During the sunniest point of the day on January 25, 2026, Alex Honnold attempted to climb the 500-foot Taipei 101 building, which became an extraordinary moment in history. Honnold was announced as the first American to climb a skyscraper. Even more shocking is that he did this in a free soloing style of climbing, which is known as the most dangerous one, because you have to climb without any ropes or safety harness. That’s why there was many fans and nearby people watching him, including his wife.

Honnold’s climb was also being live broadcasted by Netflix; the commentators included a WWE champion and the famous YouTuber/NASA worker, Mark Rober. Everyone was watching it happen in Taiwan. He only stopped for a few minutes to clean his shoes and hands, and also to greet the people inside and the outside of the building. At one point, his wife even came up to the floor he was on and waved to him and said, “You’re doing great honey!” Everyone watched with fear and was very tense, but when he looked back, everyone was cheering.

When he finished, Honnold’s one word to describe the event was, “sick.” This was surprising for everyone around him, even Mark. Later, his appearance was on Netflix and all the front pages of newspapers and documentaries.