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‘French Spiderman’ Climbs Paris Skyscraper to Mark Turning 60

"French Spiderman", climber Alain Robert, climbs the TotalEnergies skyscraper in La Defense near Paris, France September 17, 2022. (Reuters)
"French Spiderman", climber Alain Robert, climbs the TotalEnergies skyscraper in La Defense near Paris, France September 17, 2022. (Reuters)
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‘French Spiderman’ Climbs Paris Skyscraper to Mark Turning 60

"French Spiderman", climber Alain Robert, climbs the TotalEnergies skyscraper in La Defense near Paris, France September 17, 2022. (Reuters)
"French Spiderman", climber Alain Robert, climbs the TotalEnergies skyscraper in La Defense near Paris, France September 17, 2022. (Reuters)

Alain Robert, the free climber dubbed the "French Spiderman", scaled a 48-storey skyscraper in Paris on Saturday, fulfilling a goal he had set for himself once he reached the age of 60.

Dressed in red, Robert raised his arms aloft as he reached the top of the 187-meter (613-foot) Tour TotalEnergies building, which towers over the French capital's La Defense business district.

"I want to send people the message that being 60 is nothing. You can still do sport, be active, do fabulous things," said Robert, whose 60th birthday was last month.

"I promised myself several years ago that when I reached 60, I would climb that tower again because 60 symbolizes retirement age in France and I thought that was a nice touch," he told Reuters.

Robert, who also wanted to use the climb to raise awareness about the need for climate change action, had already climbed the TotalEnergies tower on numerous occasions.

He began climbing in 1975, training on the cliffs near his hometown of Valence in southern France. He took up solo climbing in 1977 and rapidly became a top climber.

Since then, he has climbed more than 150 towering structures around the world including Dubai's Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building, the Eiffel Tower, and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Often climbing without permission, he has been arrested repeatedly. He climbs without a harness, using only his bare hands, a pair of climbing shoes, and a bag of powdered chalk to wipe off the sweat.

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Kashmir’s Saffron Growers Experiment with Indoor Farming as Climate Pressures Mount

Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
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Kashmir’s Saffron Growers Experiment with Indoor Farming as Climate Pressures Mount

Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)

Tucked in a valley beneath the snow-capped Himalayas of the Indian Kashmir region is the town of Pampore, famed for its farms that grow the world's most expensive spice - the red-hued saffron.

This is where most of saffron is farmed in India, the world's second-largest producer behind Iran of the spice, which costs up to 325,000 rupees ($3,800) a kg (2.2 pounds) because it is so labor-intensive to harvest.

Come October, the crocus plants begin to bloom, covering the fields with bright purple flowers from which strands of fragrant red saffron are picked by hand, to be used in foods such as paella, and in fragrances and cloth dyes.

"I am proud to cultivate this crop," said Nisar Ahmad Malik, as he gathered flowers from his ancestral field.

But, while Malik has stuck to traditional farming, citing the "rich color, fragrance and aroma" of his produce through the years, some agrarian experts have been experimenting with indoor cultivation of the crop as global warming fears increase.

About 90% of India's saffron is produced in Kashmir, of which a majority is grown in Pampore, but the small town is under threat of rapid urbanization, according to the Indian Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).

Experts say rising temperatures and erratic rainfall pose a risk to saffron production, which has dropped from 8 metric tons in the financial year 2010-11 to 2.6 metric tons in 2023-24, the federal government told parliament in February, adding that efforts were being made to boost production.

One such program is a project to help grow the plant indoors in a controlled environment in tubes containing moisture and vital nutrients, which Dr. Bashir Ilahi at state-run Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences said has shown good results.

"Growing saffron in a controlled environment demonstrates temperature resistance and significantly reduces the risk of crop failure," said Ilahi, standing in his laboratory between stacks of crates containing tubes of the purple flower.

Ilahi and other local experts have been helping farmers with demonstrations on how to grow the crocus plant indoors.

"It is an amazing innovation," said Abdul Majeed, president of Kashmir's Saffron Growers Association, some of whose members, including Majeed, have been cultivating the crop indoors for a few years.

Manzoor Ahmad Mir, a saffron grower, urged more state support.

"The government should promote indoor saffron cultivation on a much larger scale as climate change is affecting the entire world, and Kashmir is no exception," Mir said.