‘FRENCH SPIDERMAN’
CLIMBS LONDON’S HERON TOWER WITH NO SAFETY GEAR
Skyscraper climber ‘the French Spiderman’ has struck again - this time at one of London’s tallest buildings.
Alain Robert, whose feats have included climbing
Dubai’s 2,717ft
(828m) Burj Khalifa, tackled the Heron Tower in the City of London this afternoon.
The 56-year-old daredevil, who is known for scaling skyscrapers with his bare hands, said before his climb: ‘I fully feel alive when my life is at stake. It may sound a bit scary and crazy but this is the way it is.’
The illegal ascent of the 662ft (202m) tower - now known as the Salesforce Tower - was with no safety gear, without a rope and with bare hands.
Uniformed City of London Police officers arrived at 1.37pm, set up a taped cordon stopping traffic around the building and ushered the growing crowd to move back and keep out of the road.
Police later confirmed he had been arrested after the stunt for causing a public nuisance and is currently in custody. Mr Robert is in prime condition - he is 5ft 5in and weighs about 7st 12lb (50kg), with a low fat ratio of bones to muscle which helps his extreme athleticism and skill.
As with other unlawful climbs, he is as ‘always’ carrying his passport in a chalk bag ‘because it is very reassuring for the authorities’ when he is arrested.
Chalk slightly improves the friction between his skin and the building but he also tapes his fingers and wears waferthin gloves to try to stop them being shredded by the ‘aggressive’ building.
It is believed he only decided which building he was going to tackle from a three-strong shortlist on Monday.
The crowd, pushed back to about 500ft (150m) away from the building, burst into cheers when Mr Robert waved from about three-quarters of the way up the skyscraper at 1.59pm. Mr Robert raised his arms to cheers as he reached the top at 2.14pm. From the ground, he appeared as just a speck against the clear blue sky and seemed to move calmly away from view.
After the climb, which lasted about 40 minutes, Mr Yeubrey said: ‘I am really glad. I think it would have been a much tougher climb than he thought. I am always glad when he is safe after these things.
‘Now he will be arrested and go to court. Hopefully they will not be too hard on him because actually he is a really good guy.’
He said: ‘I saw it. I touched it a bit. I tried it just a tiny bit. I am not really knowing much.