In one of the most amazing and frankly terrifying performances I've ever seen, climber Alex Honnald, the greatest free climber ever, successfully free soloed the 1,667-foot, 101-story Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan. No ropes, no harness, no safety equipment, just Honnold and 1,667 feet of glass and steel. Amazingly, it was covered live on Netflix with drone cameras and a very brave photographer hoisted on ropes and pulleys.
Honnold completed the climb in 1:31:40, but it's not a race. I literally had tears of joy in my eyes when he stood on the very top of the needle spire at the top of the building.
The climb was postponed from yesterday to today because of rain, but Honnold still had to contend with strong winds.
WDW celebrates athletes playing their games, but this was just next level. The slightest error wouldn't mean a two-point penalty or even a season-ending loss but a sickening fall to sure death. Honnold was dancing with impermanence on the 11th tallest building in the world (tallest until 2010).
It's going to be a very long time before someone completes a more dramatic and more singular expression of athletic excellence.
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