French 'Spiderman' scales skyscraper

A French climber has scaled one of Dubai's tallest skyscrapers, relying on just chalk and sticky tape on his fingertips to help him up the 75-storey high Cayan Tower in the emirate's glitzy marina area.

Alain Robert, 52, completed climbing the 1,007-foot (307 metre) high structure in just 70 minutes on Sunday. He had no harness and got little space for his feet on the ledges of the tower, which twists as it ascends, reports AP.

Robert, who is often described as "The French Spiderman," is no stranger to scaling tall buildings.

In 2011, he climbed the world's tallest tower in Dubai. Using a rope and harness to comply with organisers' requirements, it took him just over six hours to scale the 2,717-foot (828 metre) tall Burj Khalifa.

But this time he scaled Cayan Tower, the tallest twisted tower in the world, without the protection of a safety harness, reports Abu Dhabi-based daily The National.

Starting his ascent at 8.25pm, he made steady progress to the top of the building at about 9.30pm.

Speaking to The National just a couple of hours before his ascent, he admitted he was nervous.

“Usually I do the climbs during the day so this has been a lot of waiting around and I'm eager to get started,” he said.

“This is going to be a tiring climb and the foot spaces are quite small, so I'll have to be careful about my route.”

“The Burj Khalifa climb was a little different because I had a safety harness but this time it will just be me on my own ... Apart from a bit of tape on my hands I won't have any other equipment to get to the top.”

“The great thing about this climb is that it's the world's tallest twisted tower and the nature of the building means it has its challenges.

“I'm not as young as I used to be so this climb will be more difficult than some of the others, but I'm looking forward to it.”

He took regular short breaks as he made his way up.

As the evening progressed, crowds gathered at the base of the tower, and many of those living and working in the tower took the opportunity to peer out from their balconies.

Preparations for the climb took more than a year.

The Frenchman has become famous for scaling some of the world's most iconic buildings without a safety harness, including the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Sydney Opera House and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

“I think he's mad,” said Rachel Moore, who watched the climb near to Grosvenor House.

“I can't imagine how it would be possible to climb such a tall building unaided, but he's making good progress. It's amazing to see someone do something like this.”