Alex Honnold makes climbing history with the world watching.
Where does Taipei 101 rank among the tallest structures on the planet? The building Alex Honnold conquered on Netflix's Skyscraper Live originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On Saturday night, Alex Honnold, considered the greatest free solo climber in history, attempted to scale a structure called “Taipei 101”. The building formerly known as the “Taipei World Financial Center”. It is a 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan.
The structure houses offices, restaurants, shops as well as indoor and outdoor observation locations. In the first five years of existence, Taipei 101 was the world’s tallest building, until it was dethroned by Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Where does it rank among the tallest structures on the planet today?
Taipei 101 stands at 508 meters tall or 1,667 feet. Making it the 11th tallest man-made structure on planet Earth. The previously mentioned Burj Khalifa remains the tallest structure today. Measuring at 828 meters or 2,717 feet.
Most of the buildings that occupy the top 10 according to Skyscrapercenter are located in India and Asia. The 4th tallest structure is the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca (or Mekkah) standing at 601 meters or 1,972 feet. The 7th largest structure in the world is One World Trade Center in New York City.
For an American context, the Central Park Tower in New York City is the 15th tallest structure standing at 472 meters or 1,550 feet. There is not another American structure on the list until the Willis Tower in Chicago. Sitting at 25th tallest on the planet.
At exactly 1:33 of the Netflix live broadcast, Alex Honnold reached the apex of the structure. A giant in the world of free solo climbing, Honnold puts his name at the top of the list among names like Alain Roberts who scaled Burj Khalifa in 2011 and Ivan Beerksu and Angela Nikolau who reached the apex of Merdeka 118, the second tallest structure in the world located in Kuala Lumpur.
Honnold’s successful climb up Taipei 101 ranks as the fourth tallest thing climbed by a human being and the third tallest man-made structure scaled. Honnold holds the record for No. 1 and No. 4. The tallest thing ever scaled was Honnold’s 3,000 feet scaling of El Capitan, a massive granite structure in Yosemite National Park. No. 4 was Taipei 101 on Saturday.
More Alex Honnold news:
- Everything you need to know about Netflix's delayed broadcast
- Alex Honnold hometown and more to know about where climbing legend lives
- Alex Honnold will earn 'an embarrassing amount' for conquering Taipei 101
- How Alex Honnold's Taipei 101 climb compares to El Capitan
- How many people have free soloed El Capitan?
Category: General Sports
