Alex Honnold on Netflix: “This isn’t climbing. It’s a circus.”
- Matthieu Amaré
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
On January 23, Netflix will livestream American star Alex Honnold as he free-solos Taipei 101—a 508-meter (1,667-foot) skyscraper in Taiwan—without a rope. The made-for-the-world event is already everywhere, and it’s splitting the climbing community. Vertige Media brought together three informed voices: Alain Robert, the French “Spider-Man” and a legend of urban free-soloing; Anthony Andolfo, a younger French climber following in Robert’s footsteps; and Owen Clarke, an American climbing journalist who has interviewed Honnold multiple times. A conversation that blows hot and cold.
The panel
🎙️ Alain Robert — Nicknamed the “French Spider-Man,” he has soloed more than 150 skyscrapers worldwide, including Taipei 101 with a rope in 2004.
🎙️ Anthony Andolfo — A 31-year-old French climber who has been free-soloing on rock and buildings for four years. In Alain Robert’s wake, he’s climbed the Tour Montparnasse and a tower in Melbourne—an ascent that landed him a week in prison.
🎙️ Owen Clarke — An American journalist specializing in climbing, who has interviewed Alex Honnold several times.
Vertige Media: When you heard Netflix was going to livestream Alex Honnold free-soloing Taipei 101, what was your first reaction?
Anthony Andolfo: I thought it was awesome. I never expected building free-solo to get mainstream coverage one day. You have to understand: when we climb buildings, we get slapped down every time. I did a week in prison in Australia for it. Alain has done time too. The last tower I did—Montparnasse—I spent 36 hours in police custody. So I was like: it’s cool that, for once, it won’t automatically be framed as something illegal.
Alain Robert: I didn’t find it that surprising. I’ve done four or five live broadcasts for big TV networks with millions of viewers. I soloed in front of cameras in Caracas, the Emirates, Rio de Janeiro, Canada. For me, that part isn’t new. The big difference is global reach. And that’s because it’s Netflix.
Owen Clarke: Honestly, it didn’t interest me that much. But I think most people reacted one of two ways: either “Wow, this is amazing,” or yelling betrayal—like Alex is going back on his word. My reaction was basically: “Cool, Alex is going to make some money. Good luck to him.”
Vertige Media: How do you explain Netflix’s interest in free solo, and the decision to turn this into a live event?
Owen Clarke: I think it’s pretty grim, actually. Content creators—from tiny channels all the way up to Netflix—keep raising the stakes to grab our attention.
Anthony Andolfo: Climbing has blown up in the last few years. It became an Olympic sport, Alex’s documentary Free Solo won an Oscar… Netflix feels like it has to cover what’s become a phenomenon, and Alex Honnold gives them the chance to do it.
Alain Robert: Netflix is a money-printing machine. For them, climbing has exploded in the media, so they’re going in. And they don’t do anything halfway. What I’m seeing is that now you can talk openly about stuff like free solo. Before, you couldn’t.
Owen Clarke: What bothers me is this whole “Look how dangerous I am, look how much I’m risking my life” culture. You see it everywhere now— influencers posting crazier and crazier stuff for clicks. Netflix is part of that. Now, do I think Alex is doing something wrong? No. I know him a little, and I know he’ll use the money from this climb for his foundation (which funds environmental projects, especially solar power in underserved communities, editor’s note). He’s not a guy blowing cash on sports cars and champagne.
Anthony Andolfo: I don’t think he came up with the idea by himself. He’s pretty introverted—a purist. We all saw that in Free Solo. He seems more tied to the rock than to anything happening around him. That said, he’s said he’s been thinking about Taipei 101 since 2012. That’s 13 years.
Alain Robert: When I went on his podcast two weeks ago, Alex told me it was just a new experience for him. But his life—clearly—is on rock. It’s not on buildings. Buildings are just something a bit different for him. In the trailer I saw, you get the feeling he’s chasing this huge dream. That’s not really how he described it to me. You can tell Netflix is hyping it way beyond what Alex actually feels.
Owen Clarke: Alex has told me before that he thinks it’s fun to climb buildings. There are even some skyscrapers he’s wanted to do for a long time. The thing is, it’s usually illegal and pretty disrespectful to do it without permission. He’s very strict about that. So I think getting the chance to do it legally—with the city’s support—solves that problem for him.
Alain Robert: In 2013, with National Geographic, he was interested in the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world, editor’s note). But that building is impossible to solo. So the one they landed on was Taipei 101 in Taiwan. One: it actually can be climbed without a rope. Two: it’s tall. Three: the government gave the green light. The truth is, building climbing is mostly political. When the Taiwanese government contacted me to climb it in 2004, it was because they thought the tower was cursed. Guys were dying every day during construction. I was supposed to break the spell, in a way…
Vertige Media: Technically speaking, how hard is this ascent?
Alain Robert: A while back, I created a rating scale for skyscraper climbs (with David Chambre, editor’s note). It goes from 1 to 10. For Taipei 101, I’d put it at a 5 or 6. Alex recently said that, for him, it’s like 6c+—around 5.11 (6c+)—so he’s got a huge cushion compared to his top level. I’m not worried about him at all. He took far bigger risks on El Capitan.
Anthony Andolfo: Same for me—the climb is 100% under control. He’s prepared, and when he goes for it, everything will be dialed. The pressure might come from the fact that it’s live, on camera. But he’s used to being filmed now.
Owen Clarke: It’s pretty basic climbing. It’s the same move repeated a hundred times. Alex trains constantly. He free-solos and does high-end scrambling (moving fast over steep, exposed terrain without a rope) all the time around Vegas, where he lives. I agree—his safety margin is huge. And it’s been planned for months. They inspected the line, cleaned it, checked that everything was solid. It’s not like Alain, who sometimes climbed not knowing whether a bolt was loose or not.
Alain Robert: That’s for sure—when I climbed Taipei 101, we weren’t in the same situation. I had 15 stitches in my elbow, it was pouring rain, and 30% of the beams were covered in vinyl with oil on it so it could be removed. I thought I’d do it in two hours—I took twice that. Alex is working on a schedule, but with his level and his current fitness, he should move fast. It’s the same eight “blocks”—eight is a lucky number in China—separated by three-meter-wide platforms where he can rest if he wants.
Anthony Andolfo: The biggest factor is endurance. On a building, you never really get a true rest. On Montparnasse, it was the same left-right movement for 200 meters. In Melbourne, it was harder because it overhung in places, but mentally, you don’t doubt. Once you do the first move, you have to get to the top. You don’t have a choice.
Vertige Media: What about responsibility?
Owen Clarke: I don’t think Alex has any responsibility here. It’s his life. We know he’ll be careful—he’s not stupid. Every day on Instagram, I see videos of people getting blown up in Palestine, or starving to death in Sudan. Here in the U.S., we watched a woman get murdered on the street on a livestream. These are tragedies we carry around in our phones and face every day. If Alex fell, it wouldn’t be the most traumatic thing most people saw this week.
Anthony Andolfo: It’s tricky, though. One mistake and someone dies—and it’s live. That’s something people have thrown at me a lot: “If you fall, I’ll be traumatized for life.” But I’m not asking anyone to watch. Still, the responsibility of making other people want to do it—that can be a problem. I get that too. People see me and they want to try.
Alain Robert: Come on—Alex Honnold has zero responsibility. He’s a professional climber. When people get into their car, they don’t think they’re Lewis Hamilton, as far as I know…
Owen Clarke: I think Netflix has more responsibility. They’re a media giant, always pushing for more extreme buzz. They’re constantly dealing with subscriber stagnation. They need “more,” so they stage these kind of absurd spectacles. If something happens, it’ll be on them. Me? I’m just happy Alex gets to take their money. [laughs]
Alain Robert: This endless question of our responsibility in the face of danger also comes from how the West relates to death. People are obsessed with it. They’re so scared of dying that when they see someone doing something risky, it reminds them of their own end. I live in Bali—most people here are Buddhist. Death is celebrated. It’s a festival. We need to stop treating it like the ultimate punishment.
Vertige Media: Millions of people will watch. Does that change anything?
Alain Robert: Not many people know this, but when I climbed for Sábado Sensacional in Caracas in 2002, I was dressed as Spider-Man to promote the movie at the time. The stunt drew several million live viewers. When I climbed in Abu Dhabi after another ascent, the whole city was honking. There were traffic jams for more than 150 kilometers. It was a party. I felt a lot of love.
Owen Clarke: There’s something beautiful about what Alain did. Building climbs can carry real power—real beauty. But I don’t think that power comes through when you plan it out and broadcast it live on Netflix. At that point, it’s just a circus show.
Alain Robert: It’s different, yeah. I come from a time when climbing wasn’t covered like this—it was a one-shot thing. The climbs were more spontaneous. Here, with Netflix, we’ve been getting blasted with info on social media for two months.
Anthony Andolfo: For me, climbing a building is still deeply personal. No matter who’s watching or what they think, it stays a refuge for a lot of people. I’ve done a few building solos, and I’m not doing it for fame. I’ve got 2,000 Instagram followers—I don’t care. What I like is being in my own bubble when I’m climbing. On a building, the vertical is pure. The freedom is absolute. It’s the only time that, when I’m climbing, I start singing.
Alain Robert: I discovered other worlds through the show—other ways of living, other cultures. I loved that. And I think Alex is going to love it too. During the climb, you don’t think much because you’re focused. But Alex will have such a big cushion on Taipei 101 that he’ll be able to perform a little. I warned him: people don’t want to see you fall. They’ll push you upward, cheer you on with every move toward the top.
Vertige Media: What kind of mark will this leave on climbing history?
Anthony Andolfo: For a lot of purists, it probably won’t be seen as a good thing. But in climbing history, it’s interesting because it’ll be the first time a free-solo is broadcast live around the world. In terms of popularizing climbing, that’s massive. For me, it might even be one of the biggest mainstream climbing events we’ll ever see. And it’ll be hard to top.
Owen Clarke: I don’t really know. It’s a media stunt. It’s circus. It’s not a real climbing achievement. To me, a real achievement is unlocking a new level of difficulty, or putting up a route for the first time so anyone can go try to repeat it. Here, Alex gets permission because he’s Alex Honnold. Other people won’t be able to go repeat it—they’ll probably get arrested.
Alain Robert: I think it will leave a mark, though. I don’t know exactly what kind, but Netflix has more than 300 million subscribers worldwide. The reach is enormous. That said, for Alex, it won’t change anything. He has nothing left to prove. His biggest climbing moments are already behind him.
Netflix will broadcast the Taipei 101 ascent live on Saturday, January 24 at 2 a.m.
