Dubai: "Spiderman" climbs word’s tallest building Burj Khalifa

Reuters, Gulf News

Dubai, 29 March 2011: A French daredevil urban climber on Monday scaled the world’s tallest building, the 828-meter (2,717-foot) Burj Khalifa in Dubai, fighting winds that delayed his ascent for hours.

 

Alain Robert, 48, who is also known as the French Spiderman, took about six hours to climb the more than 160-storey building, using a rope and harness as required by organizers.

 

But he said the safety precautions and the attention from a crowd that had gathered to watch made him more nervous.

 

"Actually there is huge pressure on me because I know that they have installed everything there; this is for me. There is a giant screen, 50 meters high, 30 meters long. I know everybody is going to look at me so it’s a bit of -- a lot of -- stress in fact," Robert said before the climb.

 

 

Robert has been arrested many times in various countries as authorities rarely give permission for his dangerous climbs.

 

Robert first climbed a building at the age of 12 when he got locked out of his apartment and decided to mount the eight stories up to an open window.

 

He has since climbed more than 80 buildings around the world including Chicago’s Sears Tower and Taipei 101 in Taiwan.