9/11 Stair Climb History
The first 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb event occurred on September 11, 2003 during "Operation Enduring Freedom" in Parwan Province, Afghanistan. Albuquerque Fire Department Lieutenant Charles Cogburn scaled a two story building 55 times wearing body armor, a helmet and an M-4. Lt Cogburn returned home and the following September 11th (2004) the climb was brought back to Albuquerque and given the title Albuquerque Firefighters Memorial Stair Climb. Firefighters from Engine 5 and Engine 2 were dispatched at 8:46am (the time the initial dispatch of FDNY units occured) to the Bank of Albuquerque Building in downtown Albuquerque. The building is 22 stories tall and it was climbed 5 times.
On September 11, 2005, five Colorado firefighters (who had already been climbing stairs together for fitness and camaraderie) gathered in downtown Denver to climb 110 flights of stairs in all their gear in memory of their FDNY brothers who were killed four years earlier in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
The following year, organizers of the second Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb changed their venue and attendance grew to twelve participants representing four fire departments from the metro Denver area. As word spread so did interest and the event expanded. In 2007, attendance reached several hundred participants, representing every part of Colorado. The following year, participation was capped at 343, the number of FDNY firefighters who were killed on 9/11. The 2008 event also included a new remembrance component: each climber was assigned a badge, with the name and photograph of one of the fallen firefighters of 9/11, symbolically completing the climb with one who couldn’t.
In 2009, registration at the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb was filled to capacity in seven days, and a wait list of several hundred potential participants was established; more than forty-five fire departments from five states were represented. Firefighters from around the country contacted the Denver team, in hopes of holding similar events in their cities. In 2010 founders of the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb partnered with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) to set forth the national standard protocol for future 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs.
One of the very first climbs started after partnering with the NFFF was held in Nashville TN on September 11, 2010. Event organizers from Denver and Tennessee worked together with the NFFF to hold the first 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb event at a national fire conference during the 2011 Fire Departments Instructor Conference in Indianapolis, IN. An Oklahoma firefighter participated in the 2011 Dallas Stair Climb and decided to bring it to OKC in 2012.
On September 11, 2005, five Colorado firefighters (who had already been climbing stairs together for fitness and camaraderie) gathered in downtown Denver to climb 110 flights of stairs in all their gear in memory of their FDNY brothers who were killed four years earlier in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
The following year, organizers of the second Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb changed their venue and attendance grew to twelve participants representing four fire departments from the metro Denver area. As word spread so did interest and the event expanded. In 2007, attendance reached several hundred participants, representing every part of Colorado. The following year, participation was capped at 343, the number of FDNY firefighters who were killed on 9/11. The 2008 event also included a new remembrance component: each climber was assigned a badge, with the name and photograph of one of the fallen firefighters of 9/11, symbolically completing the climb with one who couldn’t.
In 2009, registration at the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb was filled to capacity in seven days, and a wait list of several hundred potential participants was established; more than forty-five fire departments from five states were represented. Firefighters from around the country contacted the Denver team, in hopes of holding similar events in their cities. In 2010 founders of the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb partnered with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) to set forth the national standard protocol for future 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs.
One of the very first climbs started after partnering with the NFFF was held in Nashville TN on September 11, 2010. Event organizers from Denver and Tennessee worked together with the NFFF to hold the first 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb event at a national fire conference during the 2011 Fire Departments Instructor Conference in Indianapolis, IN. An Oklahoma firefighter participated in the 2011 Dallas Stair Climb and decided to bring it to OKC in 2012.
