World-renowned climber Alex Honnold says he was paid an ’embarrassingly small amount’ to scale a 500m tall, 101-floor skyscraper in Taiwan.
American rock climber Honnold successfully scaled the Taipei 101 building without a rope, harness or safety equipment.
The climb, which was streamed live on Netflix with a 10-second delay in case he fell, was due to take place on Saturday but was postponed by 24 hours due to wet weather.
After completing the climb in one hour and 31 minutes, Honnold embraced his wife and the mother of his two young children, Sanni McCandless, on top of the building.
It was the latest in a series of remarkable feats achieved by Honnold, who rose to fame in 2017 when he became the first person to free solo the hardest route of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
Millions are believed to have watched Honnold make his way up Taipei 101 but the 40-year-old insists he did not embark on his latest challenge for the money.
‘Actually, if you put it in the context of mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount,’ he told The New York Times.
‘You know, Major League Baseball players get like $170 million contracts. Like, someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about.’
While Honnold did not specify the amount he was paid and insisted he would have taken the climb for free, the same outlet claims he was paid a ‘mid six-figure sum’.
‘If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing,’ he added.
‘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 trying to balance nicely. But it was, what an incredible position, what a beautiful way to see Taipei.
‘When I was leaving the ground, you’re like oh it´s kind of intense, there’s so many people watching.
‘But then honestly, they’re all wishing me well. I mean basically it just makes the whole experience feel almost more festive, all these nice people are out supporting me and having a good time.’
The only other person to scale Taipei 101 is Alain Robert – he finished his effort in four hours with the use of ropes and a harness.
Taiwan’s Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim congratulated Honnold after he reached the top, saying: ‘I admit I would probably feel sick, too, barely able to watch.’
Honnold trained for months in preparation for the ascent but previously admitted he was not overly concerned by the nature of the climb.
‘I don’t think it’ll be that extreme,’ he said on a climbing podcast. ‘I guess we’ll see.
‘I think it’s the perfect sweet spot where it’s hard enough to be engaging for me and obviously an interesting climb.’
Piers Morgan was among those to pay tribute to Honnold after his latest feat, describing him as the ‘greatest athlete in recorded history’.
‘Astonishing,’ he posted on X. ‘Honnold is the greatest athlete in recorded history. Who else even comes close given the jeopardy that surrounds his every climb?
‘The strength, the skill, the guts, the resilience.. just blows my mind! Congrats, Alex, you’re an incredible inspiration.’
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