If you have ever felt the desire to act out the fantasy life of your favourite superhero, chances are you have not taken it to such extreme lengths as Frenchman Alain Robert. For him, Spiderman is no longer a fictional character and he has literally brought the comic superhero to life. Alain Robert is an "urban free solo" climber with a penchant for Spiderman costumes. Amazingly, the forty-seven-year-old has scaled more than eighty of the world's tallest buildings, often using just his hands and feet just like Spiderman. Alain gained his Spiderman moniker after climbing the eighty-eight storey Jin Mau Tower in Shanghai, China, whilst wearing a Spiderman costume. The only accessory Alain carries with him is a small bag of chalk powder which he ties around his waist and which he can rub on his hands to absorb sweat and enable him to maintain a good grip.
Many of Alain's climbs are illegal and he has been arrested over one hundred times, including halfway up Sydney's Centrepoint Tower and after scaling Canary Wharf in London. Other climbs have included the Eiffel Tower ("one of the easiest", he says), the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Investment Authority Building in Abu Dhabi. In April 2009, he scaled the Lloyds building in the city of London in his Spiderman costume, to promote an environmental campaign and highlight global warming. However, not all of Alain's climbs are illegal or are performed to highlight a serious point. In 2004, he was hired to promote the forthcoming release of the movie Spiderman on DVD. Dressed in his Spiderman costume, he climbed the forty-eight storey Total Tower in the Paris suburb of La Defense.
His most recent venture - and most remarkable feat to date - has been to scale the 1,482 feet Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the third tallest building in the world. Apparently, he reached the top so quickly that no security personnel noticed him or detained. However, he was reported to have been arrested for trespassing on completing the feat. This time, he was not wearing his Spiderman costume, although this does not appear to have hindered his ascent.
Alain's Spiderman costume unfortunately does not protect him from injury. He has suffered seven serious falls, with the worst one occurring in 1982. He fell fifty feet after his anchor and rope gave way during training and had three operations. Chillingly, he says that he is a gambler by nature, which means that he likes to gamble with his life - he likes the "buzz" - and that one day he will lose the gamble. Let's hope that he keeps on being a winner!
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