Alain Robert: The French Spiderman

About this episode

The episode features Alain Robert, known as the French Spiderman, discussing his legendary career in urban climbing.

Later this month, Alex will set out to climb the Taipei 101 skyscraper, but he certainly won’t be the first. For the last three decades, Alain Robert has been the living legend of the underground scene of climbing buildings. Arrested more than 170 times, his passion for buildings stemmed out of his passion for cutting edge free soloing. His tick list featured routes Alex wouldn’t dare to touch today. Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube Thanks to our sponsors The North Face Check out Summit Series at thenorthface.com LMNT Get your free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase at www.drinklmnt.com/climbinggold. Try the new LMNT Sparkling — a bold, 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water. Kodiak Cakes Find Kodiak products at your local grocery store, they're the ones with the bear on the box or learn more at Kodiakcakes.com Waking Up Try Waking Up for 30 days free by going to wakingup.com/honnold DavidBuy 4 cartons and get the 5th one for free at davidprotein.com/climbinggold

People in this episode

Host: Alex Honnold

Guest: Alain Robert

Topics covered

• climbing
• free soloing
• urban climbing
• extreme sports
• adventure
• sponsorship

Keywords

• Alain Robert
• urban climbing
• Taipei 101
• free soloing
• extreme sports
• climbing legend

Sponsors

The North Face, LMNT, Kodiak Cakes, Waking Up, David

More episodes of Climbing Gold

• Wide Ponies and Offwidths · June 12, 2026 · 53 min
• Will Moss: Happy Little Accident · May 29, 2026 · 56 min
• Jon Krakauer: The Mountain's Shadow · May 15, 2026 · 57 min
• Getting It Right: Charlize Theron and Beth Rodden · May 1, 2026 · 45 min
• Connor Herson: Just Getting Started · April 17, 2026 · 57 min
• Going Pro: Lincoln Knowles and Zander Waller · April 3, 2026 · 59 min