How many steps does it take to get to the top of Mount Everest? Fred Picker of Searcy has the answer because on Oct. 24, he reached the goal he set to climb to the height equivalent of Mount Everest in stairs.
He reached 29,073 feet that day, a few feet higher than Mount Everest, which is 29,035 feet high.
Picker, who started volunteering at White County Medical Center in Searcy about two years ago, decided he needed to start keeping track of the distance he walked while completing his duties as a volunteer messenger.
“I’ve always liked to climb,” the 82-year-old said.
His friend told him what to do to develop a formula to calculate the height he climbed each day.
“There are 26 steps to a floor, and 7-inch-high steps,” he said. “I multiply that out to give me the total number of inches for the day and divide that by 12 to give me the number of feet per day.”
He doesn’t just count the steps he climbs; he counts the ramps he walks as well.
“I count those because it’s going up,” Picker said.
Picker makes out a schedule to use to write down how many floors he’s climbed. He volunteers one day a week for a four-hour shift.
“It’ll vary from 15 floors up to 34; I think that’s the most I’ve done in a four-hour shift,” he said.
Picker delivers packages and gifts to patients’ rooms as a messenger and said it’s not hard to remember to write down his floors for the day.
“I’ve gotten into a practice of it,” he said.
Volunteering is nothing new to Picker. He was a member of the Sojourners for 12 years.
“Sojourners is a group of Christians who go about the country helping children’s homes, youth camps and small churches with whatever they need,” Picker said.
While he was with the Sojourners, he said, members of his church asked him to volunteer at the hospital.
“We had several members of our congregation who are volunteers, so I decided I would,” he said.
At 82, Picker said, he does take the elevator down from floors.
“I don’t walk down the steps,” he said, “but I always walk up, even if I have to walk down the hall to get to the stairwell.”
He and his wife, Syble, enjoy volunteering at the hospital.
“We plan on volunteering as long as we’re in good health,” he said.
Picker likes the exercise he gets while he climbs steps at the hospital.
“I’ve always been a believer in exercise,” he said.
By walking all of those steps, Picker said, he knows his way around the hospital pretty well and sees himself having an opportunity to help others.
“It’s amazing how many people you can help as you’re going along,” he said. “A lot of times, I’ll see people wandering in the hall looking like they’re lost.
“It’s easy to get lost in this hospital, and I know my way around. I can lend a helping hand, and it feels good to help someone.”
Though he’s “reached the top of Mount Everest,” Picker still plans on keeping track of the height he climbs.
“We’ll see. I might climb [Mount Everest] twice. Who knows?” Picker said.
Staff writer Lisa Burnett can be reached at (501)244-4307 or lburnett@arkansasonline.com.