French climber Alain Robert climbs the Skyper building in Frankfurt
Last updated on: 30 September,2019 10:15 pm
The 57-year-old is famed for climbing 165 of the world’s tallest skyscrapers with his bare hands.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Dubbed the "French Spiderman", Alain Robert scaled a 39-storey high skyscraper without a harness in Frankfurt in Sunday. After climbing down from the 153.8 metres high Skyper tower in Germany’s financial capital, Robert was detained by local police.
The 57-year-old is famed for climbing 165 of the world’s tallest skyscrapers with his bare hands and says his mind is the best kind of safety net for such feats.
"People, they are constructing tons of insurance - you know to be sure that if anything happens then they are going to be covered, but me, my insurance, this is my mind, this is my head, this is my brain, meaning it’s the cheapest one, it’s the one that is the most efficient and it works, you know - I’ve been climbing for 44 years," he said.
He has now branched out into music too, releasing his first single - an electro pop dance track called ‘I Climb The World’.
"It is also because I am now 57 so I also need to think about after," he said. "Like still I’m hoping that I can climb maybe for another 10 years, maybe 15 years. But just, you know, I better be careful."
The music video features Robert on a series of death-defying climbs up the exteriors of skyscrapers with no safety equipment. English musician John Parr plays guitar for the track.
Robert often climbs without permission and has been arrested more than 120 times. He has the dubious honour of being named the world’s most arrested man by Guinness World Records. But he says his stunts give people doing dull office jobs inside the buildings he climbs something to laugh about.
Robert began climbing as a schoolboy when he got locked out of his home while his parents were working. He decided to have a go at climbing the seven-storey building. Since then he has clambered up cliffs, mountains and landmarks including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the Eiffel Tower, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the New York Times building.
In August 2019 he climbed a 68-storey skyscraper in Hong Kong to hoist a flag symbolising reconciliation between China and the territory, which has seen weeks of pro-democracy protests.