‘Spiderman’ gets go-ahead for Moscow ascent

4 Sep, 2007 08:46 / Updated 17 years ago

The urban climber Alain Robert has finally been given approval by Moscow authorities to tackle one of the city's skyscrapers. The public spectacle was due to have taken place Sunday but was halted at the last minute.

The climb is now scheduled for 1800 Moscow time. The Frenchman known as Spiderman will attempt to scale the 250 meter West Tower of Moscow's City Business Complex without safety ropes. He's often attempted his feats without approval from the authorities and has been arrested about 100 times. On Tuesday all the official paperwork is said to be in place, but that won't make the task any easier. The building is one of Europe's tallest with a glass facade. Alain Robert has wowed crowds by climbing more than 70 giant structures around the world using no safety ropes.