VIDEO SHOWS: SKYSCRAPER TAIPEI 101 / SPECTATORS WATCHING AND TAKING VIDEOS / U.S. CLIMBER ALEX HONNOLD CLIMBING TAIPEI 101 / SOUNDBITES FROM SPECTATORS / HONNOLD AT NEWS CONFERENCE / SOUNDBITES FROM HONNOLD RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (JANUARY 25, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. SKYSCRAPER TAIPEI 101 2. SPECTATORS TAKING PICTURES WITH PHONES 3. U.S. CLIMBER ALEX HONNOLD STANDING AT VEHICLE AFTER ARRIVING 4. SPECTATORS GATHERING IN FRONT OF TAIPEI 101 5. HONNOLD EMERGING FROM BEHIND TREES CLIMBING TAIPEI 101 6. HONNOLD CLIMBING 7. SPECTATORS LOOKING ON 8. HONNOLD CLIMBING PAST TAIWAN FLAG 9. CAMERAMAN BEING HOISTED ON ROPE 10. HONNOLD CLIMBING 11. SPECTATORS LOOKING ON 12. HONNOLD CLIMBING PAST ONLOOKERS INSIDE TAIPEI 101 13. CROWD CHEERING AND WAVING 14. HONNOLD STANDING ON LEDGE AND WAVING 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 39-YEAR-OLD INTERIOR DESIGNER, CHUANG SHU-YA, SAYING: "Because I don’t have a habit of exercising, at the beginning I wasn’t very interested. Then I watched him practice, and I felt it was really unbelievable — this is something that is truly happening. And then now coming here… actually I also came yesterday, and I just really want to see him complete this thing." 16. VARIOUS OF HONNOLD CLIMBING AT HIGH LEVEL OF BUILDING 17. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 39-YEAR-OLD INTERIOR DESIGNER, CHUANG SHU-YA, SAYING: "Because partly there are still safety measures, right? None at all, to the top?" (LAUGHS SURPRISEDLY) 18. VARIOUS OF HONNOLD CLIMBING 19. SPECTATORS LOOKING ON 20. HONNOLD CLIMBING 21. SPECTATORS LYING ON GROUND LOOKING UP 22. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 30-YEAR-OLD PUBLIC SERVANT, DANNY LIN, SAYING: "At the beginning I was very nervous, but after Alex went up, I believed that he could do it. He is not an impulsive person and relies on a large amount of practice and on remembering which places are suitable to climb, which routes he can take. Right now he is going along a very steep route.“ 23. VARIOUS OF HONNOLD STANDING AND SITTING DOWN ON LEDGE NEAR TOP OF BUILDING 24. SPECTATORS LOOKING ON 25. HONNOLD CLIMBING 26. VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER FLYING NEXT TO TAIPEI 101 27. HONNOLD CLIMBING UP SPIRE OF TAIPEI 101 28. CROWD CHEERING 29. TAIPEI 101 30. HONNOLD REACHING TOP 31. CROWD WATCHING 32. HONNOLD WAVING FROM TOP 33. CROWD WAVING AND CHEERING 34. SPECTATORS CROWDING AROUND TABLET WATCHING LIVE STREAM 35. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 28-YEAR-OLD SALESPERSON, HO MEI-HUA, SAYING: "So I think that this time, even though 101 is also very tall, compared to places he has climbed before, it seems that the level of difficulty isn’t quite that high. So I think he must have a lot of confidence to dare to do a live (broadcast). It’s not like just casually saying, 'I want to do something really cool, everyone come watch' that kind of feeling." 36. SPECTATORS WATCHING LIVE STREAM ON TABLET 37. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 27-YEAR-OLD CREATIVE ASSISTANT, JAMIE WU, SAYING: "It seems that he has a measure in place, which is that his live broadcast has a delay. So even if something really does happen, it seems they have already rehearsed for it, and it wouldn’t be broadcasted. So in this respect, they should have thought things through quite well." 38. VARIOUS OF HONNOLD AT NEWS CONFERENCE FOLLOWING CLIMB 39. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. CLIMBER, ALEX HONNOLD, SAYING: "Yeah, it was like, what a view, it's incredible. What a beautiful day. It was very windy. So I was like, don't fall off the spire. I was like trying to balance nicely, but I was like, what an incredible position and, I mean, what a beautiful way to see Taipei. It's so… and it's nice because we've been here all week and it's been grey and rainy, kind of socked in, and today was just so perfect and you could see for miles… super clear. I was like, couldn't be a better time to be on the top of the spire appreciating the position." 40. CAMERAPERSON FILMING 41. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 42. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. CLIMBER, ALEX HONNOLD, SAYING: "You know, I first saw Taipei 101 over ten years ago and was like, wow, that's incredible for climbing, that would be amazing, but at the time didn't get the opportunity to actually climb it, and you know, at the time I thought about climbing it without permission, you know, don't tell anybody, you know, but I was kind of like, oh, I know I can do it and it would be amazing, like maybe I should. But then out of respect for the building and respect for all the the people on the team who had allowed me access to look at it, I was like, well, obviously I'm not going to poach this. Like I'm going to, you know, respect the people and just see if it ever comes together. And so then for the project to come together more than a decade later, oh my god, it's so great, what an opportunity. Yeah, it's such a pleasure." 43. VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING STORY: U.S. climber Alex Honnold made an hour-and-a-half "free solo" ascent of Taiwan's Taipei 101 skyscraper on Sunday (January 25) without ropes, watched by thousands of cheering and waving fans as he clambered up one of the world's tallest buildings. After initial nervousness about the unsecured ascent, members of the watching crowd said they had full faith in Honnold to complete the climb. "At the beginning I was very nervous, but after Alex went up, I believed that he could do it. He is not an impulsive person and relies on a large amount of practice and on remembering which places are suitable to climb," said Danny Lin, 30, who was watching the stunt while lying on the ground in front of Taipei 101 with a group of climbing enthusiasts. "Sick," Honnold said as he got to the top spire of the building, in the climb organised and broadcast live by Netflix. "What a beautiful way to see Taipei," he told reporters, having completed his mission, having had to postpone it from the previous day due to wet weather. The 508 metre (1,667 feet) tall Taipei 101, which dominates the city's skyline and is a major tourist attraction, was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010, a crown currently held by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The climb, with no safety equipment, took place with the full support and permission of Taipei 101 and the city government. Honnold said he had once thought of climbing it without permission. "But then out of respect for the building and respect for all the people on the team who'd allowed me access to look at it, I was like well obviously I'm not going to poach this, I'm going to respect the people and just see if it ever comes together." This is not the first time Taipei 101 has been scaled. In 2004, French climber Alain Robert, dubbed "Spiderman" for his ropeless ascents of some of the world's highest skyscrapers, climbed the building, though did so with a safety rope in a time of four hours. (Production: Fabian Hamacher)
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