Look Ma, No rope
Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan without any ropes or safety gear in June 2017. El Capitan is a roughly 3,000-foot sheer granite wall — more than twice the height of the Empire State Building — in the northern valley of Yosemite National Park in California. His incredible feat was captured in the Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo.” That free solo up the Freerider route took Honnold 3 hours and 56 minutes. The following year, Honnold and fellow climber Tommy Caldwell climbed El Capitan’s Nose route in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 7 seconds, shattering the previous speed record and breaking the two-hour barrier. Alex was looking for a bigger challenge and got the Taiwan government’ permission to freeclimb the tallest building on the island. The “Taipei 101” skyscraper is 1,667-feet tall.
Alex climbed up one corner of Taipei 101 using small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds. Periodically, he had to maneuver around and clamber up the sides of large ornamental structures that jut out from the tower, pulling himself up with his bare hands. The building has 101 floors, with the hardest part being the 64 floors of the middle section — the “bamboo boxes” that give the building its signature look. Divided into eight segments, each has eight floors of steep, overhanging climbing followed by balconies, where he took short rests as he made his way upward. From the ground floor where he started his ascent to almost the topmost pole Alex was watched and cheered on by fans and spectators. In fact his entire ascent was filmed and broadcast on Taiwan TV, but with a ten second delay…just in case.
Cheers erupted from a street-level crowd as he reached the top of the spire of the 508-metre tower about 90 minutes after he started on Sunday. Honnold is the first climber to ascend the skyscraper without a rope. French rock climber Alain Robert scaled the building with rope assist in 2004 as part of the grand opening. “It’s windy,” Alex said at the top before taking a selfie. “I’m so psyched … And you know what, pretty tired actually.” Alex told Netflix he expected viewers to “probably be on edge watching this,” but that he hoped they “get a little bit of my joy from the experience — that they can appreciate the fun of it and the beauty of it. Over time you will realize that the only way to truly manage your fears is to broaden your comfort zone,” he said.
High level humor
I’m not afraid of heights. I’m not even afraid of falling from heights.
I’m afraid of hitting the ground after falling from great heights.
You shouldn’t make puns about defective Chinese skyscrapers.
That’s Wong on so many levels.
I told my psychologist I am scared of living in tall buildings.
Apparently, it’s an Apartment Complex.
Covid-19 has damaged the Italian economy so much that
they have placed a lien on the Tower of Pizza.
January 27th Birthdays
1968 – Tracy Lawrence, 1956 – Mimi Rogers, 1987 – Katy Rose, 1984 – Davetta Sherwood
1959 – Chris Collinsworth, 1969 – Patton Oswalt, 1993 – Freddy Carter, 1756 – Mozart