There was danger! There was drama! There was a WWE pro wrestler yammering away about rock climbing! And yeah, there was Alex Honnold, meticulously ascending the metal facade of a skyscraper without a safety rope.
Netflix’s Skyscraper Live delivered two hours of historic, high-adrenaline entertainment this past Saturday, January 24. Honnold became the first human being to free solo Taipei 101, the 1,667-foot-tall building, and (spoiler alert) he completed the ascent without falling to his grisly death.
Like millions of Netflix subscribers, I watched every heart-pumping scene, from the moment Honnold emerged from a minivan at the building’s base, to when he set foot on top. Throughout the telecast, I squirmed, laughed, fist-pumped, and yeah, cringed more than a few times.
After the special concluded, I felt emotionally drained, despite having never left the comfort of my living room sofa. And I was also left with two powerful, if utterly opposing sentiments, about the entire televised spectacle: Wow, that was amazing! and I don’t know if I need to see that again!
I’m here to unpack these feelings.
What I Could Have Done Without
Netflix and its army of producers deserve tons of praise for simply pulling Skyscraper Live off. There’s no preexisting template for creating live television around a Spiderman-style ascent of a building, so they had to build their own format from scratch.
The one they came up with was akin to tossing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Summer Olympics, and a CNN breaking news report into a blender—along with 20 shots of espresso. The cadre of announcers—yes, including WWE wrestler Seth Rollins—were very hyped! But also super duper worried!
The talking heads educated the viewers about the basics of climbing, all while host Elle Duncan repeatedly reminded us that Honnold could die at any moment. Rollins added other sage insight.
“He’s crazy, man,” Rollins said at one point. “I mean, I get what he’s trying to do. But he’s crazy.”
The telecast rapidly ping-ponged between live shots of Honnold climbing, pre-taped interviews with him and his family, climbing analysis from Emily Harrington (who was quite good), and even so-called “wellness checkups” with Honnold’s wife, Sanni. The pace of each segment was frenetic—nothing lasted longer than 90 seconds or so.
But here’s the thing: while the entire broadcast team was cranked to DEFCON 3, Honnold himself seemed extremely chill. Wearing a microphone, Honnold would periodically chime in with his own take on the ascent: This is so cool. Oh man, look at this view. Ha, the people in there are snapping selfies.
The contrasting edge-of-your-seat anxiety and Honnold’s chill, walk-in-the-park mood made for a weird vibe. And it lasted for the entire two hours.
What I Loved About It
While Skyscraper Live’s tone was a tad too intense for my nervous system, the show was absolutely entertaining and inspiring. The broadcast hit its pinnacle when the announcers moved aside and showed Honnold making his way up the building. Even more kudos go to the camera operators who dangled off of ropes to film the climb.
Even now, several days after the event, I can still close my eyes and envision Honnold carefully grabbing ahold of the building’s superstructure and skidding up the ten dragon-shaped emblems mounted on its facade. A picture is worth 1,000 words, and the clips of Honnold climbing were far more enlightening than anything said by a host.
Skyscraper Live showed off Honnold’s patience and stamina. His mastery of complex body movements made the ascent look like a ballet act 1,000 feet off the ground. And the crisp shots of Honnold navigating the building, with the sidewalk far below, communicated the stakes of his ascent.
Honnold has become such a ubiquitous celebrity in the world of outdoor recreation—he hosts a podcast and multiple TV shows—that I sometimes forget about his singular abilities as a climber. And watching him coolly ascend Taipei 101, with cameras showing the crowds below, was a helpful reminder of why he’s such an important figure in our world. He can transmit the anxiety, joy, athleticism, and wonder of massive climb to a mainstream audience by making it look easy.
A Climbing Stunt for the Masses
I took a quick spin in the r/climbing community on Reddit and read plenty of criticism of the show. I understand why hardcore climbers would be put off by Skyscraper Live. But I also know that the show wasn’t made with them in mind.
For several years now, Netflix has been on the hunt for live sporting events and spectacles to beam to its 325 million global subscribers. The streaming giant’s portfolio of real-time programming includes NFL games, pro wrestling matches, and even Star Search, the talent show that your grandpa used to watch.
All of these shows are designed for mainstream America, not niche communities of hardcore fanatics.
Thus lies the challenge with Skyscraper Live. How on earth do you create a live TV show for the most casual audience possible, but center it on the very niche sport of free-solo climbing?
My own niche sport of choice—professional cycling—got the Netflix treatment a few years ago with its Drive to Survive-inspired series Tour de France: Unchained. The finished product of Tour de France: Unchained seemed at times to be too casual for hardcores, and too hardcore for casuals (it was not renewed for a fourth season).
But unlike Unchained, I do think Skyscraper Live brought free soloing to the masses. The stakes were pretty simple. The building was gorgeous. And it was easy to see why the athlete at the heart of the thing is worthy of our attention.
And because of these qualities, Skyscraper Live gave audiences—yours truly included—an emotional connection to the sport.
Those dizzying shots of Honnold climbing did make me grip my remote a little tighter and tense my neck muscles with anxiety. After all, the announcing crew—even the wrestler guy—were correct: he could die at any moment. And the moment Honnold reached the top, my grip released and my muscles relaxed.
Honnold made it safely up Taipei 101. Nobody got hurt. This fact alone is probably a good enough reason to make Skyscraper Live a spectacle not worth repeating.
Did you watch ‘Skyscraper Live?’ Tell us what you thought of the spectacle in the comments below.
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