6.30 pm drinks 7.30 pm lecture starts. No pre booking necessary. HK$100 RGS HK Members HK$150 Non Members

Alain Robert is widely known as "the Spiderman ", following his celebrated ascents of numerous skyscrapers. He has scaled 85 giant structures around the globe including many of the world's tallest buildings, most of which he scaled using only his bare hands and climbing shoes. He is also one of the world’s most accomplished rock climbers, with many extreme routes to his name.

In this lecture, he tells the story of how a talented young rock climber became the "real " Spiderman. He is a committed environmentalist and all his recent climbs have involved unfurling banners on the protection of the environment.

Mr Robert began climbing as a boy, scaling rock cliffs in the area around his home. His "building " career began at the age of 12 when he forgot his keys so scaled the exterior wall of his apartment building. His rockclimbing skills were polished in the French Alps. Mr Robert's physical strength and expert climbing technique allow him to climb using the small protrusions of building walls and windows, such as window ledges and frames. Many of his climbs provide him no opportunity to rest and can last hours.

Mr Robert's urban climbing career is an everexpanding list of famous landmarks which includes the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Montparnasse Tower, as well as the world's tallest skyscrapers. While scaling the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1999, he encountered the most challenging climbing conditions in his career when near the top of the 108story building, a thick fog set in that covered the glass and metal wall of the last 20 floors with moisture, making it dangerously slippery.

In the 1990s, his exploits brought him worldwide media exposure. Requests by owners for paid climbs followed, including for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, watched by about 100,000 spectators, and Lloyd's of London to promote the premiere of the movie SpiderMan. In October 2004, he scaled the 187metre headquarters of the French oil company Total while wearing a Spiderman costume, also in 2004 as part of a weeks festivities to celebrate the tallest building in the world Mr Robert scaled 508metre Taipei 101 just a a few days before its grand opening.

In Asia he has climbed the Cheung Kong Centre and Four Seasons Place in Hong Kong, the Petronas Twin Towers and the 88story Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, then China's tallest skyscraper. In 2010, Mr Robert took 35 minutes to scale the Singapore Flyer, the first person to climb around the world's tallest observatory wheel.

Alain Robert's hails from Bourgogne, France, where he first became known as an international rock climber on numerous European rock routes. His autobiography, With Bare Hands, has been published in numerous languages. He has been featured in numerous media, including several awardwinning documentaries about Mr Robert including The Wall Crawler, The Human Spider and Legend of the Spiderman.