No Nordic Tracks for these guys; Gig Harbor firefighters climb 1,356 stairs for charity

Every year, a team from Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One participates in a grueling stair-climbing competition for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society. The funrdraising event, which is usually held at the Columbia Tower in Seattle, was canceled due to the pandemic. So a team of seven Gig Harbor firefighters staged their own version on Saturday, May 15, making 13 trips up and down Gig Harbor’s Finholm Climb in full gear to simulate the 1,356 steps firefighters would typically climb up the 69-story Columbia Tower. The winding, 100-step Finholm climb is a set of stairs that connects North Harborview Drive with Franklin Avenue a half mile up the hill. The firefighters have already raised over $10,000 for the charity.

This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 5:30 AM.