It has been four years since Wentworth Falls Firefighter, Gavin Clifton, started his Furber Steps challenge in the Blue Mountains. Since then, he has raised over $50,000 for critical Motor Neuron Research and support for patients at Macquarie University’s Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research.

Given the choice, a lot of us will take the elevator. But Gavin, is a little different. He is preparing to climb the beautiful, and gruelling, Furber Steps at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains this September for at least 16 consecutive hours.

Born out of the original FiriesClimbforMND that traditionally took place at Centre Point Tower in the Sydney CBD, FiriesClimbforMND Blue Mountains starts at midnight on September 16 and finishes up at 4pm. The challenge will see him and some of his team exceed 50km and climb around 5000 metres of elevation. All while raising vital funds for MND research.

The countdown is now on until the next climb, with Gavin’s preparations in full swing. Rallying community support, Gavin has set the target for this year at $50,000. Donations and registrations to climb are already coming in.

"This year it's going to be bigger and better," says Gavin. "People can sign up as an individual or as a team. If you don’t want to do the full 16 hours, you can choose to run up and down once, or nominate how many repeats you want to do. Or just coming down to Scenic World to support us would be fantastic."

If you are interested in running with Gavin or supporting him with donations, find out more here.