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American rock climber Alex Honnold said he was paid an “embarrassing” amount for free climbing one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers without ropes or protective gear.
The 40-year-old daredevil scaled the massive 1,667-foot Taipei 101 in Taiwan in just over 90 minutes during Netflix’s “Skyscraper Live” event Sunday — but later revealed his payday was nothing compared to what other pro athletes earn.
“I’m not gonna say. It’s an embarrassing amount,” Honnold told the New York Times about his compensation for the climb.
“Actually, if you put it in the context of mainstream sports, it’s an embarrassingly small amount. You know, Major League Baseball players get like $170 million contracts.”
“Like, someone you haven’t even heard of and that nobody cares about,” he added.
The renowned rock climber did not reveal the amount he was paid to free-climb the massive skyscraper, but said it was in the “mid-six figures.”
But Honnold shared that, regardless of the payday, he would have gladly completed the death-defying feat for free as long as the building gave him permission.
“If there was no TV program and the building gave me permission to go do the thing,” he said.
“I would do the thing because I know I can, and it’d be amazing.”
Honnold is no stranger to death-defying climbs.
The Sacramento native is best known for his ropeless, record-setting ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan and, in 2022, became the first to scale a 3,750-foot sheer cliff in Greenland with climber Hazel Findlay.
For the Taipei 101 skyscraper climb, Honnold ascended one corner of the towering structure using small L-shaped outcroppings as footholds, periodically navigating around massive ornamental structures and pulling himself upward with his bare hands.
The skyscraper has 101 floors, with the most difficult section being the middle 64 floors — known as the “bamboo boxes” that give the building its signature look.
Divided into eight segments, each segment featured eight floors of steep, overhanging climbing, followed by balconies where he took short rests as he made his way upward.
Honnold’s free solo climb of the iconic building in Taiwan’s capital city was broadcast with a 10-second delay.
The ascent, originally scheduled for Saturday, was delayed for 24 hours due to rain.
Wearing a red short-sleeve shirt, he waved his arms back and forth over his head after finishing.
“It was like what a view, it’s incredible, what a beautiful day,” he said afterward.
“It was very windy, so I was like, don’t fall off the spire. I was trying to balance nicely. But it was, what an incredible position, what a beautiful way to see Taipei.”
