https://theworldwatch.com/tags/endurance/ Wed 15 Apr 2026 13:01:16 +0200 https://theworldwatch.com/videos/1610458/the-feat-alex-honnold-did-for-netflix/
Alex Honnold was paid $500,000 by Netflix to climb a 101-story building without a harness. With more than 30 years of experience, the American climber took on one of the tallest buildings in the world: Taipei 101 in Taiwan, standing 508 meters tall. The challenge was organized by Netflix, broadcast live, and quickly went viral on social media. The climb wasn’t a last-minute impulse. After months of training, Honnold first practiced with ropes, then without them, until he memorized every grip, every foothold, and every movement. On the day of the challenge, he did what he always does: no harness, no rope, and zero room for error. In an interview afterward, he admitted that he would have done it for free if there hadn’t been a TV show involved and if the building had given him permission. “They pay me for the spectacle, not for climbing the building,” he said. Money wasn’t the reason. The experience was. This isn’t the first time Honnold has pushed the limits. In 2018, he starred in the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, in which he climbed a nearly 900-meter rock wall in Yosemite National Park, California, with no protection at all—one of the most impressive climbs ever filmed. Seeing him now hanging from a skyscraper, hundreds of meters above the ground with the entire city beneath him, makes one thing clear once again: there are people who understand fear… and others who have learned how to live with it. ]]> Tue 27 Jan 2026 20:39:01 +0200 https://theworldwatch.com/videos/1610458/the-feat-alex-honnold-did-for-netflix/