Looking back on that day, Mike Kessling said Wednesday’s weather was “almost exactly the same way.”

“There was not a cloud in the sky” on Sept. 11, 2001, said the director of marketing, promotions and special events at the Curve.

About 60 participants turned out at PNG Field to remember the firefighters who were killed responding to the twin towers and to reflect on that day’s events.

The near-perfect weather combined with the climb itself drove home what the anniversary of 9/11 means each year and what holding this memorial event symbolizes, Kessling said.

Junior firefighters Jeremy Brower Jr., 15 (front), and Gracie Pluebell, 17, begin the first lap of the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb while wearing the full gear of their respective fire companies, Hookies and Bald Eagle in Tyrone. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

For Pittsburgh native Chris Lau, the Sept. 11 attacks were the “driving force” behind him becoming a firefighter. Decked out in about 175 pounds of gear and carrying an American flag with red stripes made from the names of the 343 firefighters who died in the line of duty, Lau said he was climbing for FDNY Ladder 101.

“It’s to remember the guys who fell,” Lau said.

Now a member of the Union Fire Company in Carlisle, Lau said the Curve’s Memorial Stair Climb was the closest one he could find.

“I became a junior firefighter in 2002 when I was 16,” Lau said. “I was in eighth grade (on 9/11) and my school was put into lockdown all day because Flight 93 actually went over the school. It was the middle school, right by the airport.”

Lau has participated in seven stair climbs since 2018 to help “keep their memory alive.”

“They knew what they were getting into and still went into those towers,” Lau said, adding that they were even wearing more equipment than him while “making good time” up the stairs.

Lau already has the day off to return for next year’s event, and plans to bring more of his firefighting buddies.

Many of the event’s attendees left the stadium drenched in sweat and expecting to be sore for the next few days, with Lau joking he would need to stop at every rest area on his way home to stretch.

Kessling said climbers would complete four laps around the stadium and it took him and Director of Community Relations Annie Choiniere about three or four hours to map out a path.

“You’re supposed to hit 2,200 steps,” Kessling said. “Our route, as it is now, is about 2,400, not counting down-steps. For every three down-steps, it’s one up-step. We were more concerned about the up-steps.”

The idea to hold the memorial walk was born out of the Curve’s schedule change, Kessling said. With the team’s old schedule, the season would end over Labor Day weekend but with the new system, they’ll have a home game on Sept. 11.

Choiniere then found the memorial walk through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. With Altoona’s proximity to Shanksville and the area’s large volunteer firefighter population, Kessling said hosting a climb at the ballpark was a “no-brainer.”

“We wanted to do the first one on Sept. 11 because we felt it was the right way to honor those fallen firefighters and everybody else,” Kessling said. “But going forward, we’ll probably do it when we can actually get the most people because, the bottom line is, it’s a fundraiser for the Fallen Firefighters.”

Through registrations and donations, Choiniere said the memorial walk raised about $4,000.

“When we’re able to do something like this, it’s just something we’re honored to be able to do, and to be able to get the community to come out and support something like this on a business day is amazing,” Kessling said. “We just thank the community for the support that they give the events that we do here, especially something that’s as important as this one.”

While a date hasn’t been settled on for next year, Kessling said they received a lot of feedback from people who wanted to attend but couldn’t due to work or school.

That didn’t stop Tyrone junior firefighters Gracie Pluebell, 17, and Jeremy Brower Jr., 15, from making sure they were excused from school to take part in the climb. Pluebell, who has been with the Tyrone “Hookies” Blazing Arrow Fire Department for almost two years, said they were earning their career and technical emergency permits.

When asked why they chose to join their companies, Pluebell said she “wanted to help people and save lives” while Brower, who is in his second year at the Bald Eagle Fire Department, wanted to follow in the footsteps of his four siblings.

However, the pair were quickly disillusioned with the challenge of the climb, especially since they decided to partake in full gear.

“We thought it would be cool to do it but once you get to the second level, it kind of kills you,” Pluebell said.

Brower agreed, saying the stairs on the upper level were “a little too short.”

“And I’m walking through three layers,” Pluebell said. “We have a heat layer and an outside layer.”

Pluebell said she would do another climb, but “definitely not” in full gear, saying “maybe I’ll come in shorts and a T-shirt next time.”

The event gave them a new-found respect for what the first responders went through on that day, Pluebell said.

“It was also the first year so we wanted to give it a try,” Pluebell said. “It’s also good seeing all the different ages out here participating.”

Another person who changed their schedule to attend the memorial climb was Kelly Sipes, the music and choir director at Altoona Area High School for 16 years. She said she used a personal day to attend the event.

The Sept. 11 attacks occurred on Sipes’ second day of teaching while she was in Dayton, Ohio, a state away from her native area of Williamsport.

“Obviously it left such an impact on everyone at that time,” Sipes said. “And I’m so busy with everything that I do within my job and my personal life that, sometimes, I don’t really take time to stop and appreciate what we have. I feel like we lost that after so many years after 9/11, just in general, and I just want to take a day and reflect on that and give back a bit.”

Sipes felt moved to sign up for the memorial climb when she saw a post about it online. She said she shared it on her personal Facebook page and sent it to the teachers in her building.

“A lot of them supported me in this endeavor and I was able to raise money above and beyond the goal I had set,” Sipes said, adding she was able to donate $265 to Fallen Firefighters.

While she always had respect for first responders, Sipes said doing the memorial climb “makes that hit home a lot more and you realize what they do on a daily basis.”

“I don’t know any firefighters personally,” Sipes said. “I got to talk to a couple folks today that are firefighters and it just made me really appreciate what they do and the sacrifices that they make. This event just makes everything a lot more real about that day and what they did for other people.”

Sipes said this was her first memorial climb, but it won’t be her last. It wasn’t difficult at first but, by the fourth lap, she said “wow, this is really, really tough.”

“And you think about these firefighters doing this in full-on gear and in a high pressure situation,” Sipes said. “You don’t really know what you’re getting into, but you’re willing to do it anyway, and to me, I guess that deserves a little bit of time out of my day.”