Saturday, January 24, 2026

Netflix Postpones Alex Honnold’s ‘Skyscraper Live’ Climb Amid Dangerously Rainy Conditions in Taipei

Even the best climber in the world can't climb a wet skyscraper without ropes or a safety net.

Alex Honnold, a famous rock climber known for free solo climbing, was going to try to climb Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in Asia.
 The climb was planned for 9 a.m. local time on Saturday in Taipei, which is 8 p.m. ET on Friday. The event was going to be live-streamed globally as part of Netflix's new live sports show called Skyscraper Live.

But when the sun came up on Saturday, it was raining heavily in Taipei, and the city looked wet and messy.
 This made the climb look impossible.

About 30 minutes before Honnold was supposed to start climbing, Netflix announced the event would be postponed by one full day.
 They wanted better weather on Sunday. Netflix said the decision to delay was up to Honnold because his safety was the most important thing.

A Netflix representative told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday that they would check in with Honnold to see how he was feeling about the weather conditions.


By Saturday morning, it was clear that Honnold wasn't going to attempt the climb.
 The building was too slippery because of the rain and strong winds.

Grant Mansfield, a leader in the production team for Skyscraper Live, said they were ready for a good show, but the weather was a big problem.
 He explained that the building is easy to climb when it's dry, but when it's wet, it's extremely slippery. Even with ropes, Honnold couldn't do it.

Netflix announced the event had been moved to Saturday, January 24, at 8 p.m. ET or 5 p.m. PT.
 The company said safety was their top priority and thanked everyone for their understanding.

The event's delay shows how risky the climb is.


Even though Netflix is confident Honnold can climb safely, they decided to delay the live stream by 10 seconds.
 This was to protect young viewers from seeing anything dangerous in case something went wrong.

Jonathan Mussman, a Netflix executive, explained that they wanted to be responsible and make sure no one saw something terrible.


Climbing experts and Honnold himself say that the structure of Taipei 101 is simpler than many of his other climbs, like El Capitan in Yosemite, which was shown in the movie Free Solo.
 But the building is extremely tall, making the climb like a vertical marathon.

Honnold said buildings are steeper than rock faces, and the challenge comes from the physical strain over the long climb.
 He isn't sure how it will feel until he tries it.

Honnold has been practicing on Taipei 101 with ropes this week, and people in the office have watched him climb past their windows.


Before the event was postponed, there was a lot of excitement in Taipei.
 The building's walls were lit up with lights saying "Go Alex!" on Friday night.

People were expected to gather in large numbers to watch the climb, but on Saturday, the area was quiet because of the bad weather.
 Honnold's fans were hoping for good weather so they could see the event.

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