Program Update: This program is now completed! But - please stay tuned because The Denali Challenge will be beginning on October 16 th. What is The Denali Challenge? This is a Start Walking program that tracks participants steps to the summit of Denali and back down. After signing up at www.alaska.edu/DenaliChallenge/, participants will begin their journey at Kahiltna Base Camp, the staging ground for the West Buttress Route. Participants will carry a 60 lb backpack, pull a 40 lb sled, and face difficulties with high altitude, snowstorms, crevasses and avalanches. The Denali Challenge Web site includes a step conversion chart for most activities, except watching TV. Who’s doing it? UA employees who want to take a small step toward better health. If you would like to check out how you stack up against other walkers of note, the leader board will track the top 50 steppers from each MAU as well as overall step totals. Sign up begins Oct 16, and the program will run until March 30, 2007. So what are you waiting for? heart disease DID YOU KNOW? How many steps do you walk each day? Maybe you have heard the recent guidelines about walking 10,000 steps per day. How far is 10,000 steps anyway? The average person's stride length is approximately 2.5 feet. That means it takes just over 2,000 steps to walk one mile and 10,000 steps is close to five miles.