Legendary climber Alex Honnold is set to challenge himself by free climbing the outside of Taipei 101, sparking related predictions on Polymarket.
(Background: Human traders on Polymarket beat bots, earning $233,000 over the weekend in the XRP market)
(Additional context: Polymarket partnered with the 2026 Golden Globe Awards for “Live Show Instant Odds,” with the CEO praising: prediction accuracy rate of 93%)

Table of Contents

• Polymarket Prediction Markets Open
• Why Taipei 101?
• Netflix’s Major Live Broadcast

This Saturday (January 24), Taiwan’s landmark Taipei 101 will host a highly anticipated special event. Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo” star, legendary climber Alex Honnold, will attempt to free climb Taipei 101, with the event streamed globally on Netflix.

Polymarket Prediction Markets Open

Alex Honnold’s challenge at Taipei 101 has naturally sparked discussions in on-chain prediction markets. Currently, there are related markets on Polymarket, including the one with the most funding: “How long will Alex Honnold take to complete the 101 challenge?”

Before the deadline, 19% of the funds estimate he will finish the climb within 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes; 32% believe he will complete it within 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes; 24% think he will finish within 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes. These three time ranges are the most funded options.

Additionally, 10% of the funds believe he will “be unable to complete” the challenge. The total funds currently participating in this market amount to approximately $324,000.

Why Taipei 101?

For Alex Honnold, accustomed to granite cracks, Taipei 101 presents a completely different challenge. Once the world’s tallest building, its exterior is made of glass curtain walls and aluminum alloys, lacking the natural friction of rock.

Honnold recently admitted at a press conference: “The structure of Taipei 101 is very fascinating, especially its stacked design resembling bamboo segments. This means I won’t just be climbing vertically; every eight floors, I have to deal with an outward-tilting ‘overhang’ structure. This is a high-difficulty move on natural rock walls, and here, I have to repeat it dozens of times.”

It is reported that Honnold’s team arrived in Taiwan weeks ago to prepare. In recent days, the public has seen him practicing on the building in Xinyi District (wearing safety ropes at the time), carefully studying the architectural details like bracket decorations and window frame spacing.

Climbing experts analyze three major critical variables for his challenge:

• Friction coefficient: The metal and glass surfaces of Taipei 101 are extremely smooth, and winter in Taipei is humid and rainy. Even if weather forecasts predict clear skies on Saturday, fog condensation at high altitude could make grip points slippery and deadly.

• Physical endurance: Unlike natural rock routes, climbing on artificial structures involves highly repetitive movements. This monotony can lead to overfatigue of specific muscle groups and mental focus lapses.

• Wind shear effect: Taipei 101 has tuned mass dampers to stabilize the building, but Honnold attached to the exterior must directly confront strong high-altitude winds.

Netflix’s Major Live Broadcast

Netflix has chosen this challenge as a flagship event for its entry into live streaming. The program “Skyscraper Live” will deploy multiple helicopters and miniature cameras on the building’s exterior to capture every detail of Alex Honnold’s fingertip grip at 90 floors high.

Taipei 101’s chairman, Jia Yongjie, also expressed excitement and nervousness on social media. She revealed that the team has prepared strict security measures and urged the public in Xinyi District to cooperate with traffic control and avoid using drones to interfere with the climber.

“Nobody forced me to do this; it’s purely to explore my limits,” Alex Honnold described this challenge.

【If you want to watch the live broadcast info】

• Skyscraper Live: Alex Honnold climbs Taipei 101

• Time: January 24, 2026 (Saturday), 9:00 AM Taiwan time

• Broadcast platform: Netflix exclusive global live stream

• Location: Taipei 101 (surrounding traffic will be controlled)