Zhengzhou, China, Sep 20: French climber Alain Robert arrived in central China's Zhengzhou City on Wednesday to prepare for his upcoming climb up the world's highest steel tower.
Known as France's "Spiderman", Robert is famous for scaling the world's tallest skyscrapers with no safety equipment except for a small bag of chalk and climbing shoes.
He has climbed more than 70 giant structures around the globe, and now he has made his way to China's Henan Province.
This Saturday, Robert will attempt to climb Zhenzhou's Central Plains Fortaleza, which plays the role of the province's radio and television tower as well as the city's most prominent landmark. Known as the world's highest steel-structured tower, the Central Plains Fortaleza has a total height of 388 meters, although Robert will only be climbing to a platform 268 meters high.
Robert began his preparations for the climb with a physical examination on Wednesday. He went through a series of checkups, including those for gripping power and body flexibility, which all indicated that he was in good condition.
"I got in seven accidents, the doctors found out that I was 66 percent disabled, which is a lot. So that's why, you know, I did the kinds of exercises which people may be a little bit surprised, because the results are quite bad, but still I can do many things," said the daredevil climber.
Robert will face a series of challenges while climbing the high tower.
The structure is made out of pure steel, while its entire outer frame is covered with glass.
As there are no obvious safe places onto which a person can safely grab, it is still unknown what method Robert will choose to finish the climb.
"Between the height of 200 meters and 250 meters, there is a section in the shape of downward-pointing triangle, which means Alain will have climb up a slope angled 30 degrees over the ground at that section," said Sun Yipu, an assistant general-manager at the radio and television tower's management company.
Rober's climb on Saturday may last two or three hours. The uncertainly of weather elements will also bring an additional degree of difficulty to the challenge.
