Fastest Stair-Climb Ascent of the Skylon Tower
Record Holder
Metric
Date Achieved
Location
Atlas Record ID
Troy Alston
3 minutes, 2 seconds
22 April 2017
Niagara Falls, Ontario [Canada]
20426031
Record Narrative
There are 660 stairs inside the Skylon Tower of Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. They rise in a narrow spine of concrete and steel above the roar of the falls, indifferent to weather, history, charity, or applause. They existed long before Troy Alston arrived, and they will remain long after his breath returned to normal.
In April of 2017, Troy Alston entered this vertical corridor with a single intention: to move upward faster than anyone had before.
The tower does not bend. The stairs do not shorten. They do not care who climbs them.
What matters is time.
During the Annual Stair Climb for Children's Cancer, Alston ascended all 660 steps in 3 minutes and 02 seconds, a pace that leaves no room for hesitation and no tolerance for doubt. It was not his first conquest of the structure. One year earlier, he had already broken a record that had stood since 1984. But records, like memory, are fragile. They invite pursuit. They demand defense.
So he returned.
This ascent was not dramatic in the way cinema prefers. There was no flourish at the finish, no negotiation with fate. There was only repetition, force, oxygen debt, and gravity reluctantly surrendered. In this way, stair climbing reveals something uncomfortable: progress is not always forward. Sometimes it is simply up.
The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, later issued a formal declaration identifying Alston as the record holder. Local news accounts documented the performance with the quiet certainty of facts that do not require embellishment. Together, they fixed the moment in public record, where it now sits—unchanged, uninterested in opinion.
Troy Alston is hereby recognized for the Fastest Stair-Climb Ascent of the Skylon Tower.
The stairs remain.
They will wait.
Transparent Adjudicator's Statement
Summary of Claim
Troy Alston submitted a claim to be recognized for achieving the fastest recorded stair-climb ascent of the Skylon Tower, a fixed vertical structure consisting of 660 stairs, during the Annual Stair Climb for Children's Cancer event in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The claimant asserts that he first set a new course record in 2016 with a time of 3 minutes and 21 seconds, and subsequently improved upon that performance in 2017 with a time of 3 minutes and 02 seconds, which stands as the fastest recorded ascent of the structure.
Evidence Submitted
The following materials were submitted and reviewed as part of this adjudication:
Event-issued finisher certificates from the 2016 and 2017 Annual Stair Climb for Children's Cancer
Civic recognition plaques issued by the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, formally identifying Troy Alston as the Record Holder for the Skylon Tower stair climb and explicitly stating the recorded times for both years
Independent contemporaneous news articles from trusted local media outlets documenting the event results, the recorded times, and the breaking of the prior course record
Completed Atlas World Records submission form and supporting materials
Comparative and Cross-Archive Benchmark Review
Atlas conducted a review of publicly available documentation relating to the Skylon Tower stair climb, including historical references to prior course records.
A benchmark record of 3 minutes and 24 seconds, established in 1984 by a previous competitor, was identified in archival reporting and cited consistently across independent news sources. No publicly documented faster ascent prior to Troy Alston’s 2016 performance was found.
Atlas further reviewed whether any faster times for the Skylon Tower stair climb had been publicly recorded following the claimant’s 2017 ascent and found no evidence of a subsequent superseding performance.
Verification Methodology
In accordance with the Atlas Verification Protocol (AVP), the event-issued finisher certificates from 2016 and 2017 were reviewed and found to be unsigned and lacking identification of a timing authority or race official. As such, these certificates were classified as supporting evidence only and were not relied upon as primary verification artifacts.
Primary verification for this claim is based on the combined weight of the following independent sources:
Formal civic declarations issued by the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, which explicitly identify the claimant as the record holder for the Skylon Tower stair climb and state the recorded ascent times
Independent contemporaneous news reporting from trusted media outlets corroborating the same event details, times, and record status
The Mayor’s declaration was treated as confirmation of officially recognized event results rather than as a timing authority and was evaluated in conjunction with independent journalism. Consistency across these sources, with no conflicting public documentation identified, satisfied AVP requirements for historical, venue-specific performance verification.
Adjudication Findings
Atlas finds that Troy Alston completed the ascent of the Skylon Tower’s 660 stairs in 3 minutes and 02 seconds on April 22, 2017, establishing the fastest recorded stair-climb ascent of the structure.
The 2017 performance represents an improvement upon the claimant’s own 2016 course record and stands as the fastest documented ascent at the time of adjudication.
The claim is venue-specific, time-based, and verifiable within the available public record.
Conclusion
Atlas World Records formally certifies Troy Alston as the World Record Holder for the Fastest Stair-Climb Ascent of the Skylon Tower.
Verified and authenticated by the Atlas World Records Adjudication Committee in accordance with the Atlas Verification Protocol.