French 'spiderman' eyes Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower: report

(AFP PHOTO / NEW STRAITS TIMES)

French climber Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman" for his death-defying antics, has set his sights on scaling the world's tallest skyscraper, Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower, a report said.

The Gulf emirate of Dubai opened the glistening 828-metre (2,717-foot) concrete, glass and steel skyscraper on Jan 4.

"I'll have to do it... maybe between January and April 2011," he was quoted as saying by Malaysia's official Bernama news agency late Saturday.

"I know the people of Dubai, they are interested (in seeing me climb the skyscraper)," he added.

The tower has been renamed Burj Khalifa in honour of the Abu Dhabi leader whose billions of dollars bailed out Dubai from its financial crisis last year.

Robert, 47, was in Malaysia to receive an award for his extraordinary feats in scaling tall buildings.

Skyscrapers he has climbed include the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower and Taipei 101, according to his website.

He admitted that climbing the Dubai tower will be a tough mission because of the Middle Eastern heat.

"The problem in Dubai is the hot weather (of) up to 40 degrees (Celsius, 104 degrees Fahrenheit)," he said.

"My biggest fear is to waste my time on earth. For me, climbing is as important as eating and breathing. Climbing skyscrapers is my lifetime love and passion," he added.

Last September Robert was fined by a Malaysian court after he scrambled up the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers with his bare hands in less than two hours.