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French "Spiderman" Alain Robert climbs the
world's tallest building Taipei 101 (AFP)
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Daredevil climber Alain Robert, known as the French Spiderman, defied
stiff winds and rain to climb the world's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101
Saturday.
Robert, dressed in a red rain jacket, tights and climbing shoes,
shimmied up ropes hung down the sides of the 101-story, 1,667-foot
office tower, reaching the top in around four hours.
"It was a very big moment and I felt a lot of satisfaction as I
was already so tired and nearly all of my muscles were painful. I felt
completely relieved," said Robert after taking the ride down in one
of the tower's elevators, the world's fastest.
Several hundred onlookers and shoppers gathered at the base of the
tower watching and cheering Robert's progress via live images beamed
onto a large television screen.
At times he disappeared from view as clouds whipped past the top of
the tower enveloping the upper levels.
The 42-year-old Frenchman has scaled
scores of well-known structures around the world including the Empire
State Building and the Eiffel Tower -- often without permission or any
safety equipment or ropes.
This time Robert was wearing a harness
attached to safety ropes for the entire climb. He used the ropes to pull
himself up most of the way, using his hands and feet to climb up the
walls for only short sections.
"Everybody knows me throughout the world for my ascents climbing
free solo without using safety devices, just with my bare hands, but
this time the game was a bit different," Robert said.
He said the management had requested he wear the ropes and safety
equipment, which had also become necessary due to rain making the
windows and frames very slippery.
Robert said he was hopeful of returning to attempt the climb without
any ropes.
The $1.7 billion Taipei 101 last year surpassed the twin Petronas
Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which Robert has also scaled, as the world's
tallest building.
The shopping mall at the base of Taipei 101 has already opened for
business, but the building will be officially opened on New Year's eve.
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英勇大胆的攀爬者亚伦·罗伯特素有“法国蜘蛛人”之称。上周六（12月25日），他不畏寒风冷雨，成功地爬上了世界第一高楼——台北101大楼。
罗伯特穿着红色防雨外套、紧身衣裤和攀登鞋，借助办公大楼侧面垂下来的绳索爬上了1667英尺高、101层的大楼，历时约四小时。
“那个时刻太重要了，我感到非常满足，因为我已经很累了，几乎每一块肌肉都疼痛不堪。我觉得如释重负。”罗伯特在乘坐楼内电梯下来后这样说。他乘坐的电梯是全世界速度最快的。
几百名旁观者和购物者聚集在大楼地下，通过大屏幕上的直播关注着罗伯特攀登大楼的进展并为他喝彩。
有几次他在人们的视野中消失了，原来有云朵突然飘过塔楼顶端，遮住了大楼上端。
这位现年42岁的法国人曾经在世界各地攀爬过好几十座著名的建筑，包括纽约帝国大厦和埃菲尔铁塔，而且常常是在未经有关方面许可的情况下攀爬，也不借助任何安全设备或绳索。
这次，在整个攀爬过程中，罗伯特身上系了一条连着安全绳索的背带。大部分时间他利用绳索把自己拉上去，只有很少的时间是徒手攀爬的。
“世界上人人都知道我的大名，因为我攀爬时是不靠安全设备的，而且是独自一人徒手攀爬，但是这次有点不一样。”罗伯特说。
他说，大楼的物业管理之前要求他带上绳索和安全装备，这些东西也确实派上了用场，因为一场雨使大楼的窗玻璃和窗框都变得特别滑。
罗伯特表示，希望以后有机会尝试不用任何绳索重新爬上这座高楼。
造价17亿美元的台北101大楼去年刚刚落成，它超过了吉隆坡的双子塔，成为世界第一高楼。罗伯特曾攀上过双子塔。
台北101大楼底层的购物中心已经开业了，但是整座大楼要到新年前夕才正式开业。
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