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Alain Robert climbing Petronas Tower 2 in March 2007

Alain Robert (born August 7 1962 in Digoin, Saône-et-Loire (71) - Bourgogne, France as Robert Alain Philippe) is a rock and urban climber. Nicknamed after the Marvel Comics character "Spider-Man," he is famous for scaling skyscrapers.

Overview

Robert has scaled more than 70 giant structures around the globe including many of the world's tallest structures, some of which he has scaled using only his bare hands and climbing shoes.

Robert began climbing as a young boy, scaling rock cliffs in the area around his home. His buildering career began at the age of 12 when he forgot his keys and was locked out of his parents' eighth-floor apartment. Instead of waiting for them to return home, he simply scaled the exterior wall to his home.

At the ages of 19 and 20 he suffered two accidents, where he fell 15 metres and suffered multiple fractures and permanent vertigo. The doctors considered him 60 percent handicapped and told him he would not be able to climb again. However, in 6 months he was back to climbing. He kept taking on more and more challenging structures and improving his skills. He polished his rock-climbing skills in the French Alps before turning to buildings.

Strategy

Because authorities would not give him permission for such dangerous exploits, Robert would suddenly appear, usually at dawn, on the side of a giant skyscraper in cities around the world where thousands of onlookers would stop in awe of what was happening. As a result, he has been arrested in various countries many times by police waiting at the building's top. The arrests and trials are little more than quick formalities and he has always been discharged.

Robert's physical conditioning and expert climbing technique allow him to climb using the small protrusions of building walls and windows (such as window ledges and frames). Many of his climbs provide him no opportunity to rest and can last over an hour. At 1.65 m (5'5") tall, he is short and light, attributes that enhance his dexterity while climbing. He sometimes has a small bag of climbing chalk powder (similar to powdered rosin), which is used to absorb sweat, fastened around his waist.

Career

Robert's career of urban climbing has been characterized by an ever-expanding list of famous landmarks that included the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Montparnasse Tower in Paris as well as the world's tallest skyscrapers. In the 1990s, as his exploits brought him worldwide media exposure, speculation began as to whether or not he would attempt the tallest building in the world at the time: the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While Malaysian authorities were expecting it, they were still astonished when one day in 1997 he suddenly appeared several floors up on the side of the tower on his way to the top. He was eventually arrested while on the 60th floor, 28 short of the 88-story building.

While scaling the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois in 1999, he encountered the most challenging climbing conditions in his career. Near the top of the 110-story building, a thick fog set in that covered the glass and metal wall of the last 20 floors with moisture making it dangerously slippery. Although the climb became agonizingly slow and very strenuous, Alain Robert overcame it and reached the top.

In 2000, Robert climbed the 75 ft. high Luxor Obelisque in Place de la Concorde, France.

In February 2003, he legally climbed the 656-foot (200 metres) National Bank of Abu Dhabi, UAE, watched by about 100,000 spectators. In April, he scaled the headquarters of oil giant Total S.A. in La Défense, outside Paris, to protest the invasion of Iraq.

Robert is increasingly paid to scale buildings as part of publicity efforts. In May 2003 he was paid approximately $18,000 to climb the 312-foot (95 metres) Lloyd's of London to promote the premiere of the movie Spider-Man on the British television channel Sky Movies.

On October 19, 2004, he scaled the 614-foot (187 metres) headquarters of the French oil company Total while wearing a Spider-Man costume.

Robert scaled Taipei 101 on December 25, 2004, a few days before its grand opening as the tallest building in the world. The 508-meter climb was legal, part of the week's festivities. The skyscraper's outwardly slanting sides posed no apparent difficulty for him, but heavy rains in Taiwan resulted in a climb lasting four hours--double his estimate.

On June 11, 2005 he climbed the Cheung Kong Centre in Hong Kong, scaling 283 m (928 feet) to the top of the 62-story tower.

On September 1, 2006, he climbed the tallest building in Lithuania and the Baltic States - Europa Tower (148 m) in Vilnius. Wearing a black suit and using a safety rope, which he detached several times, he reached the observation deck of the building (114 m) in 40 minutes. Also in 2006, he climbed Torre Vasco da Gama in Portugal as part of an advertisement for Optimus, a national mobile operator. He finished the year climbing the Santa Fe World Plaza in Mexico City, on December 7th. On 23 of February 2007, he legally climbed the headquarters Building of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) on the coast of Abu Dhabi city (United Arab Emirates).

On March 20, 2007, he climbed the Petronas Twin Towers again, marking his tenth anniversary since he last climbed the Petronas Twin Towers. He allowed himself to be apprehended upon reaching the 60th floor. He flew the Malaysian flag and drew applause from waiting police, fire crew, and media representatives before handing himself in. He was handcuffed and escorted off the premises before being driven to a police station.

On May 31, 2007, he scaled China's tallest skyscraper, the 88-story Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, while once again wearing a Spider-Man costume. Robert was later arrested and jailed for 5 days before being expelled from China.[1] In November 2007, Robert was invited by the local government of Zhangjiajie, a scenic region in the southern province of Hunan, to climb the 1518-metre Tianmen mountain to boost the profile of the region and bring in tourists.

On September 4, 2007, he climbed the 799-feet-high (244 metres) Federation Tower office building in Moscow, (Russia's tallest skyscraper), in 30 minutes using a ladder. Detained by police, he could face a fine for violating safety norms at a construction site.

On December 18, 2007, he climbed the 29-storey Portland House office building in London, (Westminster's tallest building), in just over 40 minutes. Police taped off the area and later arrested him for criminal damage and wasting police time.

There is an award-winning 52 minute documentary about him titled The Wall Crawler by Director/ Producer Julie Cohen. (see IMDB.COM)

Notable climbs

Alain Robert climbing Torre Agbar (Barcelona, 2007-09-12.

A few of the more than 70 skyscrapers and monuments climbed by Alain Robert:

• Sydney, Australia – Sydney Tower and the Sydney Opera House
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Hotel Vermont
• Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Crown Plaza Hotel
• Hong Kong
  • The Far East Finance Centre
  • The Cheung Kong Centre
• London
  • One Canada Square
  • Lloyd's building
  • Portland House
• Paris, France
  • Eiffel Tower
  • Grande Arche at La Défense
  • The Luxor Obelisk in Place de la Concorde
  • Tour Montparnasse
  • Tour Cristal at Front de Seine
  • Mercurial Towers at Bagnolet
• Frankfurt, Germany – Dresdner Bank Tower
• Milan, Italy – Banca di Milano building
• Tokyo, Japan – Shinjuku Center Building
• Warsaw, Poland – Marriott Hotel
• Johannesburg, South Africa – IBM Tower
• Abu Dhabi
  • United Arab Emirates – National Bank of Abu Dhabi and the Etisalat building
  • Abu Dhabi Investment Authority [ADIA], Headquarters Building, UAE
• United States of America
  • Empire State Building – New York City
  • Sears Tower – Chicago, Illinois
  • Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco, California
  • Blue Cross Tower – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Luxor Hotel pyramid – Las Vegas, Nevada
• Tampere, Finland – Hotel Ilves
• Malaysia
  • Petronas Tower 1 – Kuala Lumpur (arrested at the 60th floor in 1997)
  • Petronas Tower 2 – Kuala Lumpur (arrested at the 60th floor in visit Malaysia year 2007)
  • Sabah Foundation Building – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (for fund raising)
  • Melia Hotel – Kuala Lumpur
• Singapore – Overseas Union Bank Centre (arrested at 21st floor in 2000)
• Taiwan – Taipei 101
• Venezuela – Parque Central Torre
• Barcelona, Spain – Torre Agbar
• Portugal
  • Torre Vasco da Gama
  • 25 de Abril Bridge
• Mexico City- Santa Fé World Plaza Corporate Tower
• Bratislava, Slovakia – Slovak Radio Building
• Shanghai, China – Jin Mao Building
• Moscow, Russia - West Federation Tower
• São Paulo, Brazil - Edifício Itália

Accidents

In a 2005 interview, Alain Robert said that he has fallen seven times in his life. The worst was his second fall in 1982.

On January 18, 1982, at 19, he fell 15 meters when his anchor and rope gave way during training. He fractured his wrists, heels and nose and underwent three operations.

On September 29, 1982, at 20, he fell 15 meters when his rope came undone during rappelling. He was in a coma for five days and fractured both forearms, his elbow, pelvis, and nose. His elbow was also dislocated and a nerve was damaged leaving him partially paralyzed. He also suffered cerebral edema and vertigo. He underwent six operations on his hands and elbow.

In 1993, he fell eight meters while showing students how to rely on their legs when climbing. He kept his hands behind his back on an easy route but lost his balance and fell headfirst shattering both wrists. He went into another coma and spent two months in the hospital.

In 2004, he fell two meters when climbing the building of a Korean television station after an interview. He landed on his elbow and needed forty stitches, but a month later he climbed the world’s tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, as part of its official opening week.

Arrest

On November 22, 2005, he was arrested as he began to climb the One Houston Center building in Houston, Texas. He was charged with criminal trespassing and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. The controlled substance charge was due to two pills that the police found in his possession. He claimed the pills were the prescription drug Urbanyl, a medication used to prevent epileptic seizures. He spent two days in jail and then appeared in court on November 29 and provided proof of a doctor's prescription for the medication, asking that the drug charges be dropped. On December 20 he climbed the Cristal Tower in Paris in protest of the arrest. His next court appearance was scheduled for January 4, 2006, but Robert said that he would be climbing in Mexico at that time.

On March 15, 2006 he climbed one of the 122 m Mercurial Towers in Bagnolet in protest of the presumed seven-day sentence, prior to returning to Texas to serve the sentence. On March 31 he appeared before a Houston court. The drug charge was dropped because of the valid prescription, and the jail sentence was reduced to one day and a $2000 fine for trespassing. The previous time served in November was credited so Robert did not have to serve any more time in jail.

On February 27, 2008 he climbed the Edificio Italia, one of the tallest buildings in Brazil despite being unauthorized to do so. He was detained by the police after his succesful attempt.

Family

The scaffold-like cladding of the 88 story Jin Mao Building made Robert comment that his six-year-old son could climb the building and that he himself could do it using only one arm.

Alain Robert and his wife Nicole have three children. He calls his children immediately after he reaches the top of a building. His children also climb and practice with him.

External links

• Official Website - requires Macromedia Flash, includes a number of spectacular photos
• «Photos from official website». www.alainrobert.com/en/photo.htm.  (accessible without Flash)
• Latest video of Alain Roberts climbs the Petronas Twin Towers on Youtube
• Pictures of Spiderman Alain Robert climbs the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia
• The Alain Robert Buildering.net Interview
• Daring urban climber from China Daily
• ExWeb Interview with French Spider-Man
• Torre Vasco da Gama's climbing site (a small video of him climbing the tower is available - Portuguese content)
• Pictures of Spiderman Alain Robert Climbs Abu Dhabi Building
• With Bare Hands, the autobiography of Alain Robert
• Alain Robert in Moscow
• China wants 'Spiderman' back