City quartet eye top of Sky Tower

Wanganui firefighters attacking the Sky Tower stairs on Saturday are from front, qualified fireman Paul Doughty, part-time firefighters Jamie Rickard and Aaron Witford, and senior fireman Ian Tanner.

A quartet of Wanganui firefighters will take on the 1103 steps of Auckland's Sky Tower on Saturday.

They could use the elevators like most people but this foursome, with about 750 other firefighters from around the country and overseas, are doing the hard yards on foot and all for a good cause.

Full-time Wanganui firemen Paul Doughty and Ian Tanner, alongside part-timers Jamie Rickard and Aaron Witford, are taking part in the Sky Tower stair challenge. While the first two will tackle the 51 storeys in full firefighting kit, which includes breathing gear, the others will carry the air bottles on their backs but don't have to wear the masks.

Doughty and Tanner have met the challenge three times and Doughty still reckons it's "good fun".

As well as training, they and the other competitors have been fundraising for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ.

"It started as a fun thing with a couple of Auckland firefighters about 15 years ago and grew. Then they thought why not add a charity and it evolved from there," he said..

When Doughty did his first stair climb in 2008 there were 250 entrants and they raised about $200,000. This year there are three times that number and they are hoping to raise $1 million.

"We represent all facets of the fire service. Ian and I are full-time staff, while Jamie and Aaron are part of the voluntary support staff," he said.

This will be the second stair challenge for Rickard and the first for Witford.

"We've been running the Durie HIll stairs and I did that in full gear for the first time on Monday. It wasn't easy and definitely a shock to the system," Rickard said.

To replicate the run up the Sky Tower, think of going up and down the Durie Hill steps 10 times.

The "veterans" know exactly what the climb requires and it is a mix of stamina and patience.

Tanner said firefighters could remove masks if the going got tough but doing that would relegate them to another division.

The quickest can get to the top in about eight minutes while Tanner and Doughty are looking at about 18 minutes.