So goes the Stairclimb

The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb is really quite amazing to see. We all show up at around 8AM, and this year there will be more than 1,300 of us doing the climb. The Columbia Tower in Seattle has three open floors at the bottom, and these provide the holding area for everyone. You have never seen so many sets of bunker gear and airpacks in all your life!!

We are organized by battalions, and as our battalion is called, we grab our gear, head up several escalators, and walk to a check-in table. After that table, we head outside, and are checked for completeness of gear (some participants in the past have tried to climb without liners in their coats, non-structural boots, etc. to save weight and heat). Finally, we scan a timing chip that is attached to our wrist and enter the building, spaced 15 seconds apart.

We enter on the 4th floor, and walk down a hallway to the stairwell, and up it goes from there. About every ten floors, there are volunteers from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society cheering us on, and they'll pour water down our backs (inside our coats) if desired. I didn't think I'd want this, but let me tell you, it is very welcome on race day!!! There are also paramedics in the stairwell all along the way, and they will get right down in your face to look at you through your mask and do a quick assessment of your condition.

On the 40th floor, we exit the stairwell and walk into a very small conference room with a dynamite view of the city. This room can only be described as controlled chaos. It is filled to bursting with extra bottles for each team, and bottle changers as well. Mind you, there are more than 1,300 firefighters going up the stairs, so this room is packed. As we exit the stairwell, people start yelling, "Bainbridge Fire!" and our bottle changer gets to the front of the crowd and gets ready. We stop and bend over for a rest, and he changes our bottle out for a fresh one. This takes about a minute.

Once this is done, we continue through the room and back into the stairwell for the last 33 floors. Again, people are there to cheer and pour water, and the last cheerleaders are at about floor 71, 2 to go.

We exit the stairwell for the last time on floor 73, 69 floors above where we started, and scan our wrist chip again to end our time. About five volunteers descend upon each firefighter and literally strip them of all gear except pants. One of those volunteers is responsible for all the gear, and ensures that it all winds up in one place with the firefighter. I also recall having a bottle of water and a banana shoved into my hands as soon as my coat was off.

The 73rd floor is an observation deck, with almost a 360 degree view of the Seattle/Puget Sound area--it was grey last year, but still beautiful. This year we seem to be having an early spring, so hopefully we may have some sun. I will carry my small camera with me and try to get some photos to post later on.

After a bit of recovery, we head off to the elevator for the ride back down, and it's all over. It is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and obviously a huge physical effort, but all well worth it.

Thank you again for your support, and send all the positive vibes you can on Sunday morning! My fundraising page is here: http://www.active.com/donate/17thscottstairclimb/GoGoGo
if you'd still like to contribute!!