The Human Spider...

In the spirit of Halloween, I bring you the 'Human Spider', otherwise known as Alain Robert, who lives about 20 minutes from me in the town of Pézenas.

I'm sure some of you have heard of this guy, he's been going for awhile and has made news all over the world with his 'free-climbing' stunts. He's climbed, among others, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, and the 4th tallest building in the world, the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai. Did I mention he's done this without climbing gear or safety nets? There's a word for this kind of behavior....

There was an article about him yesterday in the Midi Libre. He's 46, married father of 3, epileptic and suffers from permanent vertigo. He's climbed more than 80 buildings and had 7 falls, 2 of which were rather serious. Can you imagine how his wife feels when he kisses her goodbye to go to work?

Apparently his skill came in quite handy the day he locked his keys in his house. He scaled the facade and entered in through the window. Not something you see everyday walking through the 14th Century center of Pézenas.

Anyway, he's off to LA this weekend to promote a new film made about him, 'La Légende de l'Homme-Araignée', which is debuting at the Jules Verne Film Festival.

Here's a video of him climbing a 185-metre skyscraper in Abu Dhabi. Even the vertigo in the Duke forced him to look away.