What happens if he falls?

Later today (well, tomorrow in Taiwan), “Free Solo” climber Alex Honnold will begin his ascent of the 1,677-meter Taipei 101 skyscraper – without ropes – by carefully climbing the base of the tower. But that’s the easy part. From there it moves to the center section of the building, designed as eight-storey ‘bamboo boxes’, which requires a steep climb over these overhangs.

On the corner of those boxes are dragon figures, which Honnold will mount to go to the next level. It’s the most visually dramatic way to take off, but he’ll be completely visible, with the trap just below him. Then there’s the upper part of Taipei 101, which has overhangs where Honnold’s legs dangle, and he has to use his upper body strength to scale.

“There is a solid steel ring section, which we call the crown of Taipei 101, where he says he could get stuck,” says James Smith, head of adventure at Plimsoll Prods. Ltd. “You kind of put your knee in a hole, and then you can sit back and just rest and stretch your arms and that gets the blood going.”

Still nervous? If not, just wait until Honnold gets to the small 4-foot platform at the top of Taipei 101. “As a climber you want to get to the top properly,” says Smith. “You want to be the highest person for miles around.”

Yes. So much can go wrong — or hopefully go wrong — and of course Netflix and Plimsoll executives are counting on the latter, as “Skyscraper Live” kicks off at 8pm ET on Friday night (that’s 9am Saturday in Taipei). “There’s a huge focus on how to ensure this is entertaining, but the other element is obviously safety,” says Plimsoll Prods. CEO Grant Mansfield. “I have chaired as many safety meetings as I have chaired creative meetings.”

The January date for the climb was chosen because it is currently the dry season in Taiwan – although rain is still possible, and the forecast currently indicates a 30% chance of moisture on the morning Honnold begins his climb.

“Our main contingency planning is that we might be able to delay the broadcast for an hour or maybe a little bit longer,” Smith said. “If there has been a light rain and the building is drying, the temperature here is quite good, there is often a light breeze, so the building will dry relatively quickly. If it is deemed too wet, if there is too much moisture on the building, we will probably postpone until the next day, which would be a Saturday evening broadcast in the US. We could even postpone another day if necessary. Obviously, Alex needs to feel 100% comfortable and happy in himself and in the conditions. And then our safety team also did the same.”

Jeff Gaspin, vice president of the Netflix series, likens the live broadcast to “launching a space shuttle. We’ll be on site for a few days if for some reason he doesn’t go that day,” he says. “But after that it’s probably a bigger move. There are only certain times of the year that you can actually climb the tower because it’s rainy season between April and September.”

Viewers of the 2019 Oscar-winning Nat Geo documentary “Free Solo” saw Honnold initially abandon his historic ascent of El Capitan when he didn’t feel ready; Likewise, Smith, Mansfield and Gaspin’s teams have reiterated to the athlete that there is no shame in delaying if he is unable to do so.

“There is a two-tick system,” says Mansfield. “First and foremost, he has to feel good about it. And we’ve said to him repeatedly, if you don’t feel it, despite the fact that it’s a live broadcast and there’s a lot of TV people hanging around, there’s no pressure on you to do this climb. And the second check mark is, if we get into a situation where he says, ‘Yes, I’m going to go for it,’ but there are things that are bothering us, then we have the right to say ‘no.’ He won’t be in that building unless we all feel comfortable. But there’s been a tremendous amount of planning for this. He said he’s the strongest he’s ever been. He really trained for this. We feel good about it at this stage.”

Joe DeMaio is the director behind “Skyscraper Live,” while Al Berman is showrunner and executive producer. Mansfield also credits risk management firm Secret Compass for its role in Plimsoll’s plan in mitigating any issues. “They are recognized experts in this field,” he says.

“Every scenario has been mapped out, as you would expect,” Mansfield adds. “The main focus has been on keeping Alex safe. This is a building he knows very well. It’s a building that’s very suitable for climbing. If at any point he decides he’s too tired when he’s on the building, we can get him out of there too. But Alex really knows what he’s doing. He’s an extraordinary kind of athlete.”

If the unthinkable happens, Netflix has taken the worst-case scenario into account. “It’s clearly a conversation that everyone is having,” Gaspin says. “You can imagine what we’ll do. It’s nothing momentous. We’ll cut away. We’ll have a 10-second delay. No one expects or wants anything like that to happen. But we’ll cut away, and it’s that simple.”

Of course no one expects that. Given the complexity of some of his previous free solo climbs, observers say they think the Taipei 101 will be a piece of cake for Honnold.

“I think the most important thing is that we trust Alex,” says Mansfield. “As he says in some of his packages, he has no death wish. He is an incredibly talented climber and an elite athlete. It would be an insult to say he takes crazy risks. I don’t think he has ever denied that he feels fear, but he has found a way to process it and control it. The comfort I will find in that control room is knowing that we have planned the show very well. And when he enters that building to climb it, Alex will do.” be completely confident that he can do the climb. And if he is completely confident, we are also completely confident.”

The live event is the culmination of something Honnold has been striving for for years; In fact, he announced a similar climb on Taipei 101 in 2013, broadcast live on television, until Nat Geo, concerned about its safety, pulled the plug.

But in recent years, Plimsoll — part of ITV Studios — has developed a close relationship with Honnold, working with him on series like “The Devil’s Climb” and “Arctic Ascent With Alex Honnold,” for both Disney+ and National Geographic. Plimsoll was also big on the live front, with shows like ‘Earth Live’ and ‘Yellowstone Live’, both for Nat Geo. So when Honnold told Smith he was still eager to make his dream in Taipei 101 come true, the folks at Plimsoll got to work.

“It was exactly the right idea at the right time,” says Mansfield. “The trick is that if you’re not broadcasting live sporting events, you have to create something of significant scale. So a man climbing a very tall building without a rope is a pretty compelling proposition, right? While he’s probably the greatest climber who ever lived and a man we’ve built a very close relationship with over the last four years, all the stars aligned.”

Knowing how fixated Honnold was on Taipei 101, Smith knew it had to be that skyscraper. And the more he examined the tower, the more he knew it was perfect for an event like this. “It almost looks like it was built for free solo climbing,” he says. “It has fantastic architecture. It has a lot of complexity. Some of the skyscrapers are quite uniform and quite boring. But this has twists and little challenges almost at every level. As Alex himself says, it is a world-class climbing target and simply deserves to be climbed.”

However, securing Taipei 101 for the special was not easy. “Taipei 101 was always the number one choice, but I started looking at other buildings around the world just in case this didn’t come through. It took a while before I could get into the room and really convince them that this was a great idea,” says Smith.

Meanwhile, at Netflix, even before Honnold and Plimsoll pitched the idea of ​​“Skyscraper Live,” the streamer was looking to create a live stunt event that would resemble classic TV moments like Evel Knievel’s 1974 attempt to ride his motorcycle through the Snake River Canyon.

“All that stuff sounds gruesome and scary, but they’re experts, and that’s their livelihood,” Gaspin says. “We heard a few different pitches, and then Alex’s came in. I was a fan of the ‘Free Solo’ movie and the idea of ​​him climbing this building was both terrifying and exciting to me. When we had to choose between some of the ideas that had come forward, this one really stood out.”

Of course, it had to be live — a field that Netflix has tried to corner in recent years with the WWE, Christmas Day NFL, boxing events, the Tom Brady Roast and now even the “Star Search” reboot. “If you don’t do it live, it’s really just a segment on the news,” Gaspin says. “You don’t need Netflix for that. Part of the reason you want to go live is because there’s some danger involved. It just makes it a more compelling viewing experience.”

Live TV is such a priority for Netflix that the streamer hired ESPN’s Elle Duncan as its first sports anchor. Her first gig will be hosting “Skyscraper Live,” “trying to entertain people while we watch someone do something that could kill them,” she recently shared. Variety.

It’s also a logistical feat for the producers, who say Taipei 101 lends itself well to the production because the structure’s features – like those dragons – make for good camera angles. For the special’s four main cameramen, it will also be a marathon: As they film Honnold, as soon as he climbs past them, the camera crew will sprint to the elevator and get back above him to resume shooting. “They’re going to rush each other,” Smith said. “That looks good on paper, our next challenge is to see whether it works in practice.” The producers also rely on remote cameras, drones and a helicopter with a stabilized camera for the higher part.

“I love the process of live television,” says Smith. “I love the meticulous planning that all comes down to that one moment. It’s more like putting on a play or a live concert. I love the fact that you have to spend months and months really going into the nitty-gritty and thinking about all these different scenarios. But then when you’re on air, it’s all about being in the moment, being reactive and making decisions very quickly.”

Meanwhile, for Netflix viewers who can’t watch “Skyscraper Live,” the streamer has asked Plimsoll to quickly put together a shorter, condensed version of the broadcast with highlights. And actually, that shorter post-game version of “Skyscraper Live” could come in handy for Gaspin himself, as he admits he’s a bit shocked by the stunt.

“I’m a little afraid of heights, so just hearing the idea scared me,” he says. “I’ll be honest: I’m not sure how much of it I can see. Not that many things make me anxious, but that really makes me anxious!”