TLDR: On January 24, 2026, rock climber Alex Honnold will climb the outside of Taiwan’s Taipei 101 skyscraper – all 1,667 feet – without ropes, harnesses, or safety equipment.
Netflix is broadcasting it live. If he slips, he dies on camera in front of millions of viewers. He’s 40 years old and has two young daughters at home.
What “Free Solo” Actually Means
If you saw the 2018 documentary Free Solo on National Geographic, you already know who Alex Honnold is. He’s the guy who climbed a 3,000-foot granite wall in Yosemite National Park with nothing but his hands and feet.
No rope. No safety net. Just him and the rock.
One mistake meant death, and the whole world watched the documentary holding their breath even though they knew he survived – the movie wouldn’t exist otherwise.
That climb made him famous. It also made a lot of people think he was crazy. But here’s what makes this new climb different, and arguably worse: this time, it’s happening live.
No safety buffer of watching it months after the fact. No knowing the ending before you hit play.
If Alex Honnold slips while climbing Taipei 101, millions of people around the world will watch him fall to his death in real-time.
Netflix is betting that’s exactly what will make people tune in.
The Building Is Taller Than The Empire State Building
Taipei 101 sits in Taiwan’s capital city. At 1,667 feet tall with 101 floors, it’s one of the tallest buildings in the world. For comparison, the Empire State Building is 1,454 feet. The building was designed to look like a bamboo stalk, with eight sections that flare outward as you go up.
These overhangs create what climbers call “the crux” – the hardest moves where Honnold will have to pull his body weight up and over a ledge every eight floors.
But here’s the bigger problem: rock climbing and building climbing are completely different. When you climb a mountain, every handhold is unique. The rock has cracks, bumps, rough spots your fingers can grip. You can see where you’re going and plan your route.
A skyscraper is the opposite.
It’s glass and metal, smooth and slippery. Every window looks exactly the same. There’s nowhere for your fingers to grab except the thin metal bars between windows.
Professional climbers who’ve studied the route say it’s going to be “two easy moves and one kinda hard move” repeated thousands of times for two straight hours.
That might sound boring, but the danger is in the repetition. Your brain zones out. Your forearms get tired. And if you slip even once, you’re dead.
He’s A 40-Year-Old Father Now
When Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan in 2017, he was single and 32 years old. He had nobody depending on him. If he died, it was his choice and his consequence.
Fast forward to 2026, and everything has changed. He’s married now. He has two young daughters at home.
And a lot of people are asking the same question: what kind of father risks leaving his kids without a dad for a Netflix stunt?
Honnold’s answer is cold and calculated. He says the climb is “low risk” compared to what he’s done before.
The building has ledges every eight floors where he can rest and even re-enter the building if the weather turns bad. The handholds are bigger and easier than the tiny cracks on El Capitan.
In his mind, this is actually safer than the climb that made him famous.
But his reasoning doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. The climb isn’t happening because it’s some beautiful natural challenge.
It’s happening because Netflix offered him a paycheck (rumored to be in the mid-six figures) and because he got permission from the Taiwanese government to do something most people would never be allowed to do.
As Honnold himself admitted, “It’s really hard to get permission to climb a building, and I have permission.”
In other words: because he can, and because someone will pay him.
Netflix Is Broadcasting A Potential Death Live
This is where things get uncomfortable.
Netflix has been losing subscribers and facing pressure from investors. They need big, must-watch events to compete with traditional sports. So they’re gambling on something no streaming service has tried before: broadcasting a man’s potential death as entertainment.
The marketing for the event doesn’t shy away from this.
The promotional materials emphasize that Honnold is older now, that he has a family, that the stakes are higher than ever. They’re selling the tension. They’re selling the fear.
And they know that millions of people will tune in specifically because they want to see if he makes it or if he falls.
To protect themselves from showing an actual death on screen, Netflix has installed a 10-second broadcast delay.
If Honnold falls, the control room will cut the feed before viewers see the impact. The screen will go black, or cut to a wide shot of the city, followed by a somber announcement.
Netflix executives have been clear: “We will cut away, and it’s as simple as that.”
But that’s the game, isn’t it? They’re selling you the possibility of watching him die while promising they won’t actually show it if it happens. It’s voyeuristic. It’s ghoulish.
And it’s probably going to be one of the most-watched events Netflix has ever streamed.
The Weather Could Kill Him
The climb is scheduled for 9:00 AM local time in Taipei on Saturday, January 24, 2026. That timing isn’t random. Meteorologists say that’s when the humidity is manageable and the wind speeds are lowest.
Later in the day, the sun heats up the city and creates unpredictable wind patterns that could blow him off the building.
But here’s the tricky part: climbing smooth glass requires a specific level of humidity. Too dry, and the rubber on his shoes won’t stick. Too wet, and the glass becomes like ice.
The production team has hired private meteorologists to monitor the conditions minute by minute. If rain starts to fall or if condensation forms on the glass, the climb is off. There’s no “try and see.” Once he starts, he’s committed.
The building itself moves in the wind. At over 1,600 feet tall, even a light breeze causes the tower to sway. Taipei 101 has a giant 660-ton pendulum suspended inside between the 87th and 92nd floors to dampen this movement, but climbers say you can still feel the building shift beneath your hands.
Imagine trying to hold onto something while it’s gently rocking back and forth. Now imagine you’re 1,000 feet in the air.
The City Is Shutting Down For This
Taipei isn’t treating this like a publicity stunt. They’re treating it like a major security operation. On the morning of the climb, major roads around the tower will be completely closed.
Sidewalks will be blocked off. The bike-share stations will be shut down. All of this to create a “sterile zone” around the building.
Why? Because if Alex Honnold falls, he’s not the only one at risk. A falling body from 1,000 feet up becomes a projectile. If he’s carrying any gear – a chalk bag, a water bottle, anything – and it comes loose, it could kill someone on the ground.
The city is taking no chances.
The airspace around the tower will also be restricted, with only production helicopters and drones allowed. This is going to be a massive production, with dozens of cameras positioned on the building, in helicopters, and on nearby rooftops to capture every angle of the climb.
What Happens If He Makes It
If everything goes according to plan, Alex Honnold will reach the top of Taipei 101 around 11:00 AM local time after about two hours of climbing.
He’ll stand on the spire at the very top of the building, take in the view, and then climb back down a short distance to a secure platform where he can re-enter the building and take the elevator down.
He’ll go home to his wife and daughters. Netflix will have the most-talked-about live event in streaming history. And people will debate for years whether what we all just watched was inspirational or irresponsible.
But if he doesn’t make it – if the weather turns, if his hand slips, if one of those repetitive moves finally breaks his concentration – then we’re left with something much darker.
A man died for our entertainment. A father left his children behind for a paycheck and permission to do something dangerous.
And millions of us watched it happen live, right up until the moment Netflix cut the feed.
When And Where To Watch
The climb is scheduled for Friday night, January 23, 2026 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time (5:00 PM Pacific). That’s Saturday morning, January 24 at 9:00 AM in Taipei. Netflix is streaming it globally to all subscribers.
No additional fee. Just log in and watch history unfold – one way or another.
The question isn’t whether you’ll be able to watch. The question is whether you should.
