Alain Robert: The “French Spiderman”

The Art of Excellence

Alain Robert is the world’s leading free climber and is known all over the world as the “French Spiderman” for free climbing skyscrapers. He has climbed 163 buildings in 70 different countries. He has a documentary on Amazon Prime titled My Next Challenge and is the author of a book With Bare Hands: The True Story of Alain Robert, the Real-Life Spiderman.

Some interesting insights from this episode:

• His insecurity as a child was the early motivation to try something to build confidence and to stand out.
• He didn’t start climbing because he wasn’t afraid of heights. He climbed in spite of his fear of heights.
• Alain used to do free solo rock climbing and was considered by many to be the best in the world.
• As climbing gained in popularity, he lost interest. “Climbing wasn’t about racing or competing but about freedom and self-expression.”
• Most people aren’t really enjoying their lives. They do what they need to do to make a living but are bored with their work and just live for the weekends. They are wasting most of their lives away.
• “It takes a certain amount of energy to climb a building. If you have the energy, you’ll make it to the top. If you don’t, you’ll die.”
• “What scares me the most is a boring life.”
• “Most people are dreaming their life but I was on the other side living my dream.”