Volunteer firefighter Dave Mollard has now climbed to the 60th floor of the Sky Tower three times.
Volunteer firefighter Dave Mollard has now climbed to the 60th floor of the Sky Tower three times.
Opinion
Life got in the way of my training for the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge this year.
Instead of spending hours on the stairclimber at the gym I was dealing with one hundred other small things life had popped up. Most were good, some were bad but all of themtook up the bandwidth that is my life.
The Sky Tower Challenge is one of the highlights of the year for me. My fire brigade, Palmerston North Volunteer Brigade, puts a big focus on it, as a team-building exercise, a fitness-building exercise and a fundraising exercise for Leukemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.
This was my third time climbing to the 60th floor of the Sky Tower. The buzz of the preclimb helped to distract me from my poor preparation. The support from family and other firefighters, who on reflection are also family, is always uplifting. As a group we descend into the bowels of the tower, two floors below ground level, the nervous chatter dies down as we get closer to the start line.
As rural firefighters, we are often on the ground for eight to 12-hour stretches. Our clothing and equipment reflects this by being lighter weight and more comfortable than the gear urban firefighters use; they routinely walk into burning buildings for shorter periods of time.
This makes our climb easier than our breathing apparatus-wearing urban family. To compensate, we do an extra nine floors and wear a chainsaw on our back.
A jubilant Dave Mollard on the Sky Tower viewing platform with its fantastic views over Auckland. Photo / Supplied
The reality of my slack training regime was screaming in my calves on the fifth of 60 floors on Saturday. The challenge of 55 more levels was almost overwhelming, but the constant stream of firefighters in front and behind me reminded me of my commitment to keep going. By the 20th floor, I was in a rhythm and started to overtake some of the more heavily burdened urban crew.
On the 48th floor I’m almost done, ready to quit and take the elevator down, but I look down and notice a trail of drips ahead of me on the concrete stairs. These drips are the sweat of all the firefighters who have preceded me. If they can do it, so can I.
Ninety per cent of the firefighters finish on the 51st floor and I can hear their celebrations as I trudge past their finish line. I know their climb is harder than mine so I don’t begrudge them their achievement, I’m just jealous.
The last nine floors are lonely with only one first aider to remind me I’m not the last person left on Earth. I start to think of the people in my life who have died of cancer. This distracts me from the pain in my calves, thighs and lungs.
Natural sunlight that has been missing for this whole hikoi combined with the sweat in my eyes and my exhaustion blinds me as I step on to the viewing platform on the 60th floor. I collapse on to a bench, my wife is there, holding an ice pack and a towel, my crewmates slap me on the back with congratulations and my mind starts to clear.
There is a state of euphoria that exists when you complete a physical challenge that has almost overwhelmed you. The feeling that you gave 100 per cent is so uplifting that your body soon finds the energy to interact with people.
Thanks to the generous people of Palmerston North, our brigade raised $25,000 for this worthy cause. Our fellow regional brigade Ashhurst did even better, beating us by $200, and were the seventh best station in the whole motu, we were eighth. In the spirit of friendly rivalry, we will be aiming to reverse that in 2024.
Dave Mollard is a Palmerston North community worker and social commentator.
