Editing Willis Tower (section)

== Height ==
[[File:Dubai-CN-Sears-towers.svg|thumb|upright|Height comparison with (left to right) [[Burj Khalifa]], Dubai; [[CN Tower]], Toronto; Willis Tower, Chicago|alt=]]

When completed, the Sears Tower was the world's tallest building but not the world's tallest structure. Toronto's [[CN Tower]] was about {{convert|350|ft|m|1}} taller,<ref name="p133852336">{{cite news |last=Metz |first=Tim |date=March 4, 1974 |title=Where's the Highest Structure in World? Well, It's Not Chicago: New Toronto Tower May Kill Birds and Induce Vertigo, But Some Think It's Great |page=1 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133852336}}}}</ref> although the [[Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]] (CTBUH) does not consider the CN Tower to be a building, [[List of tallest buildings and structures#Tallest buildings|since it does not have floors from the ground up]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctbuh.org/Resources/TallestDatabase/tabid/123/Default.aspx |title=CTBUH Tall Building Database |access-date=April 10, 2008 |publisher=[[Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025030731/http://www.ctbuh.org/Resources/TallestDatabase/tabid/123/Default.aspx |archive-date=October 25, 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The Willis Tower remains the third tallest building in the Americas and in the [[Western Hemisphere]] (after [[One World Trade Center]] and [[Central Park Tower]] in New York City). With a pinnacle height of {{convert|1729|ft|m|1}}, it is the [[List of tallest freestanding structures in the world|third-tallest freestanding structure]] in the Americas.<ref name=skyscraperCenter/> It is the [[List of tallest freestanding structures in the world|16th-tallest freestanding structure in the world]] by pinnacle height.

When the [[Petronas Twin Towers]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]], was completed in 1998, it claimed to be the tallest building in the world, measuring {{convert|1482.6|ft|m|1}} tall including decorative spires. Chicagoans objected to this claim on the basis that the Sears Tower's top floor was higher than that of either of the Petronas Towers.<ref name="Kamin p. 109">{{harvnb|Kamin|2001|p=109|ps=.}}</ref> In the ensuing controversy, four [[World's tallest structures|categories of "tallest building"]] were created. Of these, Petronas was the tallest in the category of height to the top of architectural elements, meaning spires but not antennas.<ref name="Kamin p. 109" /><ref name="History">{{note label|talleststatus}}{{cite web |title=Height: The History of Measuring Tall Buildings |url=http://ctbuh.org/AboutCTBUH/History/MeasuringTall/tabid/1320/language/en-US/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410072709/http://www.ctbuh.org/AboutCTBUH/History/MeasuringTall/tabid/1320/language/en-US/Default.aspx |archive-date=April 10, 2012 |access-date=May 1, 2012 |work=Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat}}</ref> [[Taipei 101]] in Taiwan claimed the record in three of the four categories in 2004, surpassing the Petronas Twin Towers in spire height and the Sears Tower in roof height and highest occupied floor. People suggested that Sears add cosmetics atop its tower to surpass Taipei 101, but this did not materialize.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwoptimists.org/gghids/willis-tower-foundation.html|title = Willis tower foundation}}</ref><ref>https://www.mountrainierpark.com/taipei-101-vs-sears-tower/{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} With this, you would actually be looking down to Taipei 101's top floor.</ref> On August 12, 2007, the [[Burj Khalifa]] in [[Dubai]] was reported by its developers to have surpassed the tower in all height categories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitdubai.info/news/burjdubai.htm |title=Burj Khalifa surpasses the height of Sears Tower in Chicago |publisher=Visitdubai.info |date=December 9, 2007 |access-date=October 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321204348/http://www.visitdubai.info/news/burjdubai.htm |archive-date=March 21, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Upon completion, [[One World Trade Center]] in New York City surpassed the Willis Tower through its structural and pinnacle heights, but not by roof, observation deck elevation, or highest occupied floor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Freedom Tower ("World Trade Center 1")|url=http://www.nyc-tower.com/stats/|publisher=NYC Tower|access-date=November 30, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221032032/http://www.nyc-tower.com/stats/|archive-date=December 21, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Until 2000, the tower did not hold the record for being the tallest building by pinnacle height. From 1969 to 1978, this record was held by [[John Hancock Center]], whose antenna reached a height of {{convert|1500|ft|m|1}}, {{convert|49|ft|m|1}} taller than the Sears Tower's original height. One World Trade Center became taller by pinnacle height with the addition of a 359-foot (109.4-meter) antenna, bringing its total height to {{convert|1728|ft|m|1}}. In 1982, two antennas were installed which brought its total height to {{convert|1707|ft|m|1}}, making it taller than the John Hancock Center but not One World Trade Center. However, the extension of the tower's western antenna in June 2000 to {{convert|1729|ft|m|1}} allowed it to just barely claim the title of tallest building by pinnacle height.

The lowest level of the Willis Tower is {{Convert|43|ft|m}} below the elevation of Franklin Street.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Willis Tower Fun Facts {{!}} Fun Facts for Children |url=https://theskydeck.com/for-kids/fun-facts/ |access-date=November 8, 2020 |website=Skydeck Chicago |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Climbing ===
[[File:View down from the Sears-Willis Tower Skydeck.jpg|thumb|View of the wall of the tower from the Skydeck]]
On May 25, 1981, [[Dan Goodwin]], wearing a homemade [[Spider-Man]] suit while using [[suction cup]]s, camming devices, and sky hooks, and despite several attempts by the [[Chicago Fire Department]] to stop him, made the first successful outside ascent of the tower. Goodwin was arrested at the top after the seven-hour climb and was later charged with [[trespassing]]. Goodwin stated that the reason he made the climb was to call attention to shortcomings in [[high-rise rescue]] and [[firefighting]] techniques. After a lengthy interrogation by Chicago's District Attorney and Fire Commissioner, Goodwin was officially released from jail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.justonebadcentury.com/chicago_cubs_history_47.asp |title=Chicago Cubs History and News – Welcome to Just One Bad Century |publisher=Justonebadcentury.com |access-date=October 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320062017/http://www.justonebadcentury.com/chicago_cubs_history_47.asp |archive-date=March 20, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E2DD1538F935A15756C0A967948260 |title=Sears Tower in Chicago Is Scaled by Stunt Man |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 26, 1981 |access-date=October 31, 2011}}</ref>

In August 1999, French urban climber [[Alain Robert|Alain "Spiderman" Robert]], using only his bare hands and [[bare feet]], scaled the building's exterior glass and steel wall all the way to the top. A thick fog settled in near the end of his climb, making the last 20 [[storey|stories]] of the building's glass and steel exterior slippery.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9908/20/tower.climber/ |title='Spiderman' scales Sears Tower in Chicago – August 20, 1999 |publisher=CNN |access-date=September 14, 2009}}</ref>

Annually, since 2009, the Willis Tower has hosted SkyRise Chicago, the world's tallest indoor stair climb, as a charity event benefiting [[Shirley Ryan AbilityLab]], where participants can (legally) climb the Willis Tower's 103-story staircase.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pathieu |first1=Diane |title=Hundreds of stair climbers reach new heights for annual SkyRise Chicago at Willis Tower |url=https://abc7chicago.com/society/hundreds-of-stair-climbers-race-up-willis-tower-for-annual-skyrise-chicago/5668302/ |website=ABC 7 Chicago |date=November 4, 2019 |access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref>