The next time you think you're being good by taking the stairs instead of the lift at work, spare a thought for the girls at Queen's High School.
On November 1, they plan to climb about 19,250 stairs at Otago House - the equivalent number of steps it takes to climb the 3468m from base camp to the summit of Mt Everest.
Queen's High School pupil Anya Gipp said the event, named Dunedin to Everest, was a sponsored stair climb organised by the Queen's High School Interact Club and the St Kilda Rotary Club, which aimed to raise money to help Nepalese communities recover from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that caused widespread fatalities and damage earlier this year.
She said the money raised would go to two causes - the purchase of two Shelterboxes, which provide aid and relief in disaster zones, and the First Steps Himalaya organisation, which improves the quality and capacity of children's education in rural villages.
''We believe these are incredibly important causes and we are keen to do all we can to help them through the organisation and promotion of Dunedin to Everest.''
Anya hoped to involve as many teams as possible, representative of a variety of Dunedin schools, businesses and organisations.
''I don't think I can climb that many stairs myself. I'll definitely be doing it as part of a team.
''At this stage, we already have a number of school teams participating and registration is up and running.
''The idea is that each team will climb Mt Everest once.''
The event is from 10am-3pm on November 1, at Otago House.
