"What's Wrong with My Age~" The 'Human Spiderman' Who Climbed Burj Khalifa and Lotte Tower, Where to Next?

Published 18 Sep.2022 14:58(KST)

French rock climber Alain Robert successfully climbed the exterior wall of a 48-story building in Paris on the 17th (local time). [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sumi Hwang] A famous French rock climber has become a hot topic for climbing the exterior wall of a 48-story building in Paris.

On the 17th (local time), the British Guardian reported that Alain Robert, dressed in red like Spider-Man, was spotted on the 187m tall Tour Total building.

Robert, a French rock climber, is famous for climbing skyscrapers around the world with his bare hands without special equipment. He has earned the nickname "Human Spider-Man." So far, he is known to have conquered over 150 buildings, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. Notably, in 2011, he made headlines by conquering the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the tallest building in the world at 828m, in just six hours.

This climb appears to have been carried out to convey the message that "age is just a number depending on your mindset." Robert, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday last month, stated, "I wanted to show people that being 60 years old is nothing." He also said, "Even at this age, you can actively enjoy sports and accomplish incredible things." Before climbing the building, he told the media in an interview that he was climbing to raise awareness about the seriousness of climate change worldwide, the outlet reported.

French rock climber Alain Robert is climbing the exterior wall of a 48-story building in Paris on the 17th (local time). [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Robert has also appeared in South Korea. In June 2018, while climbing the exterior wall of Lotte World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, he stopped climbing at the 75th floor after persuasion by police and fire authorities. Afterwards, he was arrested by the police on charges of climbing the Lotte Tower without prior permission. At that time, Robert reportedly said that the reason for the climb was "to commemorate an important moment when peace between North and South Korea was about to be realized."

Such incidents of Robert climbing high-rise buildings without safety equipment and being arrested are not isolated. In October 2018, he was arrested while climbing the 202m Salesforce Tower (Heron Tower) in London, UK, without ropes or other safety equipment. Additionally, after climbing in Sydney, Australia, and S?o Paulo, Brazil, in September 2019, he was caught by local police while climbing a 153m skyscraper in Frankfurt, Germany.