French "Spiderman" climbs 48-storey building at age 60

Paris: Frenchman Alain Robert, who has scaled many of the tallest structures in the world, set a new objective for himself last month as he turned 60. The "French Spiderman" and free solo climber succeeded in his mission on Saturday by scaling a 48-story structure in Paris.

Robert, dressed in red, scaled the 613-foot Tour Total skyscraper, raising his arms as he reached the top. He took only 60 minutes, according to Defense 92, to reach the top, NDTV reported.

"I want to send people the message that being 60 is nothing. You can still do sports, be active, do fabulous things," he said. "I promised myself several years ago that when I reached 60, I would climb that tower again because 60 symbolises retirement age in France and I thought that was a nice touch."

But Robert had already climbed the Tour TotalEnergies tower before. To raise public awareness of climate action, he has performed it multiple times.

Mr Robert is well known throughout the world for climbing tall structures. His daring achievements include scaling Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

Robert, however, routinely scaled structures without the required authorizations, and he has been jailed numerous times in a number of countries, including the UK and Germany.

Additionally, he climbs without a harness as he climbs alone, only utilising his hands, climbing shoes, and a bag of chalk powder to wipe away sweat.

Without using safety gear, he has scaled more than 100 structures around the world, including Sydney Opera House, the famed Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia and Eiffel Tower in Paris. 


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