Alex Honnold stands on top of the Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, during “Skyscraper Live.”
NETFLIX
Now that free solo rock climber Alex Honnold has successfully scaled his first skyscraper with the Taipei 101, he’s already mulling the idea of whether he’ll tackle another tower.
Honnold completed his free solo climb of the 1,667-foot-tall building in Taipei, Taiwan, without the use of ropes or nets on Skyscraper Live on Saturday. For viewers who missed the livestream of the death-defying climb — which took Honnold 1 hour and 31 minutes — Netflix is streaming an edited version of Skyscraper Live on its platform.
Honnold, a professional rock climber of 30 years who is featured in the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, noted ahead of Skyscraper Live that 101-floor Taipei 101 was the first skyscraper he’s ever climbed. In an interview with Variety shortly after he completed scaling the Taipei 101, Honnold said he is willing to climb more massive structures.
“I think I would continue to climb any skyscraper I get permission for. The experience is insane,” Honnold told Variety. “I feel like I’ve learned so much about Taipei. The views are amazing. Most of the time, when I go to megacities around the world, if they have some kind of mega skyscraper, I’ll pay the money to go up to the observation deck and take in the view. I like heights, and I like seeing everything.”
While Honnold didn’t specifically name any particular skyscraper that he’d like to climb next, he knows that no matter what it is, permission to scale it will be tough to acquire.
“I think anytime I’m given permission to climb on the outside, if it’s possible, and if it seems reasonable, I would definitely do that,” Honnold told Variety. “But it’s very rare to get permission.”
Alex Honnold’s ‘Skyscraper Live’ Is Already One Of The Most-Viewed Shows On Netflix
Even though Skyscraper Live took place on Saturday, the special — between its livestream and the edited version that is available on the platform now— made Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV Shows chart for the week of Jan. 19-25.
In the new rankings released on Netflix’s Tudum on Tuesday, Skyscraper Live premiered at No. 3 on the list with 6.2 million views, which equates to 12 million hours viewed. The viewing numbers surely would have been higher in the special’s debut week had it not been postponed for 24 hours on Friday because of rain.
The special followed two shows that streamed for the entire week — the limited series His & Hers (17.2 million views/75 million hours viewed) and Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials Season 1 (8.7 million views/23.5 million hours viewed).
In addition to Skyscraper Live, Free Solo — featuring Honnold’s free solo climb of the El Capitan summit in Yosemite National Park in California — is streaming on Netflix, as well as on Hulu on Disney+.