Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Te Puke firefighters to tackle Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge

By Stuart Whitaker
Bay of Plenty Times·
15 May, 2019 11:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Te Puke firefighters, from left, Grant Scothern, Dan Turner and Jodi Purdie are ready for the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge on Saturday.

Te Puke firefighters, from left, Grant Scothern, Dan Turner and Jodi Purdie are ready for the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge on Saturday.

news@tepuketimes.co.nz

Three Te Puke firefighters are stepping up this weekend.

Qualified firefighter Grant Scothern and firefighters Dan Turner and Jodi Purdie are tackling the 1103 stairs of Auckland's Sky Tower in the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge.

They will run up the tower's 51 flights wearing 25kg of gear, including breathing apparatus cylinders.

Grant is the most experienced of the three - this year's stair challenge is his fourth. He was two seconds slower last year than on his previous attempt and is aiming for a time of around 14 minutes this year, which would be a personal best.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''You've just got to push through. It's a bit of a mental challenge as well as a physical one,'' he says.

''Once you get up to the [start of the] 48th flight, you know you've only got four to go and you just push through it.''

With almost 1000 firefighters at the event, the temperature in the narrow staircase quickly rises.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''It gets pretty hot and you're puffing and you can feel your heart pounding in your chest,'' says Grant. ''It's only about 14 minutes, you've just got to think 'it's nearly over, it's nearly over' and once it's over you are so happy you think, 'yeah, I can do that again'.''

Dan is looking at a sub-14 minute effort, with improving on last year's time of just over 15 minutes a motivating factor this year.

''Jodi and I have trained on Pāpāmoa Hills and at the gym and for other competitions we go to as well. There's training in everything we do really,'' he says.

Climbing the tower in under 14 minutes would mean taking a big chunk of time off last
year's effort, but he thinks he can do it.

Discover more

No release yet of identity of man found dead in Te Puke

15 May 06:52 PM

Fire investigator on scene of Greerton blaze

29 May 10:59 PM

''Last time I went pretty unprepared,'' he says.

Jodi, a relative newcomer to the brigade, is taking on the challenge for the first time.

''I ask a lot of questions, and the guys have told me the last few flights are longer and that messes with your mind, so I'm just kind of preparing myself a little bit for that - it may have been an illusion for them - I don't know.''

For Jodi, the challenge of tackling the tower, fundraising for a good cause and catching up with fellow firefighters are all part of the attraction of the event.

''It's about meeting up with other firefighters as well. There are going to be people from all over the country and it will be nice to meet and talk with them. There's going to be a lot of standing around before and after so I look forward to talking to other people and asking how they trained.''

While she is looking for a time around 20 minutes, Jodi says finishing is her first priority.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''I don't think I'll get as good a time as the guys, but I think I'll finish. I've heard from a few women I've talked to, it averages about 20 minutes for women and if I beat that I'll be
happy.''

The Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge is an annual fundraiser for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

The trio also recently took part in the United Fire Brigades' Association National Combat Challenge event in Wellington, after Jodi and Dan had competed in the regional challenge in Palmerston North earlier in the year.

The competition is a test of skill and fitness and simulates the physical demands of real-life firefighting.

It features a set course requiring a six-storey stair climb carrying a hose, hoisting a hose coil six storeys, chopping with a shot hammer, knocking down a disc with a charged hose and a simulated human rescue.

It was both Dan and Grant's fourth national combat challenge, but Jodi's first.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Dan says the requirements for the combat challenge are totally different to those of the stair challenge, the combat challenge requiring an explosive burst of energy, while the stair challenge is more of a stamina event.

Grant says he seems to be able to knock about 10 seconds off his best time each time he does the challenge and is now down to 2 minutes 40 seconds.

''That comes down to technique and a bit of fitness,'' he says.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM

Emergency services are responding to a two-vehicle crash which has closed SH29.

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM
Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP