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American rock climber Alex Honnold just free soloed Taipei 101—all 1,667 feet of it—without ropes or a safety net, in a Netflix special that had viewers gripping their seats.
Now Malaysians are wondering: could our skyscrapers be next?
Earlier this morning (25 January), the 40-year-old climber scaled one of the world’s tallest buildings using only his hands, feet, and a bag of chalk.
The event was broadcast live on Netflix, drawing massive viewership and reportedly earning Honnold a “mid-six figures” payday—though he called it “embarrassingly small” compared to mainstream sports salaries.
“Major League Baseball players get like USD170 million contracts,” he told the New York Times.
Someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about.
The Californian, best known for free soloing Yosemite’s El Capitan in 2017, said he’d been wanting to climb a skyscraper for about a decade.
Malaysia Has Taller Options
Here’s where it gets interesting for Malaysians: we have even bigger buildings.
Merdeka 118 stands at 2,227 feet, making it the second-tallest building in the world.
The iconic Petronas Twin Towers reach 1,483 feet.
Both are taller or comparable to Taipei 101.
Honnold hasn’t mentioned climbing either Malaysian landmark, and no one has officially proposed it.
But with Visit Malaysia Year 2026 in full swing, could this be the kind of global attention-grabbing event tourism officials dream about?
The Family Man Climber
Despite his death-defying stunts, Honnold told CNN his family is his biggest priority.
His two young children don’t even know what dad does for a living yet.
“I don’t think they even know what climbing is,” he said.
They’ll play in the forest and play around, but I don’t think climbing means anything to them yet.
He climbs five days a week but insists: “The life that we’re building together matters way more, balanced against climbing goals.”
View on Threads
Would He Do It For Free?
Interestingly, Honnold said he would have climbed Taipei 101 without payment.
“If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing, I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing,” he said.
His estimated net worth sits at around USD2 million.
So, Malaysia? While purely speculative—and dependent on countless technical, safety, and legal considerations—the idea isn’t entirely far-fetched.
Taiwan got global headlines and a Netflix special out of it.
Malaysia has Visit Malaysia Year 2026 to promote and two world-class skyscrapers that could offer even more dramatic climbs.
Someone just needs to make the call, or maybe slide into Honnold’s DMs.
Malaysia Already Has Climbing History
It wouldn’t be the first time a daredevil climber tackled Malaysian skyscrapers.
French climber Alain Robert, known as “the French Spider-Man,” successfully scaled the Petronas Twin Towers in 2009 without safety equipment—after two previous failed attempts that resulted in arrests.
Robert’s climbs highlighted both the allure of Malaysia’s iconic buildings and the legal risks of unauthorised urban climbing.
Before Honnold, Robert also climbed Taipei 101 in 2004-his insights were valuable for Honnold’s attempt.
The difference with Honnold’s Taipei 101 climb?
It had official permission and was broadcast live on Netflix.
Parts of this story have been sourced from CNN and The Sporting News.
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[Watch] Alex Honnold Just Climbed Taipei 101 Without Ropes. Malaysia’s Merdeka 118 Next?
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