PCC Student Takes First in LA Stair Climb

A Pasadena City College student completed the annual LA Stair Climb in record time on Friday, besting the previous winning time by more than thirty seconds.

18-year old Lucas Matison was among thousands of entrants in the Ketchum-Downtown YMCA’s “Stair Climb to the Top,” an annual charity event that sees participants from around the country competing in a race to the top of downtown LA’s US Bank Tower, the tallest building West of the Mississippi.

Matison, who competed in both track and cross country sports throughout high school, says he recently transitioned to an interest in competitive mountain running, often training near a friend’s home in North Pasadena. “Some of the trails over there are really steep. You have to treat them like stairs almost.”

“When I first heard of stair-climbing, I seriously thought that you just sprint up a building. I didn’t realize there was this whole technique behind it. To be more efficient, you take two steps at a time, and you use the railing. You pull with your arms. And also, when you turn on the landings, you only put one foot on the landings, so you don’t waste time.”

Matison completed the 75-story climb in 8:56, breaking the previous record set in 2013.

“I’m hooked,” he says. “Hopefully I can beat my own time next year.”