Alex Honnold’s Taipei 101 “Skyscraper Live” faces a familiar problem: weather, timing confusion, and a lot riding on one window

If you’re trying to plan your weekend around Alex Honnold climbing Taipei 101, the hardest part isn’t the route—it’s the clock. “Skyscraper Live,” the scheduled live skyscraper ascent, has already been pushed back after rain and low cloud cover in Taipei, and the updated start time lands awkwardly across time zones. The payoff is obvious: a rare live, high-consequence climb on an iconic building. The risk is just as clear: a single weather shift can stop the whole show.

Why the delay matters more than the hype

Taipei 101 isn’t a cliff you can “work around” when conditions turn. A wet façade, gusts around corners, and changing grip on architectural seams aren’t minor annoyances—they’re the difference between a controllable movement and a slip. That’s why the postponement wasn’t surprising; it was almost inevitable in a city where winter days can swing from drizzle to clearing skies.

Here’s the part that matters: the reschedule compresses the decision-making into a smaller, more unpredictable window. Viewers see “delayed 24 hours.” Climbers see “we get one cleaner morning—or we don’t.”

A subtle but real tension sits under the spectacle: because it’s live, there’s far less room to hide uncertainty with editing. That transparency is exciting, and it’s also why weather will remain the true co-star until the first committed moves happen.

The updated start time, converted

The live stream is now aligned to Saturday night in the U.S., which is Sunday morning in Taipei—and very early Sunday in Cairo.

“Skyscraper Live” start time (scheduled):

• Taipei: Sunday morning (around 9:00 AM local)

• U.S. Eastern: Saturday, 8:00 PM

• U.S. Pacific: Saturday, 5:00 PM

• Cairo: Sunday, 3:00 AM

Taipei weather snapshot (near the new window):

• Conditions are expected to improve on Sunday, January 25, with clouds giving way to sun and warmer temperatures—better than the rain that forced the delay.

What “Skyscraper Live” is asking Honnold to do

This isn’t a natural rock line like El Capitan; it’s a man-made surface with repeating geometry, abrupt transitions, and sections that can feel steeper than they look from the ground. The route includes overhanging, mentally taxing segments that demand sustained precision rather than short bursts of difficulty.

It’s easy to overlook, but the biggest mental load here isn’t height—it’s unfamiliarity. On a famous rock face, climbers obsess over texture, micro-edges, and exact sequences. On a skyscraper, the “holds” are architectural features, and confidence depends on how consistently they behave over hundreds of meters.

A quick weekend planner for fight fans, too

You also searched “UFC tomorrow,” and there’s a timing twist if you’re watching from Cairo: a major card is scheduled for Saturday, January 24 in the U.S., which becomes early Sunday, January 25 for Cairo.

UFC main card start (listed):

• U.S. Eastern: Saturday, 5:00 PM

• Cairo: Sunday, 12:00 AM

• Taipei: Sunday, 6:00 AM

That means Cairo viewers looking to watch both are staring at a long overnight stretch: fights around midnight, then the climb around 3 AM.

Mini timeline of how this weekend got tricky

• Friday, January 23: Original live window was set, then weather concerns grew.

• Saturday, January 24: Event delayed after rain persisted near the start window.

• Sunday morning, January 25 (Taipei): New target window, aiming for drier conditions.

• Forward-looking reality: if rain returns or visibility drops, the decision to pause could happen quickly—even minutes before the climb begins.

The real test will be whether the weather stabilizes enough for a clean opening phase. If the first segment looks controlled and consistent, confidence in the rest of the attempt rises fast; if it looks slick or gusty, caution will dominate the pacing.

If you want, tell me your city (or just your time zone), and I’ll map the exact watch window for both the Taipei 101 climb and the UFC card in one clean schedule.