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Space Needle's Base 2 Space Marks 10th Climb

Registration for the Space Needle's 10th annual Base 2 Space stair climb closes before the September 27 climb at Seattle Center.

<h2>Base 2 Space&#x27;s Two Different Deadlines</h2> <p>RunSignup lists two different closing times for online registration to the Space Needle&#x27;s 10th annual Base 2 Space stair climb. One page, the event&#x27;s own FAQ, sets the online cutoff at September 25, 11:59pm Pacific time, then reopens registration in person only, from 6:30 to 11am on the morning of the climb, Sunday, September 27. A separate registration page on the same platform lists a single deadline of 11am on September 27, the day of the event, without mentioning an earlier online window at all. That distinction is not cosmetic: under the FAQ&#x27;s version, anyone signing up online loses that option after September 25, two days before the climb, and can only join in person, on the morning of September 27. Both pages come from the same organizer. Same platform. Neither has been fixed.</p> <h2>A Straight Line To The Tenth Year</h2> <p>The Space Needle&#x27;s own numbering checks out. Its press materials called 2024&#x27;s stair climb the eighth annual Base 2 Space and 2025&#x27;s the ninth, which makes Sunday, September 27, 2026 the tenth, exactly as this year&#x27;s release claims. Across its first 10 years, the climb has drawn more than 17,000 participants and raised more than $5.8 million for Fred Hutch Cancer Center, with 2025 alone setting the record at $1.16 million, the largest single year yet. At least one listing also names the Space Needle Foundation as a co-beneficiary alongside Fred Hutch, though the Space Needle&#x27;s own press materials describe the climb as benefiting Fred Hutch alone. A Fleet Feet listing for the event still cites a lower total, just over $4.5 million raised since inception, a figure that appears not to reflect last year&#x27;s record.</p> <h2>The Entry Fee Is The Smaller Number</h2> <p>Registration is the smaller number. An adult pays $76 to sign up before June 1, $90 after, but is also on the hook for a $200 fundraising minimum on top of that, more than double the entry fee itself. Youth climbers, ages 8 to 17, get a flat $55 fee no matter when they register, with a lower $100 fundraising floor to match. Nobody under 8 can register at all. Any climber 10 or younger needs an adult in the stairwell with them.</p> <h2>832 Steps, One Way, By Choice</h2> <p>There is no starting gun. Climbers choose a window and get released into the stairwell individually, one every 10 to 15 seconds, up either of two separate open-air staircases, one for runners racing the clock and one for walkers moving at their own pace. The course covers 832 steps across 98 flights to the Observation Deck, 520 feet up, and every climber comes back down by elevator, not the stairs they just climbed. Another $25 buys a second trip up. Each extra climb gets its own new bib. Registration also buys a t-shirt, a finisher medal, and access to the indoor and outdoor observation decks, including the revolving glass floor.</p> <h2>A Flag At The Spire For Year Ten</h2> <p>The climb&#x27;s biggest prize is normally reserved for its biggest fundraisers. In 2025, the Space Needle sent its twelve top fundraisers past the Observation Deck and up the 40-foot mast above it, to 605 feet, a climb almost nobody else on the guest list gets to make. For the 10th anniversary, the Space Needle says it plans to bring those same 2025 top fundraisers back up the spire, to raise the first Base 2 Space flag ever flown there.</p> <h2>Why The Tower, Not Just The Ten</h2> <p>Most of this happens inside a tower. Bib pickup happens outside, on Broad St Green, the lawn at the tower&#x27;s base at 400 Broad Street in Seattle Center. Check-in runs 6:30 to 11am on climb day. The climb itself is what the fundraising minimum and the entry fee are actually buying, not just a t-shirt and a medal. Ron Sevart, the Space Needle&#x27;s president and CEO, has called the event, in his words, &#x27;an opportunity to create community and inspire them to give back.&#x27;</p> <h2>Ten Years Later, The Flag Goes Higher</h2> <p>Base 2 Space started as a stair climb. Whether 2026 breaks 2025&#x27;s $1.16 million record won&#x27;t be known until the last climber has gone up and come back down by elevator. What&#x27;s new this year is what waits above the Observation Deck: the spire climb, normally reserved for the prior year&#x27;s top fundraisers, has never before put a Base 2 Space flag at 605 feet. This year it will.</p>

Base 2 Space's Two Different Deadlines

RunSignup lists two different closing times for online registration to the Space Needle's 10th annual Base 2 Space stair climb. One page, the event's own FAQ, sets the online cutoff at September 25, 11:59pm Pacific time, then reopens registration in person only, from 6:30 to 11am on the morning of the climb, Sunday, September 27. A separate registration page on the same platform lists a single deadline of 11am on September 27, the day of the event, without mentioning an earlier online window at all. That distinction is not cosmetic: under the FAQ's version, anyone signing up online loses that option after September 25, two days before the climb, and can only join in person, on the morning of September 27. Both pages come from the same organizer. Same platform. Neither has been fixed.

A Straight Line To The Tenth Year

The Space Needle's own numbering checks out. Its press materials called 2024's stair climb the eighth annual Base 2 Space and 2025's the ninth, which makes Sunday, September 27, 2026 the tenth, exactly as this year's release claims. Across its first 10 years, the climb has drawn more than 17,000 participants and raised more than $5.8 million for Fred Hutch Cancer Center, with 2025 alone setting the record at $1.16 million, the largest single year yet. At least one listing also names the Space Needle Foundation as a co-beneficiary alongside Fred Hutch, though the Space Needle's own press materials describe the climb as benefiting Fred Hutch alone. A Fleet Feet listing for the event still cites a lower total, just over $4.5 million raised since inception, a figure that appears not to reflect last year's record.

The Entry Fee Is The Smaller Number

Registration is the smaller number. An adult pays $76 to sign up before June 1, $90 after, but is also on the hook for a $200 fundraising minimum on top of that, more than double the entry fee itself. Youth climbers, ages 8 to 17, get a flat $55 fee no matter when they register, with a lower $100 fundraising floor to match. Nobody under 8 can register at all. Any climber 10 or younger needs an adult in the stairwell with them.

832 Steps, One Way, By Choice

There is no starting gun. Climbers choose a window and get released into the stairwell individually, one every 10 to 15 seconds, up either of two separate open-air staircases, one for runners racing the clock and one for walkers moving at their own pace. The course covers 832 steps across 98 flights to the Observation Deck, 520 feet up, and every climber comes back down by elevator, not the stairs they just climbed. Another $25 buys a second trip up. Each extra climb gets its own new bib. Registration also buys a t-shirt, a finisher medal, and access to the indoor and outdoor observation decks, including the revolving glass floor.

A Flag At The Spire For Year Ten

The climb's biggest prize is normally reserved for its biggest fundraisers. In 2025, the Space Needle sent its twelve top fundraisers past the Observation Deck and up the 40-foot mast above it, to 605 feet, a climb almost nobody else on the guest list gets to make. For the 10th anniversary, the Space Needle says it plans to bring those same 2025 top fundraisers back up the spire, to raise the first Base 2 Space flag ever flown there.

Why The Tower, Not Just The Ten

Most of this happens inside a tower. Bib pickup happens outside, on Broad St Green, the lawn at the tower's base at 400 Broad Street in Seattle Center. Check-in runs 6:30 to 11am on climb day. The climb itself is what the fundraising minimum and the entry fee are actually buying, not just a t-shirt and a medal. Ron Sevart, the Space Needle's president and CEO, has called the event, in his words, 'an opportunity to create community and inspire them to give back.'

Ten Years Later, The Flag Goes Higher

Base 2 Space started as a stair climb. Whether 2026 breaks 2025's $1.16 million record won't be known until the last climber has gone up and come back down by elevator. What's new this year is what waits above the Observation Deck: the spire climb, normally reserved for the prior year's top fundraisers, has never before put a Base 2 Space flag at 605 feet. This year it will.

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