In these times of AI-generated video clips and power-hungry leaders, I feel like the desire to scroll Instagram and read the news is generally pretty cool. It is still mainly about whining and misery interspersed with fake clips. But then BOOM, he appears. A lifelong Spiderman in a chilling live broadcast on Netflix. The American free climber Alex Honold has been dreaming of climbing Taipei 101 for years without a rope or other safety equipment. The conditions are crystal clear. One small mistake and he risks losing his life alive. How are the thoughts going? Why does he put himself (and his family) through this? I think only extreme athletes can understand what’s going on in his head. The adrenaline, the heartbeat, the chase. To succeed in the feat of making the impossible possible.
Taipei 101 is one of Taiwan’s most famous landmarks and was the tallest building in the world until 2010. 101 floors distributed in a building 508 meters high including spire (about 450 meters without). My little one and I were in Taiwan in 2015 and clearly had trouble getting a full body photo in front of the skyscraper.
How is it even physically (and certainly mentally) possible to climb that building? And to wrap it all up in 90 minutes? It’s sick.
When this kind of ‘extravagant’ news appears from one of the corners of the world, it is of course extra fun to have been there yourself. If someone had told me during our trip that an American could climb all the way to the top without a rope or safety line, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Nice to be convinced!
Read more about traveling to Taiwan: Travel guide to Taiwan – Asia’s hidden gem in the Pacific
Feel free to follow me further Instagram under “Resfredag” for real-time updates! Cover photo taken at Taipei 101 by Pernilla Förnes. Author: Annika Myhre/Resfredag.se
#Accomplish #impossible #climb #Taipei #Travel #Friday