'Spiderman' Alain Robert scales Burj Khalifa in Dubai Published duration 28 March 2011

media caption 'Spiderman' Alain Robert took six hours to scale the building

Alain Robert, the French urban climber dubbed spiderman for his feats, has scaled the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

It took him six hours to ascend the 828-m (2,717-ft) tower in the United Arab Emirates city, including the tapered spire above the top floors.

A large crowd watched from the ground as he moved up the facade, picked out by spotlights after darkness fell.

Unusually, he used a rope and harness, to comply with safety requirements.

"I know that sometimes there may be some specific requirements," he told Reuters news agency before the climb.

"I do understand. You know, this is such an iconic building so I can understand that even though they are taking care so much about my precious life, they are also taking care a lot of that precious Burj Khalifa."

Triumphant wave

Strapped to a safety harness tethered more than 100 floors up, he began his climb up the silvery, glass-covered tower just after 1800 (1400 GMT) on Monday.

Moving methodically and swiftly along the metal facade, he ascended a central column, largely avoiding rows of pipes that could have slowed his climb.

image copyright AP image caption Robert appeared not to use his harness

On reaching the top, he waved triumphantly.

Robert, 48, has scaled more than 70 skyscrapers, including New York's Empire State Building and Chicago's Willis Tower in the US, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, according to his website.

In 2004, he climbed Taiwan's Taipei 101, the world's tallest building at the time.