Arizona Group’s 9/11 Tribute to New York’s First Responders Is a Monster Stair Climb

GLENDALE, Ariz.—To know another’s pain is to walk a mile in their shoes—but to experience a fraction of what New York City’s first responders endured on Sept. 11, 2001, is to climb more than 2,000 stair steps.

On Sept. 11, hundreds of firefighters in full gear, police officers, and civilians marked the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks in New York City by climbing the stairs of State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The goal of the 9/11 Tower Climb was to ascend the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs—2,071 steps in a continuous procession of remembrance.

The challenge offered participants a glimpse of the physical demands first responders faced as they made their way up the towers on 9/11.

“We’re just here to honor those people that risked their lives to save people they didn’t know and would have done for any of us,” said Tom Beveridge of Mesa, Arizona.

“It averages out to be 110 floors, which is how many floors there were in the Twin Towers. Nineteen steps per floor on average.”

The memorial challenge was sponsored by the 100 Club, a nonprofit providing financial support, safety equipment, and mental health resources to Arizona’s public safety personnel and their families.

The inaugural climb took place on Sept. 11, 2002, and has been held annually ever since, growing into a statewide tradition of remembrance.

Registration took place outside the stadium shortly after sunrise, as first responders raised an enormous American flag.

Beveridge said it felt strange that a quarter century had passed since 9/11.

“This is a never-forgetting event,” he said.

Byron Mitchell of Chandler, Arizona, a member of the Navajo Nation, said he was mentally prepared for the challenge of ascending thousands of stairs inside the stadium.

“I did a little bit of stretching, but nothing too physical,” he told The Epoch Times.

Mitchell said he hoped to experience, if only vicariously, some of the emotions first responders felt on 9/11—for “the mothers and fathers that didn’t come home.”

“That’s where my thoughts are,” he said.

Twenty-five years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, Mitchell was a military contractor when the planes struck the Twin Towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, while another crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

He remembers the fear, confusion, and lockdowns that followed.

Life was never the same, Mitchell said.

Keeping the memory alive with his children, who “aren’t too familiar” with the events of that day, is an ongoing effort.

“When it’s on TV, then I explain to them, and then I talk to them, and then I tell them where I was at and when it happened. So that gives them that information,” Mitchell said.

“But other than, like, everyday over-the-dinner-table talk, it’s not there. Twenty-five years later, it’s not as hot a topic in the living room.”

Following the opening ceremonies, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers addressed hundreds of people seated in the bleachers about the importance of remembering 9/11.

Twenty-five years later, the country is still standing, he said.

“They did not take it from us, folks. Look in the audience. Nobody’s taken this country from us,” Weiers said.

“Don’t let the kids forget what happened 25 years ago. Make sure you tell them each and every day.”

Draped outside the stadium, the National Unity Flag brought together all 50 states and U.S. territories in a bright, colorful patchwork of remembrance nearly three stories tall.

Its inscription, “3,046 lost, 290,000,000 united,” signed by 100 U.S. senators, struck an emotional chord with Monica Paradis, whose brother is a Phoenix firefighter.

“It was the worst terror [event] of our lives,” she said. “It gives me goosebumps to be here and think about the spirit of 9/11.”

Paradis said the flag and the tower climb were ways to keep people connected to a historic event that touched so many lives.

She remembers driving home after breakfast with friends on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when news broke of the first plane striking the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.

“It was horrible—just a sinking feeling in your stomach knowing that we’d been attacked on our homeland,” Paradis told The Epoch Times.

On Sept. 10, the city of Phoenix held “Phoenix Remembers: 9/11—25 Years Later: Voices Across Generations” to commemorate the worst attack to occur on U.S. soil.

The event hosted members of Arizona Task Force 1, including firefighters, police officers, doctors, and dog handlers who went to Ground Zero to provide assistance following the attack.

“Every American old enough to remember has a 9/11 story, and Phoenix’s 9/11 story is special in that it reflects how two communities in opposite corners of the country are bound by patriotism, compassion, and care for one another,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement.

“Bringing the heroes of Arizona Task Force 1 and young people together gives us an opportunity to share history in a deeply personal way and to remind ourselves of what is possible when people come together in moments of crisis.”

Emily Thomas, 29, was just 4 years old on 9/11.

Her son and daughter, ages 6 and 10, know of the event only through family talks and classroom discussions.

“I don’t remember much because I was so young,” Thomas said, “but you can see the change in the United States and across the world and how big of an impact this was for everyone.”

Community events such as the Tower Climb are an important way to keep the memory and spirit of 9/11 alive, she said.

“I just think it’s really good to come support the people that lost their lives [on 9/11]. It’s the least we can do to make an impact,” Thomas said.

“We’re here. That’s all that matters.”