Netflix’s Skyscraper Live updates: Alex Honnold begins bid to scale 1,667ft tower with out ropes or security gear

The first stage is probably as easy for this expert climber as it’s going to get. Honnold is stepping up on to ledges about three feet apart.

About 100ft up he stops, smiles and waves at the crowds below, eliciting a huge cheer.

Alex Honnold is on his way ….

He changed his shoes and glanced upwards at the task ahead of him. He’s wearing a microphone meaning we might hear from him at some point during his climb.

Dress code: casual. Honnold is wearing loose black track pants, a red T-shirt.

“The goosebumps are goosebumping right now,” says Netflix coverage presenter Elle Duncan, and she’s not wrong. The weather is being closely monitored after the spine-tingling feat had to be delayed by 24 hours last night.

Experts are also monitoring for something else that could complicate Honnold’s ascent … earthquakes. Taipei is seismically active and has felt at least three tremors of a magnitude of 4.0, with a dozen in January so far.

The challenge seems to be on, following a a 24-hour delay because of weather last night. Netflix is showing a countdown to Alex Honnold’s daredevil attempt to scale Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot, 101-story tower in the Taiwanese capital.

As of now, Netflix has not given any indication that Skyscraper Live won’t go forward tonight as planned.

The livestream’s page on the platform still says the event will begin at 8pm E.T.

The climb was originally scheduled to take place Friday night, but was rescheduled due to rain.

“Our main contingency planning is we can delay the broadcast by maybe an hour, maybe slightly longer,” said James Smith of production company Plimsoll Productions, to Variety.

“If there’s been a light shower and the building’s drying off, the temperature here is pretty good, there’s often a light breeze, so the building will dry relatively quickly.

“If it is deemed too wet, if there’s too much moisture on the building, we will probably delay to the next day, which would be a Saturday night transmission in the U.S. We could even delay another day if we needed to.

“Obviously Alex has to be 100 percent comfortable and happy in himself and in the conditions. And then our safety team likewise have to.”

Honnold’s upcoming climb — and Netflix’s decision to live stream it — hasn’t been without its criticism from fans, who have been voicing their concerns over the climber’s safety.

One person wrote on Instagram: “Shame on Netflix”, as another said: “Feels totally irresponsible all round.”

The climber, best known for his free solo ascents, has been criticized for undertaking such an unprecedented challenge, especially considering he has two young daughters with his wife Sanni McCandless.

In an interview with the NYT about his decision to climb Taipei 101 without any ropes, Honnold was quizzed on how he thought his family would cope if his climb had fatal consequences.

“I mean, baby Alice wouldn’t remember. Baby June probably wouldn’t remember,” Honnold said. “She’ll be four in another month. It’d be felt, and obviously it’d be super hard for Sanni, but they’d be well provided for. I don’t feel like I’d be leaving them in the lurch. They wouldn’t even necessarily be traumatized their whole lives.”

“If something happens, I would die, though actually, on this particular building, that’s not even totally true because there are balconies every few floors,” Honnold told CNN of the 101-storied building.

“The geometry of the building, the shape of the building is such that you actually could fall in tons of places and not actually die, which makes it in some ways safer than a lot of rock-climbing objectives.”

Professional rock climber will scale one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers live on Netflix

Honnold has 30 years of experience climbing rocks. His experience climbing buildings, however, is much more limited.

Still, he told Tudum that at the end of the day, “climbing is climbing. You’re doing your best to stay focused and not fall off.”

“The movement is a little different in that buildings are much more repetitive. It’s just the same movement patterns over and over. So that also means that, in general, buildings are a little bit less tricky,” he added.

“On a building, you know how to climb it, but it’s physically more taxing because you’re doing the same thing over and over, so your muscles get tired.”

While Honnold’s Skyscraper Live event is scheduled to stream on Netflix tonight beginning at 8pm E.T., Taipei is 13 hours ahead, meaning his ascent will begin at 9am local time.

With just around three hours to go until Honnold is expected to attempt his climb, the skies in Taipei appear to be clear at the moment.

In current live cam footage overlooking the city’s skyline, Taipei 101 isn’t overtaken by fog like it had been last night.

According to the weather forecast service AccuWeather, no rain is expected to fall in Taipei until Tuesday.