Just before sunset, a French skyscraper climber who calls himself "Spiderman" started to pull his way up the side of the world's tallest tower in Dubai.

Before he began to scale the 2,717ft (828m) Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, Alain Robert said he expected it to take about six or seven hours. As night fell, a row of powerful spotlights shone on the side of the tower, so spectators could see Robert in action.

After just over six hours Robert was waving down from more than half a mile in the air having even navigated the tapered spire that extends beyond the top floors of the structure. "Spiderman" had done it again.

Unlike on many previous climbs, the 48-year-old daredevil used a rope and harness to comply with organisers' requirements. An ambulance – with a stretcher at the ready – was parked alongside other emergency vehicles at the bottom of the tapering metal and glass tower. It proved an unnecessary precaution.

Robert has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building, Chicago's Willis Tower and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. In 2004 he conquered Taiwan's Taipei 101, which, before the Burj opened in January last year, was the world's tallest building.

The tower, owned by Emaar Properties, has 160 habitable storeys. An observation deck is located on the 124th floor.

Strapped to a safety harness tethered more than 100 storeys up, Robert began his climb up the glass-covered Burj around 6pm on Monday. He hoisted himself up along a central column, mostly free of decorative rows of pipes that could slow his ascent.

Robert moved methodically and swiftly along the polished metal facade. He did not appear to use the rope to pull himself up, but instead gripped the glass and narrow metal ridges like a rock climber with his feet and bare hands.

Hundreds of spectators, their necks craned, crowded plazas outside shopping centres and restaurants at the tower's base.

Robert stayed in a Dubai hotel before the climb, doing press-ups, pull-ups and stretches, and loading up on carbohydrates, in a room overlooking the target of his latest adventure.