9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs

The 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs are not timed race events, but a way for firefighters and the community to honor and remember the FDNY firefighters who selflessly gave their lives so that others might live.

Each 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb participants pays tribute to a FDNY firefighter by climbing or walking the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. Your individual tribute not only remembers the sacrifice of an FDNY brother, but symbolically completes their heroic journey to save others. Through firefighter and community participation we ensure that each of the 343 firefighters is honored and that the world knows that we will never forget. These 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs help the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation create and maintain programs that support fire service survivors. Your support of the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb events provides assistance to the surviving families and co-workers of the 343 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001.

The 9/11 Stair Climbs fund the programs provided by the NFFF to support the families of your local fallen firefighters and the FDNY Counseling Service Unit.

Can’t climb in Person? Register as a Virtual Climber for the National Stair Climb

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Please check back frequently for other events being launched for 2023.

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Our 9/11 Stair Climbs are coordinated by local volunteers. Find out how you can host a stair climb!

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About 9/11 Stair Climb

History of the 9/11 Stair Climb

The first stair climb held to support the mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation was held on September 11, 2005. when five Colorado firefighters convened at a high-rise building in downtown Denver to climb 110 flights of stairs in memory of their FDNY brothers who were killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The following year, twelve firefighters participated, representing four fire departments from the metro Denver area. Each subsequent years, attendance grew, until it was capped at 343 participants in 2008.

Since its beginning, the Denver 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb has evolved into a much anticipated annual events, and generated interest from individuals across the country who hoped to adapt the format and host an event in their cities. In 2010, the original Denver team partnered with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to create a template that would enable coordinator to successfully replicate a 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb anywhere in the United States.