Abacus News

Abacus Aim to Climb Mt Everest…kind of


The staff here at Abacus are always up for a challenge and the latest venture is to climb Mount Everest…via the stairs to our office on the 4th floor of Cotton House.

It all started with ‘No Lift November’ which meant that all staff had to walk from the ground floor to the fourth floor (84nr) steps. This wasn’t challenge enough for Ellis who wanted the combined efforts to have some context or a viable target. He settled (naturally) on the summit of Mount Everest, a mere 8,848 metres of ascent. Now the 84 steps once or twice a day (4 times a day for some!) had meaning! Tom Gallagher, Trainee Surveyor was tasked with the calculation for the required number of ascents of the Cotton House stairs to reach the top of the world…only 691 times from the bottom to the fourth floor: 58,070 steps altogether.

There was a financial element too – a £1 fine for anyone failing to use the stairs, to go to a charity of our choice.

By the end of November the team was nearly there; a mere 119.3 ascents from the summit. By the Christmas shutdown (COB 24 December) the challenge will be complete and the funds for charity totted up.

 

Mt Everest           Abacus Stairs - Cotton House

Mount Everest                                            Base Camp of the Abacus Stairs

 

2019 update: WE DID IT. With another 175 ascents of the stairs in the bag the Abacus team SMASHED IT! To the summit of Everest and beyond…