Good to Know Column

Gearing up for my Everest climb means spending a lot (A LOT) of time in the stairs. It was so fun to be able to share about training in the January 2020 issue of the Curbside Chronicle. Curbside is a magazine that employs and empowers men and women transitioning out of homelessness in Oklahoma City. Providing them with an alternative to panhandling but selling magazines.

Check out the article below if you weren’t able to pick up a copy of your own.

Jayna Hadwiger created the most beautiful graphic to go with it (I’M OBSESSED).

Good to know column

How do you turn a staircase into a mountain?

By JESS WEDEL

Mountains appear in many forms. It’s not just gigantic rocks. It’s getting cancer at 27 and enduring major surgeries followed by 18 weeks of chemotherapy. I’ve learned some climbs are a lot easier than others. Once I made it to the other side, my life changed. I started climbing actual mountains with my mom because time is precious and there’s so much I hadn’t experienced outside of Oklahoma. I bet you’re wanting to ask, “How do you even train for mountains in the plains?”

This is an important question for the flatland mountaineer. The simple answer is to find your nearest stairwell, throw on a backpack and start climbing. After climbing mountains on four continents and across 10 countries, the glory of climbing mountains isn’t on summits. It’s found in having a dream and holding onto it. It’s about when it feels good and when it feels bad. You decide what to do with that. It’s also found in the stairwells, relentlessly walking one step at a time. Here’s some tips if you want to get started today.

THE BUDDY SYSTEM

My mom is still my buddy. We check in with each other and you’ll often hear these words echoing through a staircase: Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating enough? Are you resting? Even saying, “Hang in there,” or cracking a joke or two goes a long way. We don’t always train together, but we are always supporting each other. Don’t forget to be someone’s buddy, too. 

SNACKS ON SNACKS

When you are climbing stairs for hours and always in life you should have snacks. Your body needs calories to keep going. It’s no different than filling your car with fuel. My personal favorite stairwell/mountain snacks include Uncrustables (a classic peanut butter and honey for me); oranges (pro tip: peel them before you go); and PayDay candy bars. Find what works for you. 

FIND A PURPOSE

You don’t climb stairs because they’re remarkable. You climb stairs so you can hold fast to your dreams of making a summit. It doesn’t matter what your purpose is because it just matters that you know it. Call on it when another lap in the stairs sounds like the most exhaustingly monotonous task in the world. When you come up short on a training day — as we all do from time to time — remember why you should still go for it. I’ll even look at photos of mountains I have climbed or want to climb while training. That sounds cheesy but a flatland mountaineer has to do what a flatland mountaineer has to do.

MOVING FORWARD, HOWEVER SLOWLY

You might start off in the stairwell feeling at least somewhat confident. Allow me to build on that. You’re stronger than you even know. However, what’s also going to happen — without a doubt — is that you’ll feel like you are not strong. You’ll want to text someone, “OMG haha my feet can walk no more, TYVM.” Please keep moving forward, however slowly. You might be moving so slowly that you’ll feel totally still. That is OK. Eventually, you’ll see the flickering lights on the third floor of the stairwell. Later on, you might smell that weird odor around the eighth floor. Keep going. You can be slow as long as you are steady and safe. Find your rhythm and stick with it. 

TAKE THE ELEVATOR DOWN

On an actual mountain, you have to go down at some point. Making it to a summit is only half of the journey. If you’re training in Oklahoma, you should go ahead and ride the elevator down because otherwise your knees will hate you. You’ll hurt yourself and your first mountain will probably be your last. Always take the easy way back down. You’ve earned it. 

Editor note: 

Oklahoma City-native Jess Wedel has a drive to experience every single thing she can with this tiny life she has. After being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 27, her passion for climbing mountains became a source discovery and healing. After spending the winter climbing Aconcagua — the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas — she hopes to be the first woman from Oklahoma to climb the seven summits. Follow @jess.wedel on Instagram.