60-Year-Old ‘French Spider-Man’ Climbs Paris Skyscraper Using Bare Hands
Age is just a number — at least according to the "French Spider-Man."
French free climber Alain Robert recently turned heads upward in Paris when he scaled a 48-story skyscraper to celebrate his 60th birthday.
Dressed in red, Robert used his bare hands to scale the Tour TotalEnergies building, which towers over the city's popular La Défense business district.
"I want to send people the message that being 60 is nothing. You can still do sport, be active, do fabulous things," Robert shared, per Reuters. "I promised myself several years ago that when I reached 60, I would climb that tower again because 60 symbolizes retirement age in France, and I thought that was a nice touch."
Watch his truly epic stunt below:
Robert's mission wasn't just to celebrate his birthday and shrug off France's retirement age. He also aimed to raise awareness for climate change, meaning his choice to climb energy and petroleum company TotalEnergies' building, which he's climbed before, was symbolic.
The thrill-seeker's extraordinary hobby started at the age of 13, when he began training on the cliffs near his hometown of Valence, France. He began solo climbing in 1977, and rapidly became a notable top climber.
Over the years, Robert has been spotted conquering new heights worldwide, climbing famous destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building,
With more than 150 towering structures under his belt, Roberts fearlessly climbs without safety harnesses and uses only his bare hands, climbing shoes and a bag of chalk powder to wick away his sweat.
If that doesn't sound risky enough, Robert has also been arrested for climbing without permission a number of times. But who's counting?
See more footage from his latest stunt below: