Stair Climbs — Turning Skyscrapers Into Mountains

Ted didn’t always need a trail, a mountain range, or open sky to test himself.

Sometimes, all he needed was a stairwell.

Singapore, May 8, 1988 — A Vertical Marathon

In 1988, the tallest hotel in Singapore was the Westin Stamford, and it hosted one of the most unusual endurance events in the world: a Vertical Marathon. Instead of winding roads or forest trails, the course went straight up — stair after stair, floor after floor.

Ted, never one to miss an opportunity for experimentation, decided to try something unconventional. Before his climb, he enjoyed a full, lavish breakfast. The question: would a heavy meal slow him down?

It didn’t.

Ted powered up all 73 floors in just ten minutes, moving at a blistering pace of 8 to 14 seconds per floor. To most people, a skyscraper is a place to work or sleep. To Ted, it was simply another mountain — just with walls and carpet.

Nine days later, he was already chasing a different horizon, attempting to swim around Hong Kong Island. For Ted, recovery meant switching sports, not slowing down.

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Stairs for a Cause — Denver

Back home, Ted and his close friend David Savitz turned downtown Denver into their vertical playground. Office buildings became training grounds. Stairwells became racecourses.

One of their favorites was the 1999 Broadway building, where they climbed again and again — not just for fitness, but to raise funds and awareness for National Jewish Health, a world-renowned respiratory hospital that had touched their lives deeply.

Ted believed endurance meant more when it helped someone else breathe a little easier.

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Stair Brotherhood — 2010 and Beyond

For more than twenty years, stair climbing became a weekly ritual — a standing appointment with effort, friendship, and shared sweat.

Ted and longtime friend Frank Grasmugg ran together, climbed together, and tackled mountain races like the Rim Rock Run in Grand Junction, Colorado. Even after Frank and his wife Kathy moved to a 40-acre ranch in Byers, Colorado, Frank drove 45 minutes every Wednesday to keep the tradition alive.

Stairs. Sweat. Stories.

They weren’t alone. A rotating crew joined over the years:
Dr. Robert Freedman, Honey Niehaus, Kelly Walker, Nancy Forsyth, and others who shared the same love of challenge and camaraderie.

Downtown Denver’s tall buildings became their indoor mountains:

• The Republic Building — 53 floors
• 1999 Broadway
• The Marriott Hotel

Access wasn’t always guaranteed. Sometimes management said no. And sometimes the stairwells revealed slices of city life — a person sleeping, a couple seeking privacy. Life unfolded everywhere, even on their “course.”

After grinding their way up, the group usually took the elevator down — a small concession to Ted’s knees after decades of pounding miles and vertical gain.

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More Than Training — A Community

What began as workouts became something deeper.

These climbs built lifelong friendships, shared suffering, shared victories, and bonds forged step by step. Ted and David Savitz, especially, logged countless vertical miles together — upward, always upward.

Because for Ted, a staircase was never just a staircase.

It was a mountain in disguise.
A chance to test himself.
A chance to help others.
And another opportunity to keep climbing.