Daring climb in Havana

Published: February 05. 2013 4:00AM PST

French daredevil Alain Robert reaches into his chalk bag Monday as he scales the Habana Libre hotel without using ropes or a safety net in Havana, Cuba. Robert, who has scaled some of the world’s tallest buildings, clambered onto the roof of the 27-story hotel just after 1:30 p.m. after a death-defying stunt that followed years of other hair-raising feats. The climber had said his main concern was not the height of the 413-foot-tall hotel, but that a bit of the building’s brittle facade might break off. Like many city landmarks, the hotel is in disrepair after more than half a century of Communist rule on the island. In the end, the 50-year-old Frenchman made short work of the building, climbing confidently and so quickly he could have almost been riding a slow-moving elevator. Robert, known as “Spider-Man," has scaled much taller structures in his career, including the former Sears Tower in Chicago, New York’s Empire State Building and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Two years ago he took six hours to summit what currently is the world’s tallest building, the 2,717 foot-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai, though for that ascent he used some safety equipment.
Ramon Espinosa / The Associated Press

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