Exercising the chance to honor 9/11 firefighters who climbed into the burning towers
Usa today news
Morrison, Co.– Every Sept. 11 for the past 20-plus years, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre has hosted the nation’s biggest firefighter memorial stair climb.
Or one of the biggest, there’s a dispute about that. No matter; it’s big.
This year, some 3,000 people, including many firefighters (some of whom will wear 70-plus pounds of firefighting gear) are expected to climb the amphitheatre’s rows of seats nine times, which is equal to 110 stories, a number that’s a sad symbol of the 2001 attacks. As events go, it’s a spectacle, it raises money and it’s cool.
It’s also bananas.
Today, we hiked the Red Rocks seats trek exactly one time, and felt some altitude-amplified respiratory distress. Nine trips might’ve meant medical intervention.
Ali Aldarraji, right, high-fives members of his exercise group after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A man who said his name is Beast, runs up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Beast said he plans to run the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb next week. “Usually I workout by myself, if I’m doing it with other people, for a cause, even better”, he said. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Patsy Lasater, left, Juste Mukiza, Camila Dillon and Taylor Chant, right, share a laugh after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. The four are part of an exercise group that meets every Saturday. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nick Palgrave runs up the seats in the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A man who said his name is Beast, runs up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Beast said he plans to run the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb next week. “Usually I workout by myself, if I’m doing it with other people, for a cause, even better”, he said. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Patsy Lasater jumps up the seats in the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Lasater said the workout in the steep theater is, “humbling and healing”. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors to Red Rocks look over the amphitheater in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Emmy Agustin, a flight attendant for United Airlines, after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Three years ago Agustin was among four flight attendants picked represent her profession during a 9/11 memorial in Washington, D.C. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Emmy Agustin, a flight attendant for United Airlines, after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Three years ago Agustin was among four flight attendants picked represent her profession during a 9/11 memorial in Washington, D.C. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Juste Mukiza, center, greets a man who said his name is Beast, left, after running up the seats in the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kyle Cox, left, Nick Palgrave and Juste Mukiza, race up the seats in the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. The men are part of an exercise group that meets every Saturday. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A man who said his name is Beast, does a spider climb down the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Beast said he plans to run the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb next week. “Usually I workout by myself, if I’m doing it with other people, for a cause, even better”, he said. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A man who said his name is Beast, does a spider climb down the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Beast said he plans to run the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb next week. “Usually I workout by myself, if I’m doing it with other people, for a cause, even better”, he said. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Emmy Agustin, a flight attendant for United Airlines, after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Three years ago Agustin was among four flight attendants picked represent her profession during a 9/11 memorial in Washington, D.C. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kyle Cox, left, Nick Palgrave and Juste Mukiza, race up the seats in the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. The men are part of an exercise group that meets every Saturday. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Ali Aldarraji, right, high-fives members of his exercise group after running up the amphitheater at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater is the site of the annual Colorado 9/11 Stair Climb, a charity event honoring heroes and supporting FDNY fundraising efforts. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
When it’s not hosting 9/11 memorial stuff, or concerts (the venue’s primary purpose), the amphitheatre is essentially a Mountain Time Zone version of Venice Beach – with lots of beautiful people in a beautiful place watching other beautiful people exercising in ways that are beautiful and, yes, performative.
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at how the Red Rocks exercise show played out Saturday, Sept. 5:
6,435-feet – Elevation
100-feet – Elevation gain during one trip up the seats.
87 – Degrees, Fahrenheit, at 11:06 a.m.
70 – Rows of seats, from stage front to cheapest row.
61 – Age of a shirtless guy, Ali, who drew a small round of applause after he sprinted all 70 rows (see above) and hopped on the last one.
5 – The outrageously low caloric burn when an average human climbs a single flight of stairs.
3* – Possible size of a family of black-billed magpies, a breed of tuxedo black-and-white birds that live in the amphitheatre grounds.
1 – Heckler who yelled “that’s not even a full burpee” at a woman who was going up the rows by jumping, doing a push-up, and jumping again. She didn’t hear the heckler.
1 – Guy named “Beast” who ran forward while traveling up the stairs and backward going down, while mixing in the occasional crawl going both ways.
* It’s hard to tell one black-billed magpie from another, so it’s possible there are more or fewer than three.
