“Human Spider” Alain Robert And His Passion To Climb World’s Tallest Buildings

Mr Robert, now 60, broke the world record in 2015.

Guinness World Records has shared an interesting article on Alain Robert, also known as “Human Spider-Man”. Mr Robert, now 60, broke the world record in 2015 after he climbed 121 buildings and earned a position in the Guinness World Records (GWR) archives. The successful ascent of Dubai’s 306-metre-tall Cayan Tower served as the cornerstone for this record-breaking run.

His passion for this sport thrived when he was 8, after watching the movie The Mountain. He told GWR, “When I was young, I was afraid of everything. I was lacking self-confidence and just wanted to be like my heroes Zorro, Robin Hood, or D’Artagnan, and I had to find a way. I had to work on it. And, actually, this is what I did.”

When he turned 11, the French athlete began rock climbing as part of his quest for courage. He quickly excelled at all challenges and in 1994, Mr Robert went on to climb buildings and skyscrapers. He kicked off his adventures in Chicago where he scaled 42 storeys of Citigroup Centre.

As per GWR’s website, “The city of Chicago had just opened a door to a whole new universe, a range of mountains of steel and glass,” he wrote in his autobiography called ‘With Bare Hands’.

It is to be noted that the “Human Spider” has also climbed the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa which is 863 metres in height and has about 163 floors. He climbed it in 6 hours 13 minutes 55 seconds on March 29, 2011. He requested permission from Emaar Properties beforehand to avoid being detained while ascending. Mr Robert used his renowned climbing technique, using only his bare hands and rubber shoes, but they managed to persuade him to wear safety gear, GWR further said. 

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Mr Robert has also climbed The Eiffel Tower, Warsaw’s Marriot Hotel, San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge and Sydney’s Opera House.

He has suffered fall seven times and detained multiple times for trespassing. The worst event occurred in 1982 when he fell 15 metres to the ground after a rope snapped. He underwent six operations and spent five days in a coma.

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