Copycats Try Climbing Taipei 101 After Alex Honnold’s Live Free-Solo Climb On Netflix

It was a nerve-wracking 91 minutes when the world watched acclaimed American climber Alex Honnold, 40, scale the Taipei 101 skyscraper without ropes, safety harnesses or protective gear. The stunt was streamed live on Netfix on January 25.

But despite Netflix’s pre-show warning that this should not be attempted by non-professionals, and, well, common sense, it seems some people couldn’t resist trying to scale the 508-metre skyscraper themselves.

Videos and photos surfaced showing, er, thrill-seekers attempting to climb the building’s exterior.

Needless to say, most struggled to even get a hold, and while a few managed to shimmy up a window frame, no one appeared to get past the first storey.

Well, Alex did prepare for the live event meticulously, conducting multiple rope trial runs to memorise Taipei 101’s layout, and even performed a recce in September 2025 to ensure the ascent was possible. He’s also known to be the first person to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without safety gear, as seen on the award-winning docu, Free Solo.

As for the regular folk trying to scale Taipei 101 following Alex’s ascent? Security guards at the 508-metre skyscraper were seen repeatedly quickly moving in to chase crowds away to maintain safety.

While Taiwanese authorities haven’t officially warned the public against trying to free solo climb Taipei 101, the copycat attempts sparked both amusement and concern online.

“Alex is a professional… What kind of monkey are you again?” jeered one netizen.

Another reminded aspiring climbers: “It is not something you can just replicate by yourself. Honnold had safety protocols and weather checks.”

Some enterprising netizens saw a silver lining, suggesting: “Maybe Taipei 101 can consider charging people to climb… with harnesses, of course.”

Photos: EBC.net, Netflix, alexhonnold/IG