For the American clergyman, see Daniel Raynes Goodwin 
 
 Daniel "Dan" Goodwin (Kennebunkport, November 7, 1955) is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one arm fly offs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering skyscrapers, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, the World Trade Center, the CN Tower, and (for the program Stan Lee's Superhumans) the Telefónica Building in Santiago, Chile. 
 
 Building climber [ edit ] 
 
 On November 21, 1980, Dan Goodwin witnessed the MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, including the inability of the Clark County Fire Department and the supporting fire departments to rescue scores of hotel guests trapped inside. Believing he knew how to rescue the trapped people, Goodwin presented a rescue plan to the on-location fire boss. Goodwin's plan included his climbing up the building and connecting cables to the floors to enable rescue baskets to be ferried to and from helicopters. The fire boss responded by threatening Goodwin with arrest and then ordered him escorted from the scene. The following day, Goodwin approached the fire chief of a Fire Department sub-station and presented his rescue plan. The fire chief told Goodwin he needed to climb a building to learn of the dangers of high-rise firefighting and rescue. The following Memorial Day, Goodwin scaled the outside of the Sears Tower in Chicago (renamed the Willis Tower in 2009), which at the time was the tallest building in the world.[1] 
 
 Notable building climbs [ edit ] 
 
 Sears Tower [ edit ] 
 
 On Memorial Day, May 25, 1981, wearing a Spider-Man suit and using suction cups, camming devices, and sky hooks, Goodwin successfully scaled the then-tallest building in the world, the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, United States. For seven hours Goodwin fought the high altitude winds, slippery glass, and repeated attempts by the Chicago Fire Department to stop him. A few feet below the top Goodwin taped an American flag to the building to honor his father who fought in the Korean War. Chicago’s press dubbed him "SpiderDan". Goodwin stated the reason he scaled the building was to call attention to inadequacies in high-rise firefighting and rescue.[1][2][3] 
 
 Renaissance Tower [ edit ] 
 
 On November 7, 1981, wearing a Spider-Man suit and using suction cups along with his hands and feet, Goodwin scaled the 56-story Renaissance Tower in Dallas, Texas, United States. Goodwin stated the reason he made the climb was to keep a promise he made to a young Dallas resident stricken with cystic fibrosis.[2] 
 
 John Hancock Center [ edit ] 
 
 On November 11, 1981, wearing a wetsuit disguised as a Spider-Man suit and using a climbing device he designed for the building, Goodwin scaled the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago. To elude firemen who were descending toward him in a window-washing machine, Goodwin swung across the building with a rope. The fire department, on the inside of the building, used fire axes to shatter window glass near Goodwin and then through the openings in the glass attempted to dislodge Goodwin from the building with grappling hooks attached to long poles. Chicago’s Mayor, Jane Byrne, intervened, allowing Goodwin to continue to the top. Goodwin said he made the climb to call attention to the inability to successfully fight fires in high-rise buildings.[2][4][5] 
 
 North Tower of the World Trade Center [ edit ] 
 
 On Memorial Day, May 30, 1983, using suction cups for the first four floors before switching to a camming device he connected to the building’s window-washing track, Goodwin successfully scaled the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Goodwin attached an American flag, the same one he taped to the Sears Tower in 1981, to the upper-most floor of the North Tower in tribute to Americans who died in war. Goodwin said he made the climb to call attention to the inability to rescue trapped occupants from the upper levels of skyscrapers.[2][6][7] 
 
 CN Tower [ edit ] 
 
 On June 26, 1986, Goodwin successfully scaled the world’s tallest structure (not building) at the time, the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Using his hands and feet, Goodwin climbed one side, rappelled down then climbed the far side of the tower, followed by another rappel. Goodwin's climb was a sponsored publicity event celebrating the CN Tower's tenth anniversary.[2][8] 
 
 Millennium Tower [ edit ] 
 
 On September 6, 2010, Goodwin scaled the Millennium Tower in San Francisco, California, United States. In tribute to the United States, Goodwin attached a United States flag to the top of the Millennium Tower, the same flag he attached to the top of Chicago's Sears Tower in 1981 and to the top of the North Tower of New York's World Trade Center in 1983. Goodwin said he made the climb to call attention to the inability to conduct rescue operations in the upper floors of skyscrapers.[9] In addition, as a Stage Four cancer survivor, Goodwin wanted to inspire people throughout the world who have been diagnosed with cancer.[10][11] 
 
 Telephone Building [ edit ] 
 
 On March 1, 2014, Goodwin scaled the Telephonic Building in Santiago, Chile to establish a new world record of 433 feet (132 m) for the longest lead climb on a single rope. On average, the safety anchors were 4 to 6 floors apart, raising the possibility of a 180-foot (55 m) fall or more. Commentators believed the weight of the rope (42 pounds (19 kg)) made his ascent considerably more dangerous. The ascent was recorded for a TV show that was planned to be aired in the fall of 2014.[12] 
 
 Rock and sports climbing [ edit ] 
 
 As a rock climber, Goodwin made several first ascents. Frequently, he broke with rock climbing tradition by climbing without a rope, performing acrobatic maneuvers including the one arm fly-off and flag maneuver. In response to those in the rock climbing community who called Goodwin's acrobatic moves "stunts", and therefore unworthy of recognition, Goodwin stated he was "sport climbing" and not bound by the rules of traditional rock climbing.[3][13] 
 
 Rock climber Jeff Lowe, along with Dick Bass, the owner of the Snowbird ski resort, invited Goodwin to build the climbing wall for the world's first International Sport Climbing Championship held at Snowbird, Utah, United States, in 1988. Goodwin did not participate in the championship, serving instead as a commentator for CBS Sports.[14] 
 
 Skyscraper defense bill [ edit ] 
 
 Following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Goodwin wrote a bill he called the "Skyscraper Defense Act", calling for an agency within the United States government entitled "Skyscraper Defense" as well as teams of "Skyscraper Defenders", individuals trained in skyscraper defense, security, and safety protocol, to be stationed within major cities of the United States.[4] 
 
 See also [ edit ] ||||| A daredevil in a red jumpsuit, equipped with suction cups and an American flag, clambered up 58 stories of a San Francisco residential tower Monday to dramatize the vulnerability of skyscrapers to terrorism and his own fight against cancer. 
 
 It was also, his publicist acknowledged afterward, an attempt to call attention to his recent book - which, he said, details his concerns in detail. 
 
 The climber, who identified himself in a flyer as Dan Goodwin, a.k.a. SpiderDan, was greeted by police as he reached a balcony two floors below the top of the 60-story Millennium Tower at 301 Mission St. He was arrested for trespassing and creating a public nuisance, both misdemeanors, said Lt. Kevin McNaughton. 
 
 Goodwin, 54, is a building contractor who lives in North Lake Tahoe. According to a news release left for reporters at the outset of his three-hour climb, he had scaled the World Trade Center in New York in 1983 to illustrate the difficulty of rescues from skyscrapers. 
 
 He claimed he was recruited by U.S. military personnel in 2000 to train them for a World Trade Center ascent, but backed out after being diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer a month later. 
 
 After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the twin towers, Goodwin said, he vowed to make the public aware of the dangers of living beyond the reach of conventional rescue equipment. That was the point of "Skyscraperman," a book he published in January, and the purpose of Monday's climb, he said. 
 
 "The No. 1 reason Dan was on that tower today was that he wants to call attention to the lack of ability to rescue people from skyscrapers in this country," his co-author, D.B. Guidinger of Marin County, said in a phone interview from Japan. "We could use helicopters to do rooftop rescues, and there are other methods - a lot of things are better than what we have now. 
 
 "Sure, we're plugging the book, too, but the book is a byproduct of all of this," he said. "It's just where he put it all down in writing." 
 
 Guidinger said the last major building Goodwin climbed was the CN Tower in Toronto in 1986. His continuing concern for skyscraper safety, and the desire to inspire those with cancer, are what drew him Monday, Guidinger said. 
 
 "He's got other things planned, but I can't get into that," Guidinger said. Upon hearing from The Chronicle that Goodwin had just made it to the top without falling, Guidinger sighed with relief and said, "We're celebrating on the other side of the planet." 
 
 Building security alerted police about 2:15 p.m., and fire crews rushed in and hollered at the climber to come inside, while officers cordoned off a one-block area and rerouted Muni buses, McNaughton said. When he continued to ascend, the officer said, several officers followed him up each floor from inside the building as others deployed to the roof. 
 
 Applause broke out among several dozen onlookers on the street when Goodwin reached the balcony around 5:20 and waved before his arrest. 
 
 Chris Brown, who lives on the 42nd floor and shot videos as SpiderDan crawled past his window, was among those applauding. 
 
 "I feel what that guy's going through," he said. "He's making the most of his life at this moment." 
 
 Rebecca Schutt of Lafayette, a concierge on the ground floor of the Millennium Tower, was less approving, wondering how a resident coming out of the shower might feel to see a red-suited stranger at the window. "He had other ways of exhibiting his platform," she said. 
 
 This article appeared on page C - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle
– Daredevil skyscraper climber "Spider Dan" Goodwin came out of retirement yesterday to scale a 58-story landmark in San Francisco yesterday. Goodwin, equipped only with suction cups, unfurled an American flag at the top of Millennium Tower before being being briefly detained by waiting police, CNN reports. The 54-year-old death-defier, who scaled the World Trade Center's north tower in 1983, said yesterday's climb was both to raise awareness of America's vulnerability to terrorist attacks and to inspire fellow cancer survivors. "He's got other things planned, but I can't get into that," his publicist tells the San Francisco Chronicle.