Has anyone climbed stairs in tall building or has an aspiration to? I am thinking about trying a skyscraper in downtown Seattle. Is it legal to enter any building that has an open stairwell and do this? Does not need to be the tallest building, but would it not be fun to scale the Columbia building? Sounds really challenging and fun, especially if a group gets together to do it.

So wish I could, sounds like a great thing to do, they are actual "races" that do this!

My knees are awful and stair climbing would send me over the edge right now, right now I am doing my first 5K

I don't think you can just enter buildings anymore since 9-11, I would make sure to check before doing it.

You are probably right. I am sure SWAT team chasing would get me to the top faster. Lol. I don't want to do a formal race yet. Need to practice and get good at it first!! In the past when I was obese, 3 - 5 flights would be enough. Now I think I could make it up 50-100, but need to start somewhere. It looks like a really good sweat fest when watching someone do it on TV.

I have done it long ago when I was thin and in great shape. I trained at the Santa Monica stairs for years. They are a set of about 186 stairs. Great workout made even better by the fact that they go straight up/down (no turns) and are outdoors.

My only caution regarding building stairs is disorientation. Depending on how the building is designed, building stairs generally wind. In other words, you have to make a turn at each landing. This winding sensation can cause some people to become disoriented and sick. This is particularly true because building stairwells are generally not well ventilated.

Keep that in mind, be wary of 9-11 security concerns, find a building, grab a HUGE bottle of Water and have a ball!

My husband once climbed the stairs in the Westin in downtown Atlanta "for fun"...but I think it was only 80 floors...I think?

Why not do stadium stairs. If you don't have a stadium thats open to the public ( like the rose bowl) you could head to your local high school football field or the Jr. College usually has a stadium.

You could warm up on the track and then go up and down the stairs. We had to do this in HS and I remember it being super HARD and the next day my calf's were so sore.