‘Spiderman’ scales Dubai’s Burj Khalifa tower

A controversial freeclimber has completed his record-breaking attempt to climb the tallest building in the world.

French daredevil Alain Robert climbed into the record books last night (March 28th) after reaching the top of the Burj Khalifa tower.

Mr Robert, who has earned the nickname Spiderman, took six hours to ascend the 828-metre high Dubai skyscraper, which is the tallest building in the world.

A large crowd of visitors gathered to cheer him on and as night fell he had to be lit up by spotlights so he could continue his ascent.

His gruelling climb began two hours later than planned at 18:00 local time, meaning he didn’t reach the top until around midnight.

The notorious freeclimber often eschews ropes and harnesses in his death-defying climbs, but on this occasion he was forced by Dubai authorities to take safety measures.

“This is such an iconic building so I can understand that even though they are taking care so much about my precious life, they are also taking care a lot of that precious Burj Khalifa,” he said.

The 160-storey building was opened to the public last year and visitors on flights to Dubai can visit the observation deck on the 124th floor for unrivalled views across the United Arab Emirates.

Written by Nicholas Scott