Robert Alain Philippe said Alain Robert, nicknamed "Le Spiderman français" ("The French Spider-Man"), born August 7, 1962 in Digoin (Saône-et-Loire), is a high-level French climber, specializing in climbing. rock climbing in full solo (without rope) then in the climbing of buildings in full solo. Born August 7, 1962 in Digoin in Saône-et-Loire, Alain Robert spent his childhood in Valence in Drôme. As a teenager, he admired the exploits of the great contemporary mountaineers (Bonatti, Messner...) and practiced climbing on the cliffs of Vercors and Ardèche. From that time on, he integrated full soloing into his climbing practice, identical to the progressions undertaken in mountaineering.
Over the years, he progressed in sport climbing and in full solo, and reached level 8 in the years 1990-1992. His performances are highly publicized and admired in the climbing world; he set many difficulty records in full solo. He realizes in particular in integral solo; La Nuit du Lézard (8a+) at Buoux in 1991 with several random movements, then considered by Alexander Huber as one of the most difficult solos in the world, and the 8b sequence at Cornas de l'Abominafreux (8a), the Abomifreux (7c) and the Abominable Finger Man (7b+)2. He was also very noticed in 1996 for the integral solo of Pol Pot (7c/8a) in the Verdon, a "morpho" route with small grips and grips, 250 meters above the ground, considered "one of the most audacious in history".
In 1982, he suffered two accidents. The most serious, a fall of fifteen meters head first, during an abseiling, because of a poorly made knot, earned him six days of coma and multiple fractures to the skull, nose, wrists, elbow, pelvis and heels. A year later, however, he is climbing again. He nevertheless keeps many after-effects of this accident.
From 1994, Alain Robert devoted himself to climbing buildings in full solo, that is to say the ascent of skyscrapers without no rope. His ascents are highly publicized and he becomes known to the general public. At a height of 180 meters, the Citigroup Center in Chicago will be the first of a long series of more than 170 buildings that Alain Robert will climb.
