Who is Alain Robert, the famous French climber known as Spider-Man?

Alain Robert was born on August 7, 1962 in Digoin, in the Saône et Loire region of France. As a child, he always wanted to follow in the footsteps of mountaineers whom he admired, such as Bonatti, Rébuffat and Desmaison.

However, his family, which has settled in the Valence Region, does not welcome their son's dangerous enthusiasm at first. Alain Robert joins the scouts in order to become “a mountaineer like their hero” and gradually learns the alphabet of climbing, the movements, the moves, the use of ropes. One day, when he was twelve, he forgot the keys in the house and entered through the window of the flat on the eighth floor of the building. His family gives up on his determination.

Alain Robert, hone your skill by working on the cliffs around Valence. What motivates him: “risk that can be calculated, fear that can be controlled and fears that can be mastered”. After this stage, Alain Robert now begins to climb solo, without any room for error, without a rope and without security. At first, he climbs tied to the rope, taking safety to work the grips and movements; After a few tries, he starts free solo climbing. From now on, the smallest mistake he will make will mean death for him.

But Alain Robert has unwittingly made this mistake several times. In 1982, he had two accidents: the most serious, when an incorrectly tied knot was untied while landing the rope, resulting in a head fall from a height of fifteen metres. Balance sheet: Five days of coma and multiple fractures of the skull, nose, wrists, elbows, hips and heels. The doctors' assessment was disheartening: "This young man will not be able to climb again." He still bears the scars of this accident: a chronic dizziness caused by a problem in the inner ear. Today, the social security institution considers itself disabled at the rate of 66%.

A year after the accident, Alain Robert starts climbing again with the strength of his unique will and reaches the highest level in his field. In 1991, he received the Sporting Achievement Award from the hand of French mountaineer Patrick Edlinger at the Janssens Festival. Two years later, he receives an award from the International Olympic Committee for his athlete's performance from the hand of Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee. In the same year, he broke the world difficulty record for solo climbing in the Verdon Gorge.

A sponsor company named Sector, which bases its communication theme on extreme climbing, asks him to climb a skyscraper and offers to shoot a documentary of this event. In 1994, he climbs the first tower in Chicago. This period is the beginning years in the field of urban climbing. Alain Robert realizes that he enjoys performing impossible climbs and that this may finally be a way for him to live out his passion to the fullest. He climbs tower after tower in the four corners of the world, and at the same time has the opportunity to visit countless prisons around the world, as it is difficult to get permission for this work. We can easily say that it has a separate world record in this field. On this subject, Alain expresses at every opportunity that he “prefers the days he spent in prison over those in the hospital”. We can say that meeting different people, whether they are convicts or the poor of slums, constitutes a part of their motivation.

The fact that some of the activities of the mountaineer, who is known for his unauthorized, illegal climbs, are for charity purposes, is not widely known to the public. In 1997, his unauthorized ascent to the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (the world's tallest twin skyscraper between 1998 and 2004) - the tallest tower in the world - had such a media effect that the Sabah Foundation in the Borneo Islands prompted him to climb its own skyscrapers. whether...or. With the permission of the local authorities, his work takes on an incredible dimension: fifteen thousand people come to watch the show. Thanks to this meeting, he manages to collect 150,000 Euros for charity.

At the request of the humanitarian aid organization ADT Quart Monde in Paris, Alain Robert ropes off the front of the Champs-Elysees; The façade of the building has been imaginatively redecorated: it has opened the windows of the building one by one to simulate the demand that the derelict, empty buildings in the capital be opened to the homeless living on the streets. Under the building, Ms. Chirac and Ms. De Gaulle and many important figures watched this show with amazement.

Alain Robert has climbed more than a hundred skyscrapers and important monuments around the world. One of his greatest achievements has been his ascent to the National Bank in Abu Dhabi in front of 100,000 spectators. His stunning ascents include the Empire State Building (381 m) in 1994, the Eiffel Tower (300.65 m) excluding its antenna in 1996, the Petronas Twin Towers (452 ​​m) in Kuala Lumpur in 1997, Chicago's 1999 and Willis Tower (443 m) and the Tour Jin Mao (420 m) climbs in Shanghai in 2007.

For Alain, the city gradually turned into a mass of mountains; but with one difference, there will always be the construction of new and higher towers in this geography.

He reached the pinnacle of his career by climbing the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa. Alain Robert wanted to climb it, as was the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa, which was completed on January 4, 2010. It took 6 hours 13 minutes 55 seconds to climb without help on March 29, 2011. He accomplished the world's tallest building climb.

On May 17, 2011, he climbed to Istanbul Sapphire, the tallest building in Turkey and Europe, in 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Although Alain Robert suffered a 60% stroke due to a 15-meter fall while rock climbing in 1982, and struggles with diseases such as vertigo and epilepsy, he still does not intend to retire. Known for breaking the rules, Alain Robert has been detained many times before and despite receiving high fines, his passion remains as fresh as on the first day:

Alain Robert is married and has 3 children.

Alain Robert, who takes an average of 2-4 hours to reach the summit, prepares for his climbs on the climbing wall he had built on the ceiling of his house. He carries with him magnesium powder, a small bag, and a pair of rock climbing shoes. He also wears t-shirts with elements that draw attention to global warming during the climbs. Most of the time, the police and security guards are after him, so he can't keep the climbing preparation process long!

October 2022

French free climber Alain Robert, nicknamed "Spider-Man", climbed the 144-meter skyscraper in Barcelona. His son, who accompanied the famous athlete for the first time, said that he had never been so afraid in his life.

The 60-year-old athlete, who climbed the 144-meter Glories Tower in Barcelona, ​​was not alone this time.

Alain Robert, who made the climb with his son Julien, broke new ground.

His son Julien, a former soldier and paratrooper, was very stressed before the ascent.