DUBAI // French “Spiderman” Alain Robert climbed the world’s tallest twisted tower unaided on Sunday night.
A spotlight followed Robert as he scaled the 75-storey Cayan Tower building in Dubai Marina while hundreds of people clapped and cheered their encouragement, reported a local daily.
Starting his ascent at 8.25pm, without the protection of a safety harness and with only a small pouch for chalk to dry his hands, the 52-year-old made steady progress to the top of the building at about 9.30pm.
Speaking to the local daily just a couple of hours before his ascent, he admitted he was nervous.
“Usually I do the climbs during the day so this has been a lot of waiting around and I’m eager to get started,” he said.
“I have done a number of practice runs and now it’s just a case of getting out there and doing it.
“Although I have done more difficult climbs, this has its own challenges.
“This is going to be a tiring climb and the foot spaces are quite small, so I’ll have to be careful about my route.”
Despite the difficulties he reached the top of the 307-metre tall building in just 65 minutes.
“The Burj Khalifa climb was a little different because I had a safety harness but this time it will just be me on my own,” he said. Robert climbed the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa – in 2011.
“Apart from a bit of tape on my hands I won’t have any other equipment to get to the top,” he said last night.
“The great thing about this climb is that it’s the world’s tallest twisted tower and the nature of the building means it has its challenges.
“I’m not as young as I used to be so this climb will be more difficult than some of the others, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Crowds gathered at the base of the tower and a few yachts moored in the marina to provide a better view.
