Ten Isle of Man firefighters climbed their way into the record books with an incredible feat of endurance at the weekend.
The team set a new world best for a 24-hour ladder climb by scaling a height of 114.17km on a specially erected tower in Regent Street, Douglas. They smashed the previous record, set by a group of New Zealand firefighters in 2005, by a massive 4.58km.
The successful attempt followed months of planning and training, and has so far helped to raise more than £14,000 for five nominated charities - Pumps 4 Kids, Rebecca House Children’s Hospice, Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, Help for Heroes and the Hyperbaric Chamber. Money is still coming in and anyone wishing to recognise the team’s outstanding achievement by making a donation should visit the website www.ladder24.im
A large crowd gathered outside the Post Office in Regent Street at 3pm on Friday to see the officers from the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service embark on their epic challenge. To put the record attempt into perspective, each team member had to climb the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower (324m) every 42 minutes; Empire State Building (443m) every 58 minutes; Snaefell (621m) every 1 hour 21 minutes; and Ben Nevis (1,344m) every 2 hours 55 minutes; in order to achieve their combined target height.
Firefighter Gary Kirby, the driving force behind the event, completed the first ascent of the 13.5-metre ladder and the team set a brisk but controlled pace in the early stages. Cheered on by enthusiastic onlookers, the firefighters stayed ahead of the average climb rate required to break the world record. The pace understandably slowed through the night, but volunteer physiotherapists helped tired bodies to push onwards, while a new dawn and increase in temperature sparked a fresh lease of life.
A series of milestones - such as each climber completing 1,000 ascents of the ladder, and the team surpassing the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service’s old ladder climb record set in 1994 - lifted the spirits. Dozens of well-wishers, and many more watching via the live online feed, witnessed the firefighters edge past the New Zealanders’ record with 50 minutes to spare.
he Island team then dug deep to add a further 4,580 metres to the existing mark and set a new (as yet unofficial) standard that will hopefully stand for many years to come. Afterwards the emotional firefighters celebrated with family, friends and colleagues, popping open bottles of champagne to toast their success.
Gary Kirby said:
‘I’d like to pay tribute to my ladder climb team-mates for their amazing efforts and also our many colleagues and sponsors whose invaluable support made this challenge possible. The encouragement we received in the build-up to the climb was amazing and on the Friday and Saturday the support kept us going when we were all exhausted. It’s a great feeling to be part of an Isle of Man world record breaking team and to have raised money for some very worthwhile local charities. I hope people will continue to contribute and push the fundraising total up even higher.’
