French skyscraper climber Alain Robert, known as “Spiderman”, is set to scale Europe’s tallest building, Istanbul Sapphire.
Robert will make his attempt during a ceremony to inaugurate the 261-meter tall building on Tuesday.
The $250-million Istanbul Sapphire was built by a Turkish construction firm Kiler Gayrimenkul.
Prior to his attempt, Robert appeared on Monday at a press event where he performed a climbing test. Robert, who usually climbs skyscrapers illegally, said this time he was invited to scale the recently completed building.
Robert’s latest challenge was to climb the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It took him six hours to ascend the 828-meter tower in the United Arab Emirates city last March. Robert told reporters that it would not be an easy climb because of slippery surface of the building. He said he would start climbing at noon which he said would make his attempt more challenging as warm surface makes human body extra slippery.
Many of his illegal climbs took the French urban climber to courtrooms in several countries. However, Robert said, his lawyers saved him from ordeal. Most recently, he was sued because of a climb in Australia but the case has been dismissed as he was not allowed to enter Australia.
Robert said his philosophy was to promote freedom. “We were free in the past and now we are losing this freedom. This is what I want to tell people by the help of my climbs,” he said. Robert also praised Turkey for inviting him. “The thing is, we are being watched by cameras in our lives. It was not a real problem when I was climbing skyscrapers 20 years ago, but now I am having more difficulties as freedoms are restricted. That’s why, in inverted commas, inviting a criminal proves how open-minded Turkey is,” he said.
In 1975, when he was 12, he climbed eight floors, got home by the window as he had forgotten his keys. Robert, 48, has scaled more than 70 skyscrapers, including New York’s Empire State Building and Chicago’s Willis Tower in the United States, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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