Credit: Jeffry Pike
A handful of staff at the Division of Continuing Education (DCE) claim to have climbed the vertical equivalent of Mt. Everest (29,029 feet), promoting good health as well as green-mindedness. Six years ago DCE photographer Jeffry Pike started a stair-climbing competition, drawing a chart of Everest against which participants could map their progress on a daily basis. Assuming ten linear feet per flight, at 29,029 feet, participants needed to climb an unthinkable 2,903 flights to reach the virtual "top." Undeterred, Pike and a number of his colleagues in the Promotions Office completed the climb over several months.
At the beginning of 2008, Cheryl Vaughan, Don Ostrowski, and Kerry Buchannan of the Harvard Extension School’s Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) office took up the idea again. When Vaughan noted that Ostrowski, “nearly 25 years my senior and in much better shape,” always took the stairs, and that Buchannan only took the stairs when she had been pregnant, she was convinced to give it a try herself, encouraging her colleagues to participate in a new "climbing" competition.
Vaughan upped the ante by adding a "pot of gold" (or "green" if you will) at the summit. Everybody puts in $10; first one to the top wins the pot.
At least 11 staffers joined in. It was Vaughan who first made it to the summit last August, followed closely by Ostrowski. When Vaughan won, she graciously took those still climbing at the time to lunch.
The hardy group immediately started "climbing" the next highest mountain (28,251 feet) in the world, K2. Vaughan reigned supreme once more, reaching that peak this March. And now the group is taking on Mt. Kangchenjunga (28,169 feet). Vaughan claims the health benefits are well worth the effort. "I am definitely in better shape, I can run the entire 6 flights to my office now. When I started, I could barely walk to the top of those 6 flights."
This challenge has not only helped to build camaraderie in the office and promote better health among its participants, it has also inspired others not in the competition to shun the elevator. "I have definitely seen more traffic on the stairs," says Vaughan. "I think that, at the very least, most people will now take the stairs rather than the elevator when they only have to go up or down a few flights." Not to be overlooked is the environmental significance of this behavior modification. With so many people forgoing the elevators for the stairs, the reduced elevator use will certainly have an impact on energy consumption at 51 Brattle Street.
Vaughan recommends that other offices at Harvard try a similar competition both for health and the environment. "It’s difficult to get out of the habit of stepping into the elevator, but if you can break the habit, you’ll never go back."
I am definitely in better shape, I can run the entire 6 flights to my office now. When I started, I could barely walk to the top of those 6 flights.