All Over Albany

Corning Tower stair climb 2012

The annual Corning Tower stair climb for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Northeastern NY is March 8. The climb includes a few subdivision: individuals, a relay race (four person teams), a 13-floor climb for individuals, and most impressive -- a firefighter's climb (yep, firefighters going up all those steps while wearing their gear).

Hey, it's only 42-floors (809 steps). Easy, right? Heh. Liz -- who we're sure has a level of fitness and athleticism to which we could only hope for -- did the stair climb last year. She felt the burn.

Registration is now $40 (there's also a $125 pledge minimum). Check in begins at 4 pm, and the climbing starts at 6 pm.

9 observations from climbing Corning

I'll never be able to look at that building in the same way.

I've wanted to see the city from top of the Corning Tower for quite some time now, but I'd always planned on getting there by elevator.

Then I heard about yesterday's climb for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

As tall towers go, the Corning - at 42 stories - is not one of the greats. That title goes to the big guns: The Sears Willis Tower, the Empire State Building and John Hancock Center. At 100+ floors each, my legs thank me for not attacking those.

Here's some of what I learned in my 7:40:00 climb.

(there's more)

That's tall

The buidling heights should be roughly to scale. The widths not at all.

The world's tallest building -- the Burj Khalifa (also known as the Burj Dubai) -- officially opened today in Dubai. It's 2,717 ft tall at the tip of its spire.

We decided it would be fun to compare to the height of the Corning Tower -- and to use the Corning Tower as a unit of measurement (Cornings). Thus, the Burj Khalifa is... 4.61 Cornings tall.

Here are a few other extraordinarily tall buildings, as measured in Cornings:

• Willis Tower - 2.94 Cornings
• Taipei 101 - 2.84 Cornings
• Petronas Towers - 2.52 Cornings
• Empire State Building - 2.47 Cornings
• A person six feet tall - .01 Cornings

(all building heights at spire tip)

Earlier on AOA: The Corning Tower observation deck

Burj Khalifa outline by Wikipedia user Greyengine5

Is the Corning Tower trying to tell us something?

Yeah, well, you're... you're... you're a pale imitation of Brasilia! Yeah, take that!

TJ sent us this picture yesterday with the message:

"I saw this outside my house tonight, and i could swear that the Corning Tower was giving me the middle finger. I'm sure its just my crazy eyes and a strange coincidence, but the image made me laugh."

(Thanks!)

The Corning Tower observation deck

Ever wish you could just rise above it all? Try looking down on your friends and neighbors from the observation deck of The Corning Tower. (It's the reallllly tall building at the end of the capital mall.) You can see the Adirondacks, The Catskills, The Berkshires, The Empire Plaza, even The Governor's Mansion (Is that a tiny steamroller?).

If you live downtown you can walk. Otherwise, park under the plaza. Just bring your photo id. Getting into the tower isn't hard, but you have to jump through a few post 9-11 security hoops. If you enter from the plaza level, you'll have to take the escalator down, present your id and get your picture taken. The guard will print an unflattering photo of you on a name badge.Stick it on and head back up to the plaza level to wait for the express elevator to the 42nd floor.

It's really not as much trouble as it sounds, and on a clear day, it's well worth the view. There are signs below the windows with tips on what there is to see, and a representative from the NYS tourism department is on hand to answer questions. Fun, informative and oh yeah, free.