‘French Spiderman’ climbs Paris skyscraper to mark turning 60

PARIS, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Alain Robert, the free climber dubbed the “French Spiderman”, scaled a 48-storey skyscraper in Paris on Saturday, fulfilling a purpose he had set for himself as soon as he reached the age of 60.

Wearing purple, Robert raised his arms aloft as he reached the highest of the 187-metre (613-foot) Tour TotalEnergies constructing, which towers over the French capital’s La Protection enterprise district.

“I wish to ship individuals the message that being 60 is nothing. You may nonetheless do sport, be energetic, do fabulous issues,” mentioned Robert, whose sixtieth birthday was final month.

“I promised myself a number of years in the past that after I reached 60, I might climb that tower once more as a result of 60 symbolises retirement age in France and I assumed that was a pleasant contact,” he informed Reuters.

Robert, who additionally needed to make use of the climb to lift consciousness in regards to the want for local weather change motion, had already climbed the TotalEnergies tower on quite a few events.

He started climbing in 1975, coaching on the cliffs close to his hometown of Valence in southern France. He took up solo climbing in 1977 and quickly turned a prime climber.

Since then, he has climbed greater than 150 towering buildings all over the world together with Dubai’s Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest constructing, the Eiffel Tower, and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

Typically climbing with out permission, he has been arrested repeatedly. He climbs with no harness, utilizing solely his naked fingers, a pair of climbing footwear, and a bag of powdered chalk to wipe off the sweat.

Reporting by Anthony Paone
Writing by Dominique Vidalon
Enhancing by Helen Popper

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