, in mainstream sports when people play and the crowds are roaring. As a climber, you never experience that. So I was like, no wonder when people are playing in the Super Bowl, it must be super motivating. It was my first taste of something like that.

It sounds like it worked to your benefit.

I think so. And actually, over the last several days, my perspective started to shift a little. From like, “this feels kind of intense” and I’m nervous or whatever, to actually feeling pretty excited for it and feeling motivated. I felt like there was a perspective shift of embracing the whole spectacle side of it. I was like, if I just wave at all the people on the inside and have a good time as I’m going by, it makes the whole thing more fun. One of the main challenges of the climb is the pacing. If you have to go really fast, you get tired, but if you take your time and you wave to people and you enjoy the experience and enjoy the views, you don’t get as tired. It makes the whole thing feel less scary. And so I was kind of like, “I’m just gonna embrace the experience and just have a good time, and it’ll make it all feel better.”

It’s got to be surreal too, to be climbing and seeing people in the observation decks waving at you. It kind of concerned me that they might be distracting you.

That’s funny, I definitely waved at a lot of people. And I would look at people. But there were a bunch of folks who were trying to get me to make little heart symbols and things. It’s really popular here in some of the photos. And I was like, no, I draw the line at making hand signals. Like, I am still holding on!

Another thing that’s really unique with this is that you got to see Sanni halfway up. And wave at her. That must have been so different. Was that distracting?

No, it’s not distracting. Because also, I passed camera people 10 or 12 times. I don’t know if it was used in the broadcast or not, but I was talking to the camera people every time I go by. I’d be like, “Mikey, good to see you! Hey, Pablo!” And then each camera guy would have an assistant camera person, plus a safety person to help shuttle them around the building. All those teams are friends of mine. And so every time I’m passing balconies and things, I’m like, “Oh, my friends!” So it’s not distracting. If anything, it’s part of the fun. We’re all up here having this incredible experience on the side of a building. It’s so cool.

You mentioned a few times that you were losing some communication, and your music at some point wasn’t showing up, but then it came back. Was any of that a problem?

I was totally unstressed about all that stuff. There were times I couldn’t hear anyone. It doesn’t bother me in terms of climbing, because obviously I can just climb in my own little bubble. I was only worried about it in terms of the broadcast. I have no idea what the timing is, if I’m supposed to be doing something, if someone’s telling me to go faster or slower. I was like, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but I’ll just climb. It was fine. It’s to be expected with communications. It’s kind of magical that it even did work at all. There are a bunch of spots on the building that are basically dead zones, probably because they have their own transmitters and things. Cell service dies in a bunch of places in the building. So for me to have pretty good communication the whole way up this giant thing in the middle of the city, I was like, it’s pretty good.

What about the music? What were you listening to today?

It was mostly Tool. It’s just like a random playlist that I made, that I shared with production. I made it months ago while I was driving. I’ve been training to it a bunch. Basically rock music that I’ve liked my whole life. Part of the appeal of music is that actually it helps me with pacing. Each bamboo box had been taking me about five to six and a half minutes. I just know how long the songs are. So it gives you it gives you a sense of if you’re going fast or slow. But in this case, it all kept cutting out anyway, and I couldn’t really hear and I was kind of like, “whatever. I’m just doing my thing.”

How many times did you scale Taipei 101 with the ropes? And what did you learn as you were getting to know the building?

I came here for a scout in September, and that’s when we shot some of the promotional stuff. On the scout, I climbed it from bottom to the top with the rope once, just to make sure that it was possible. Because I was kind of like, “before we all commit to this TV project, I better make sure that it’s possible.” Then on this trip, I did it from bottom to top once again. And then I did various sections here and there, depending on conditions. One day it was raining, and I did a couple boxes — but basically determined that I couldn’t climb it at all in the rain. I don’t wanna say impossible, but it was basically impossible. It was so slippery. Not surprising, it’s metal and glass, and in the rain it was so slick. Before I’d come here, I was kind of like, if it rains, maybe it’s still possible, just a little harder. And then I tried it with a rope in the rain, it was like, no, that’s completely impossible. But that was good to know, because then yesterday, when it was raining, it was no, full stop.

That was good to know yesterday. It looks like it didn’t rain a ton, right, but it still rained enough.

It doesn’t need to rain that much [for it to be a problem]. Also, the top of the building is almost like a microclimate, because it’s 1700 feet above town. There’s misty, low clouds, but it means that the whole top of the building is in a cloud just getting hammered. High winds and high clouds, and so it’s all foggy and wet.

Was it frustrating yesterday in making that call not to do it?

Climbing is always at the mercy of nature. Everything about climbing, you’re always at the whim of of conditions. Is it too hot? Is it too cold? Is it windy, is it rainy? My whole climbing life is always dictated by the weather, by nature. And so yesterday didn’t feel that different. The only reason that it was at all stressful is because it’s supposed to be a live broadcast. The idea of pushing this a day, I was like, “man, I don’t know how many crew people are here, but they’re a lot, and all their flights need to change today, and all their hotels change.” That sounded like so much work for some poor person who’s managing all this. And because so many of the people doing the work are friends of mine, I’m was sort of like, “oh God, that seems terrible!” You prefer that it all go according to plan, just so that nobody has all this extra work. But I wasn’t too stressed. I did a good little gym session, trained a bit, and then went for a long hike with my wife. What a nice day.

I think that was a concern that people had was that you would still go ahead with a climb, even if it wasn’t quite right, because you didn’t want everyone involved with the live event to be inconvenienced.

No, no. Everybody on the production side was like, “obviously, it’s always up to you to make the call.” I’m never going to climb something that I don’t want to or that I can’t.

‘Free Solo’ really changed your life. How have you embraced this world where you are such a public figure, and now this is just going to add another layer of the mystique of Alex Honnold?

I’ve basically structured my whole life around trying to find a way to be able to rock climb for a living. I love rock climbing. How do I get to live my life doing that as much as possible, while still supporting my family? Miraculously, it’s working. I’m able to climb full time, and I’m able to support my family. That’s freaking perfect. I can’t ask for more. This whole project is part of that. I get to climb something that I’m proud of that’s this inspiring. I couldn’t ask for better.

Have you gotten the need to climb a skyscraper out of your blood now? Comparing this to your traditional rock climbing, this was so different.

I think I would continue to climb any skyscraper I get permission for. The experience is insane. I feel like I’ve learned so much about Taipei. The views are amazing. Most of the time when I go to mega cities around the world, if they have some kind of mega skyscraper, I’ll pay the money to go up to the observation deck and take in the view. I like heights, and I like seeing everything. I think anytime I’m given permission to climb on the outside, if it’s possible, and if it seems reasonable, I would definitely do that. But it’s very rare to get permission.

Most skyscrapers, I assume, don’t have the kind of crevices and things that you can climb. This one seemed perfect for a climb.

Yeah, this one is so perfect for climbing. There are some buildings that are almost too easy for climbing. Like, ones that have a window washing track on the outside, where you’re just hand over handing on some track the whole way. You can climb it, but it’s not a challenge. The thing about Taipei 101 is it’s perfectly in the sweet spot for me, where it’s possible, and it’s not too insanely hard. But it is definitely challenging enough that that it’s very engaging.

And skyscrapers have different challenges, like your shoes and your hands get extra dirty because of the grease.

But that’s all fine. When you’re climbing on real rock, you also often clean your shoes off, or you get mud on your hands, you’re climbing through bushes. There are plenty of crazy things climbing on rock that are also challenging conditions. The fun of climbing skyscrapers is learning about new sets of challenges

You mentioned you’re heading home and you immediately have another climb that you’re ready to do. But is there a new white whale, something in particular that’s the next goal?

No, nothing big. I have a bunch of small goals, training goals, things that I’m excited about. But I don’t have any big expeditions planned this year. Basically, a bunch of family time, and then a bunch of personal training goals.

What’s that next climb that you’re going to do back home?

It’s in a sport cave, this overhanging little wall where I’ve been going to train for once, twice a week for the last two and a half months to get pumped. I’ve been trying to do one that’s hard for me and I wasn’t able to do it before I left. So now I’ll try to do when I go home.

Let me ask you real quick about Netflix. First off, are they giving you Netflix free for life?

I don’t know, I haven’t asked, but I’ll ask!

Also, with a live special, how different is that for you? Does that change how you attack a climb?

This was my first live thing I’ve ever done. I think it’s in many ways a better experience than shooting a documentary. Because I do the climb and then I’m done. Normally, you do the climb and then you spend the next week up on the wall, shooting close ups, shooting tights, shooting different angles, shooting different conditions. That’s a lot of work. Doing a live event, you just do the climb, be done, go home.

You mentioned the most family friendly climb you’ve done, because it was so quick. And it was in a city. Normally, you’re living in a tent somewhere.

Yeah, it’s so chill. People were like, “how could you do that? It’s so crazy!” And I’m kind of like, I don’t think you understand how extreme it is to go to eastern Greenland and put up big walls in remote places and drag a sled across glaciers for weeks. Normally when you’re doing extreme rock climbing, in extreme places, it’s pretty full on. It’s funny, with this project, so many people were like, “but what about the wind? What about the weather?” And I’m kind of like, when you go to eastern Greenland to go rock climbing, it’s pretty extreme. Windy in a city, it’s just not the same as windy in the big mountains.

How long have you been in Taipei? How long of a trip is this?

I’ve been here a week. I came early because I wanted to make sure that I would adapt to jet lag. I wanted to feel really good. I will say it’s all basically gone perfectly according to the plan. I woke up this morning, felt great, ate my normal breakfast, climbed a building.

And you still have an afternoon in Taipei to just chill.

Exactly, I’m chilling.

Given the complexity of climbing a major skyscraper without any ropes or safety nets, Netflix and producers Plimsoll Prods. Ltd. worked closely with Honnold and risk management firm Secret Compass to plan out a meticulous set of safety protocols. “Skyscraper Live” was originally scheduled to take place the previous day (Saturday morning in Taipei, Friday night in the U.S.), but weather conditions forced Honnold and the production team to postpone by a day.

“Every scenario has been mapped out, as you might expect,” Plimsoll CEO Grant Mansfield told Variety in a story published earlier this week. “The main focus has been on keeping Alex safe. This is a building he knows very well. It’s a building which is very well suited for climbing. If at any point he decides that he’s too tired when he’s on the building, we can get him off there as well. But Alex really knows what he’s doing. He’s an extraordinary kind of athlete.”

In that same story, Netflix unscripted series VP Jeff Gaspin said Netflix did have a contingency plan in place for a worst-case scenario. “It’s obviously a conversation that everybody has,” Gaspin said. “You can imagine what we’ll do. It’s nothing momentous. We’ll cut away. We have a 10-second delay. Nobody expects or wants to see anything like that to happen. But we will cut away, and it’s as simple as that.”

Honnold spent a great deal of time in recent months preparing for the Taipei 101 climb, including practice climbs of the tower. The Taipei 101 climb started with Honnold crefully making his way up the tower’s slab base. From there, he got on the building’s middle section, designed like eight-story “bamboo boxes,” which required steep climbing over these overhanging sections. On the corner of those boxes are dragon figures, which Honnold mounted to get to the next level. The top part of Taipei 101 had overhanging sections where Honnold’s legs were dangling, and he used his upper body strength to scale up. He climbed a swinging ladder (moving due to heavy winds) to the very top, featuring a small, four-foot platform where he was truly the highest man in all of Taiwan.

Elle Duncan hosted the special, with commentary and contributions from the WWE’s Seth Rollins, YouTube star Mark Rober and climbers Pete Woods and Emily Harrington. Al Berman is showrunner and executive producer of “Skyscraper Live,” while Honnold, Grant Mansfield, James Smith, Alan Eyres and Jonathan Retseck are also EPs. Joe DeMaio is director.

Watch below as Honnold makes his way to the very top of Taipei 101: