2016 Sky Tower Firefighter Challenge

Blog-skytower-challenge-600x600-At Tait Communications we work alongside our customers to help them achieve great things. One recent example is The Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge, a prestigious, high profile event where firefighters climb the tower’s 1,103 stairs in full firefighting kit to raise money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ, an organization funding research, support services and advocacy.

We’ve supported the Sky Tower Challenge for a number of years through financial and in-kind support with the supply of some of our radios to help ensure everything runs smoothly. It is always an honor to be part of this event and to help raise money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ.

Standing at 1076 feet (328 meters), Auckland’s Sky Tower is not a building where many choose to take the stairs. And yet, on Saturday 28 May, around 850 firefighters did just that.

Preparing for the climb

Preparing for the climb

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Before taking on the stairs, climbers ran/walked around the base

As a sponsor Tait can nominate one person to participate in the Challenge in the corporate ‘Squad20’ team. Tait hosts an internal competition each year to determine who our representative will be, and this year it was none other than Damian Blogg. Below, he provided a few numbers in order to share about the experience:

IMG_28941,103 – Number of stairs climbed. That is if you don’t count the additional 2 or 3 flights that we were obliged to traverse on returning to the basement level of the Sky Tower straight after the event. Some cruel and twisted individual must have taken delight in setting up this additional punishment. I can’t remember the last time I heard grown men (myself included) moaning so much about something that is, under usual circumstances, so trivial.

$1,167,950 – the amount the event raised for LBC so far. This is a fantastic result and far in excess of the stated goal, as well as the previous years’ totals which have increased significantly every year. The 2015 total was $1,036,000. The total is expected to go higher still as pledges are fulfilled. You can add to that total yourself by visiting their Donation page.

 

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Damian’s sigh of relief upon reaching the top

$2,770 – the amount of the total raised against my name. I did hit up my family and friends; however the lion’s share came from my colleagues at Tait, including some significant donations from our international offices. Thanks to everyone! I really enjoy the strong sense of community within this company that becomes apparent when getting involved in an undertaking such as this.

12:30 – My time to climb. 3 weeks of training appears to have paid off and I am quietly pleased with this outcome even if I did not challenge either some previous Tait representatives. Job done – time to hit the couch!

I want to finish by once again passing on my grateful thanks to all of those who have supported me and more particularly given their generous donations to the LBC charity.

Crossing the Finish line

This firefighter is happy to cross the Finish line

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