Agence France Presse

Hong Kong, June 11:

Spiderman sits in a Hong Kong coffee bar and talks excitedly of his latest daredevil climb up another of the world’s tallest skyscrapers using only his hands and feet — no ropes, lines or harnesses. “There is a feeling when you are that far up and you have your life in your fingertips, literally,” enthuses stunt-man Alain Robert, known throughout the world as the French Spiderman, throwing back his wild mane of hair. “At that moment I am just a slip or a footfall away from death. There is no way to explain that feeling unless you are in that situation,” he says. Under a baking hot sun today, Robert added Hong Kong’s gleaming glass and steel Cheung Kong Centre to his list of conquests that includes New Yorks Empire State Building, Kuala Lumpurs Petronas Towers and Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building at 508 m. As with most of his unauthorised climbs he was greeted at the summit by police officers, but escaped with a talking to rather than a few days in jail as has happened in some countries.

After climbing Tokyo’s Shinjuku Metro Centre he was locked up for seven days. “I slipped once or twice because there were wet patches I hadn’t expected,” a breathless, bare-chested Robert told reporters after today’s stunt, which took about 45 minutes. Robert had kept the name of the target building a closely guarded secret for fear the police or security may be tipped off and prevent his ascent. Robert, now 42, began climbing at the age of 12 and within a couple of years was climbing solo in the ravines, cliffs and mountains of France. He turned his passion to buildings in 1994 when he was asked to climb for a TV show.