# 'Spiderman' scales HK skyscraper



## TheOingoBoingoBandit (Mar 16, 2005)

_Taken from cnn.com_ 


A French urban climber who calls himself "spiderman" has scaled a 62-story Hong Kong skyscraper barehanded.

Wearing only a pair of red pants, Alain Robert, 42, scrambled up the Cheung Kong Center on Saturday -- the flagship building of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing -- in about an hour. He said the building was 283 meters (928 feet) tall.

During his climb, Robert rested several times and even answered a reporter's phone calls.

"I can't talk to you right now. I'm climbing," said Robert, renowned for scaling buildings without ropes or other equipment.

After reaching the top of the building, he waved to a small crowd of spectators on the ground below. He said he was greeted by police, firefighters and security guards at the top of the building.

Police officers checked his passport but did not arrest him, even though he had not sought permission to climb the building.

"Everyone was very nice," Robert said, adding that the climb was not too difficult.

"On a scale of one to 10 in terms of difficulty, this would be a five," he said.

The building's Web site did not provide any information about its height.

In December, Robert scaled the world's tallest building, Taiwan's Taipei 101. It took him nearly four hours to reach the top of the 508-meter (1,679-foot) building -- nearly twice as long as he had expected -- because it was raining.

His other feats include scaling Malaysia's Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York.


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## ch1le (Jun 2, 2004)

he owns.. i really really admire this guy


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## Smileyface (Oct 7, 2002)

Crazy guy, that's a long way to the top and a quick descent if he slips


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## Skybean (Jun 16, 2004)

awesome


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## Sexas (Jan 15, 2004)

Why Cheung Kong Center?? not 2IFC it is way taller that Cheung Kong!! But anyway this guy really something.


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## SUNNI (Sep 20, 2002)

crazy


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## VansTripp (Sep 29, 2004)

Wow, it's crazy.


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## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

Sexas said:


> Why Cheung Kong Center?? not 2IFC it is way taller that Cheung Kong!! But anyway this guy really something.


Easier to take with hands !!!


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## STR (Sep 4, 2004)

TheOingoBoingoBandit said:


> _Taken from cnn.com_ The building's Web site did not provide any information about its height.


They only checked the building's website. Is CNN lazy or what?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)




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## TowersNYC (May 17, 2003)

thats NO spiderman...looks like a crazy fool!!


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## JohnnyMass (Feb 6, 2005)

and he does it all the time...I wonder if makes some money out of it???


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## Car L (May 5, 2005)

Sexas said:


> Why Cheung Kong Center?? not 2IFC it is way taller that Cheung Kong!! But anyway this guy really something.


Here are the explainations from Alain Robert himself:-

from SingTao.com: 
他表示，不選擇攀爬「國金」，因為「國金」樓間有平台，容易被警方截獲阻止，所以不選「國金」，而選長江集團中心。

from the-sun.com.hk:
原本考慮挑戰全港最高大廈國際金融中心二期，但經實地觀察後，認為國金的底部被工作台包圍，容易被保安員發現，才選擇「長江」。


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## vincent (Sep 12, 2002)

oops, didn't notice this thread when i made another one.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=223566


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## rt_0891 (Mar 13, 2005)

Lol. Another crazy publicity stunt supported by that Canadian-casino website, Goldenpalace.com. Where will they pop again next?


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## Car L (May 5, 2005)

Here is a rough translation of the 2 paragraphs:-

##
He indicated that, he does not choose to climb the "ifc2", because there is platform between the floors, could be intercepted by the police easily, therefore he does not choose "ifc2", but chooses the Cheung Kong Center.

##
Originally considered challenges the highest building international finance center two, but after really observes, thought the "ifc2" base are surrounded by construction platforms, was easily discovered by secures, only then chooses "Cheung Kong Center". He also stated that the reason that he chooses to climb the building facing the special zone government headquarter, only to avoid the sunlight direct radiation and won't be distracted by the beautiful harbour view.


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## hyacinthus (Nov 22, 2004)

Well, in so doing... he helps to introduce the buildings to world.


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## Brian21 (Jun 30, 2003)

This guy is NUTS! One slip is all it takes and thats all she wrote.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

The police had an inflatable device on the ground to catch him in case he slipped.


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## deep sea buildings (Sep 11, 2002)

i once read about this guy. if he was to slip he still would not fall. he manages to 'lock' his hand/fists into the structure he's climbing. so at any one time he has one hand in a cavity for safety.

one thing i noticed about him is that he NEVER descends a building (other than the traditional elevator route after he's arrested). well, i've never seen him do it. i imagine that's because descending the outside of a building is far more difficult than ascending it.


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