Wife in 'full support mode' for Alex Honnold's Taipei 101 climb

Taipei, Jan. 25 (CNA) Sanni Honnold, the wife of American climber Alex Honnold, said she was in "full support mode" as her husband completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 on Sunday morning.

The 40-year-old free soloist reached the skyscraper's spire at 10:43 a.m. without ropes after setting out at 9 a.m., with the entire climb broadcast live in the Netflix special "Skyscraper Live."

Speaking in a post-climb interview, Sanni Honnold responded to those who describe her husband as "crazy" or an "adrenaline junkie" by saying that he takes great joy in his climbs.

"It's almost like a childlike joy," she said. "I think that was a really cool part of today, that we all got to just watch him have a lot of fun."

She added that during the preparation period, she had "locked into full support mode."

"I'm here to problem-solve, support, be optimistic," she said.

Meanwhile, French climber Alain Robert, nicknamed "Spiderman," had predicted on Friday that Honnold would safely reach the top.

Robert, who became the first person to climb Taipei 101 using ropes and a harness in 2004, told French newspaper Le Monde that the skyscraper was not especially difficult to climb, rating it a six or seven on a difficulty scale of one to 10.