Spidermans Petronas Climb Foiled. Again.

French free-climber, Alain Robert, was again prevented from finishing a climb of the Petronoas Towers in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on the 20th of March.

Nicknamed "spiderman" due to his amazing abilities to climb without any aid whatsoever apart from some chalk powder to prevent sweaty hands, he was pulled in by the authorities having reached the 60th floor of one of the towers and flying the Malaysian flag to the approval of cheering crowds below. This was the same spot he was foiled in his previous attempt that took place on the day the complex opened in 1997.

Robert got the climbing bug when he was 12 and locked out of his parents apartment. Instead of waiting for the key he climbed to the eighth floor and let himself in that way. There were two bad early falls at 19 and 20 which technically left him handicapped with problems that remain to this day including epilepsy.

It hasn't all been easy going for Robert. He's had to be rescued from the side of the Grande Arche in Paris having suffered from heatstroke and almost failed to make it to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago when a heavy fog and rain set in creating the most hazardous conditions of his career. One Canada Square also defeated him in 2002, again due to rain.

International authorities have largely turned a blind eye to him, releasing him almost immediately after a symbolic arrest whenever he does an unauthorised climb. The only except was scaling One Houston Centre in Houston where he faced a jail sentence for carrying pills for his epilepsy whilst climbing and spent two days locked up awaiting trial. In the end he served a further one day and was fined $2000 for trespassing.

Despite this he has successfully scaled some of the tallest buildings in the world including Taipei 101, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, and One Canada Square in London.

He was paid by the producers of the Spiderman movies to do Lloyds of London for £10,000 and has legally climbed numerous towers in the UAE where the authorities welcome his presence as a way of promoting their growing skyline and prompting speculation of a climb of the Burj Dubai when it is finally completed.