Scott Firefighter Stair Climb
March 6, 2016
Cost - $80.00
The Scott Firefighter Stair Climb is a competition for firefighters to ascend the 69 stories of the Columbia Tower in Seattle Washington while wearing full firefighting gear, including mask, and breathing off air tanks. The stair climb is 1311 stairs, 788 vertical feet, and climbers wear about 50lbs of gear. The race is organized by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and this year marked the 25th anniversary. I first participated in 2006 and things have changed dramatically since then.
When I did my first stair climb in 2006 I went with another firefighter friend who didn’t even sign up. We arrived for the race and he asked about joining which they had no problem with. They asked when we wanted to climb and we looked at each other and decided that battalion 2 had space and it would be cool to go early. Since then things aren’t quite the same. The enrollment now opens up in November and if you’re not sitting on your computer at exactly 9:00am you might not get a spot as it sells out in 15-30 minutes. This year close to 2000 firefighters signed up to climb.
As I mentioned the event is put on by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The event raises money and awareness through various fundraisers the individual department and firefighters put on. The signup cost was $80.00 but by signing up you are signing a contract that you will raise a minimum of $300.00 in donations by climb time or you won’t be able to race. I was extremely proud of my team this year. We had 13 climbers, many of which were first timers, from the station I primarily work out of and we raised over $7000.00.
Since the LLS has been doing this for 25 years the event is pretty well run and organized. The Columbia Tower usually opens up between 6:00am-7:00am when firefighters start to arrive and set up areas for their teams to drop off gear. I decided to drive to Seattle the night before so getting up at 5:30am wasn’t as bad as some of the climbers had it by driving up the morning of the race. Regardless it’s still a long day, but a fun, and very rewarding one all the same. You see the impact of your efforts as you talk with all the amazing volunteers, some cancer survivors themselves, as you make your way around the event. One of my favorite things every year is seeing all your brothers and sisters that have moved on to other stations. You won’t make it too far around the floors at the base of the tower without seeing firefighters embracing after running into each other for the first time in years. It’s truly an inspiring experience to see people who may have started as young fresh faced recruits who are now veteran volunteers or career firefighters.
This year I was in battalion 21 which was scheduled to start climbing around 11:20am. Most of the team and I arrived at the tower between 6:00am-6:30am and started setting up. The way the race works is firefighters enter the tower by battalions of about 40 people. A new climber enters the stairwell every 15 seconds. The climb starts outside which is actually floor 4 and ends on floor 73. The majority of climbers need their air bottle swapped or they wouldn’t make it to the top. On floor 40 a bottle changing area is set up and departments will send extra air bottles to this floor with a bottle changing person. The bottle changer is the unsung hero in this event. Normally they are on this floor the whole day and have to be super aware so that when a climber from their department needs a change they jump into action and complete that change in the least amount of time. Once a climber ascends to the top, remembering not to stop at floor 69 but instead floor 73, they cross a finish line and can now relax and look out over Seattle.
At 7:30am opening ceremonies started and the firefighters get to meet honored patients and families. This ceremony is one of the most powerful things I’ve personally witnessed. It’s hard not to be moved by listening to the speeches. After listening to people who have lost loved ones or battled through hell it puts the task of climbing the tower into perspective and makes it pale in comparison for what these people have gone through. The first battalion, made of last year’s winners, entered the tower at 8:00am. The battalion is lead by a bagpiper band. Let me tell you if you aren’t fired up to climb after hearing speeches and seeing the band lead the battalion up to the starting point you don’t have a pulse.
The race was staying on schedule and at battalion 18 I started gearing up. This year I wore knee braces for the first time and did notice this helped take some strain off. I like to climb with my pant legs tucked into my boots with a little of the cuff exposed for air flow. What most people probably don’t understand is turnouts are very good at keeping heat out but they are also very good at keeping heat in. One of the major obstacles to overcome besides the stairs is the problem of overheating and it sapping your strength.
Battalion 21 was called and I entered the line. It actually takes about 20-30 minutes from the time they call you until you actually enter the tower. The battalion made its way through different check points for gear and ID before the starting point. Just before I entered the tower one of the volunteers asked me to show my timing chip. For the first time in 10 years I actually forgot some gear. Damn it! I had to make my way back to where we had set up base camp and get my timing chip taped on. By the time I got back to the start I was actually in the next battalion.
I entered the tower and swiped my chip over the timing table. The race is pretty strict for people who are competitive but I’ve never been so I immediately removed my gloves for another area to blow off some heat. I began climbing and felt really strong. As you climb each landing has a picture of someone who has either lost their battle or is still battling cancer. I fell in with 2-3 other climbers with a similar pace. We leapfrogged back and forth with each other as we ascended the tower. I was able to make it to floor 40 without stopping and received a bottle change. A funny note here is when I dropped to the floor to have my bottle changed another bottle handler stepped on my hand. This was a good lesson to always be aware. My bottle handler changed me out in just a quick moment and out the door I went. When I started the second half I started to feel fatigued soon after reentering the stairwell. On floor 50 I started taking breaks. The breaks began every 2-3 floors but soon escalated to breaks every floor.
There was a point where while taking a break on one of the floors one of the volunteers started walking towards me from the floor above. The volunteers in the stairwell are there to help with water and encouragement but also in case there’s a medical emergency. I had told myself this was probably going to be the last time I competed in the climb. With that being said I would have dragged my broken legs to the top. When the volunteer started walking towards me I started waving them off. They continued to get closer. I got a little agitated and told them I was fine and to leave me alone. They kind of smiled and replied they were just going down to the floor below me. Thank god these people understand the climbers and have a good sense of humor.
At around floor 58 I took my mask off as the heat was too much if I was going to finish. I watched another firefighter a landing below me, who also had their mask off, look at the picture on the landing I was on. This firefighter was struggling to make each step but kept her gaze intently on the picture. When she managed to get to the landing she kissed her hand and then touched the face she saw on the picture. This was obviously someone close to her and someone she loved and had lost. I don’t know who that firefighter was but she embodied exactly why every single firefighter does this climb and does the things that we do for our jobs. It was time for me to get back climbing.
By the time I got to the last 8 floors I was using the railing to keep myself up. I was completely dehydrated even with volunteers in the stairwell giving us water as we climbed. You would think you would be super charged to finish and catch your second (or third or fourth) wind. Sometimes the mind is willing but the body is really, truly, spent. I had conversations with myself, “Come on Steve there’s only __ floors left” and “all you have to do is climb these last__ floors and we’ll be done” but it didn’t help. I was now taking breaks on every half landing and literally throwing myself up (no I didn’t say throwing up) each step. You wouldn’t think six inches in elevation would be that hard to overcome.
I stopped on floor 72 ½. There were several people on the landing above me screaming encouragement but my body was slow to react. I finally made my way to floor 73. You make these little deals with yourself as you climb. I told myself that as long as I made it to 73 I wouldn’t ask anything more from myself. My body remembered this deal and I wanted to collapse. The problem is the timing table is still down a hallway. I staggered down the hallway and swiped my timing chip over the table. The volunteers grabbed me as they do all the finishers and started ripping my gear off to cool down.
Once the climb was completed I was taken to a chair to relax and recover. One of the other climbers from my team had finished before me and came over for some mutual congratulations. As we were talking several firefighters who had just completed the race announced to the room that in honor of the 343 firefighters that were killed in the 9-11 attacks they were going to do a set of 3-4-3 pushups. Not a single person denied the request every single firefighter got down on the floor and completed the pushups. This is the mentality of this group. And this is why I’m truly inspired, honored, and humbled by working with these people on a daily basis.
My time for the event was 38 minutes. This was my second slowest time. To put it in perspective the fastest time was 10:43. I know right? I would say average time is low to mid 20’s. But I’m not too disappointed as the feeling of accomplishment just by getting to the top is better than any time. As the years come and go I won’t remember my times but I’ll always remember the feeling of crossing the finish line.
If I can’t be the fastest at least I can be the most good looking ;)
Up Next: Vernonia Half Marathon
