Verb (used without object) : The airplane ascended into the clouds. ,to ascend to the presidency.    From Dictionary.com. 

Verb (used with object) : to ascend a lookout tower; to ascend stairs. ,to ascend the throne.    From Dictionary.com. 

Often friends and I will pass some edifice with obviously ascendable features and one of us will ask the other: "What do you think it goes at?".    From Wordnik.com.  [No Elevator, or Stairs, Required] Reference