Challenging Alain Robert to the Top of the Burj Khalifa

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Of course, there is no way I could, or anyone else for that matter. This Frenchman, also referred to as the French Spiderman, has no challengers in his field. He has climbed the Eiffel Tower, the Petrona Tower and the Empire State Building to name just a few of his over 70 skyscraper climbing achievements. He usually climbs without a harness or ropes, but to satisfy requirements of the United Arab Emirates' sheikdom he made an exception, when in 2011, he climbed the glassed exterior, of the 2,723 foot, Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. The climb took six hours and absolute concentration. He even climbed the very top spire.

Imagine trying to climb even just two stories of glass, only using your hands and feet, but over 200 floors! And I feel nauseous when I look down 50 meters, safely strapped inside a gondola!

This super-tall, building of the century, the Burj Khalifa, over half a mile high, was opened with world-wide fanfare in January 2010, with fireworks, water, laser light and sound displays. Right through the project, the designers and architects have used ancient patterns embodied in Islamic architecture. The three-lobed base footprint is inspired by the Hymenocallis flower.

And now I am going to go to the top! I think of the Great Pyramid of Giza, that held the record of being the tallest man-made building for over four millennia, until surpassed in 1310 by Lincoln Cathedral, England. Since that date, countries have been building taller and taller structures, determined to reach the soaring clouds above first.

I booked my ticket in advance to obtain a solid discount from the Dh 400 entry fee you pay if you just arrive at the building and was charged an even lower price once I showed my international journalist's pass. Wow, it was worth it paying their annual membership fee!

On arrival, I support my head, looking up, up and up, where the elegant spire seems to float in a milky mist. Below, a curving system of fountains loops gracefully in the lake, set in 11 hectares of parkland and the water jets shoot up to 150m (490ft) into the air to the rhythm of the accompanying classical music. At night, over 6,500 lights help create a magical spectacle. Unfortunately, i will miss that. The cost of this water display? Oh, just a mere US$217 million, only a small part of the US$1.5 Billion that this sky- piercing needle has cost. And here we are in Kiwiland and can't afford to finish the northern motorway! Maybe, John Key should become pally with those sheiks?

Only a certain number may go up at the same time. My turn comes at 10.30am. First, I had to leave my backpack in a lock-up office, no food or drink allowed up there either. Are they scared we will feed the angels? We walk along narrow corridors with curving walls and 3D reality videos playing on all the walls, while piped music sets a relaxed atmosphere. Through a metal detector, where I have to hand in my sunglasses and camera for x-raying. Security is certainly tight. I suppose, after 9/11 in the States, there is always a chance of some nut-case taking revenge. Only 12 to 14 people may enter one of the 57 lifts at a time. I assume that it would take some time to reach the observation deck, but I hardly feel the super fast ride. You don't notice the upward movement, but the elevator does sway a bit from side to side and it is a shame that you cannot see out at all. The lifts are quite small, but strobed lighting and music distracts us. Apparently, we are climbing at 18 Mts. per second (59ft.p.sec)! I would hate to be a Fireman and have to climb the 2909 stairs to the top! I wonder if they practice this to keep fit, like they do with Auckland's Sky Tower?

We are told that the UAE has changed its strategy, diversifying from the rapidly depleting oil reserves economy to tourism. As money is still no object, the sky is literally the limit.

Goethe wrote: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has Genius, Power and Magic in it. Begin it NOW!"

The rulers of Dubai certainly did! It must be fantastic to dream up incredible visions and seeing them become reality.

Many challenges had to be overcome, one being the weight of the steel on the thick concrete mat the building sits on. The heat of the Persian Gulf prevented concrete to be poured during the day, so some clever person advised contractors to mix the concrete with ice and only pour at night. Then, instead of using normal steel in the structure, lighter, tubular steel was used to reduce the weight.

We zip upwards past the 144 private Armani Residences and the 160 roomed Armani Hotel. Up we fly past 37 corporate floors, then the 900 super-de-luxe apartments that reach right to the 108th floor and further up, until we reach the 122nd floor that houses the At.mospere Restaurant. The 124th floor has the public observation deck. In- between, there are pressurized, Air-conditioned Refuge floors on every 35th level, to shelter people, in case of emergencies or fire. There are special lobbies and state of the art fitness facilities for the residents, including two swimming pools that allow the residents to swim from the inside to the outside. Higher up there are mechanicals equipment floors and of course, right at the top, communication and broadcast floors.

It only took a couple of minutes before we step onto the inside observation deck…

The temperature here is cooler than at the base of the building. In fact, there is a 6C degree the difference from the bottom to the top! The view is astounding, despite the slight heat mist. You can literally see forever, at least, as far as your eye-sight and the dusty mist will allow. Hacket would have a ball bunny-jumping from this height! I walked onto the exterior observation deck and was disappointed how small it actually was. But at no stage does it get crowded as the number of visitors is restricted, always. The interior deck was wrapped around the inner core and you could walk right around. What stunned me most of all, was not the height, but the fact that immediately outside the city, you saw nothing but sand. Desert everywhere! They have turned this desert in one of the fastest-growing city in the world. Just fifty years ago, Dubai was a small fishing and pearl diving village! From vision to reality!

Down again, with numerous photos on my camera, I feel totally happy. I have reached the peak of the man-made world, and with such ease! I didn't even get dizzy!

Some Interesting Facts

• The BBC conducted a research into the condition of the 7,500 workers which were employed during the tower's construction. The skilled workers were paid almost twice that of the unskilled laborers, mainly South Asians who slogged in exhausting heat, under hazardous conditions, for 12 hours per day, 6 days a week, often for just US$4 per hour and then were housed in filthy labour camps. The average income per month, of people in Dubai was then US$2,106 per capita, against the measly US$175 those unskilled workmen received – and often days or even weeks late! They couldn't just walk off either, as their passports were withheld for the duration! In total, over 12,000 people of many different nations worked on this tower.

• Within 18 months, the first suicide occurred. An Asian man in his thirties, jumped off the 147th floor, to smash onto the deck of the 108th floor. He committed suicide because the company he worked for, wouldn't give him leave!

•  A substantial part of the movie, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol – starring Tom Cruise, was filmed in and around the Burj Khalifa.

• In 2010, two men did a Base Jump from a crane attached to the 160th floor, (672m or 2,205ft) to zoom down at speeds of up to 220 km/hr (140mph)! They opened their parachutes 10 seconds into their 90 seconds jump.

• Over 1000 artworks by national and international artists grace the interior as well as the gardens, representing the collaboration internationally in this project's creation.

• The tallest point of the spire sways 1.5m or 4.9ft. I wonder if Alain Robert felt this when he finally reached the top, or would he have been too tired to notice?

• It takes machines and people, 3 to 4 months to clean the outside windows! The top windows of the spire are hand done by workers precariously dangling from the dizzying heights by ropes!

Margaretha Western-Brounts
At present in Dubai