Alex Honnold’s free solo of Taipei 101 took a bit over an hour and a half; major news reports put it at roughly 90–92 minutes from leaving the ground to reaching the top of the skyscraper.

Quick Scoop

Here’s the fast rundown, in the spirit of a forum-style “what actually happened?” update:

  • Event: Alex Honnold free soloed Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world.
  • Height: About 508 meters (1,667 feet), 101 stories of glass and steel.
  • Expected time beforehand: Organizers said they thought it would take about 75 minutes.
  • What actually happened:
    • One widely cited report says he took “just over 90 minutes” to reach the top.
* Another report likewise states it took him about 90 minutes from start to finish.

* An Olympic news recap gives a precise time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, and 43 seconds (about 91 minutes).

So if you’re asking “how long will it take Alex to climb Taipei 101,” the best answer, now that the climb has happened, is: around an hour and a half , with detailed reporting converging on roughly 91 minutes.

Why the time matters (and the hype)

This wasn’t just any building stunt; it was a high-profile free solo (no ropes, no safety net), streamed as a special event. Months of preparation went into rehearsing the specific sequences along the pagoda-like tiers and overhanging sections of Taipei 101, which climb very differently from natural rock.

  • The building is segmented into stacked “blocks,” each with steep faces and occasional ledges where he paused briefly.
  • Weather already forced a 24‑hour delay because rain made the exterior too slick, so conditions and wind were major factors.
  • When he topped out, reports quote him talking about the wind near the spire and how incredible the view over Taipei was.

Given that context, holding the pace for about 90 minutes on a feature‑sparse, mostly vertical façade is part of what made the ascent so widely discussed.

Forum and “trending topic” angle

Online forums and social media lit up around a few themes:

  • Risk and ethics: Some threads debated whether broadcasting such a dangerous climb live is responsible, especially with concerns that others might copycat the feat.
  • Honnold’s mindset: People referenced earlier discussions about his unusual fear response and long history of high‑risk solos, noting that many of his peers have retired or died.
  • Saturation effect: Taiwan‑focused communities mentioned that multiple top posts were dominated by this event for days, leading some users to say it was “too much Taipei 101 talk” while others loved the buzz.

Prediction markets even ran contracts on “How long will it take Alex Honnold to free solo Taipei 101?”, with settlement rules tied to the official time shown in the livestream and corroborated by news coverage. This helped turn “how long will it take Alex to climb Taipei 101” into a real-time trending query, not just a casual fan question.

If you’re writing about this (SEO-style pointers)

If you’re turning this into a post centered on the phrase “how long will it take alex to climb taipei” , here are the key factual anchors you can safely highlight:

  • He actually did climb Taipei 101, free solo, in roughly 90–92 minutes.
  • Organizers’ pre‑event estimate was about 75 minutes, so the real climb ran a bit longer than predicted but still remarkably fast for a 508‑meter tower.
  • It became a trending topic across news, forums, and even prediction markets, all centered on that simple timing question.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.