Athlete Information

High Five Athlete: Megan Wemmer

Athlete Number: 73

Location: Colorado

Injury: SCI T9 Incomplete

Belt Goal: My goal is to hike up to my backcountry cabin under my own power. With some improvements in strength, balance, and endurance, I will attempt to hike up to my cabin on my own. I have made it up using an off-road hand cycle before, but I have always needed help from other people since the terrain is rugged and off-camber. I think I have progressed to the point where I will be able to complete the hike this summer, if I step up the intensity of my training. The trainers at the Peak Center at Craig Hospital are helping me come up with a training plan, including strength training, stair stepper, as well as balance and coordination exercises to help me achieve this goal. I look forward to this challenge and to the feeling of accomplishing this milestone.

A note from Megan

I just want to send you an update after this past weekend’s challenge. My goal for this past year was to train to get ready to hike up to the backcountry cabin where I fell and broke my back in 2015. My boyfriend Jeff and I have been able to get up to the cabin before, but it always required extra help. The PEAK training sessions that the High Fives Foundation has been helping pay for, have paid off in a BIG way. We have been spending time on the stair climber, and walking over obstacles in the gym (to mimic rocks, tree branches, etc) and in the garden area on the grounds at Craig Hospital.

Well, this past weekend, I crushed my goal of hiking up to our cabin.

We left Thursday afternoon so that we could park close to the trailhead and set off. My boyfriend Jeff went a little ahead to set up a Tyrolean traverse (a rope suspended across the creek so I could cross using a climbing harness to clip to the rope and pull myself hand over hand across the rope) since the high water is not safe for me to cross on foot. I met him at the traverse as planned, put on my harness, “roped-up”, and crossed the creek. Once that was accomplished, we started up the hill.

We have friends that have dubbed the initial hill you climb up “the wall of will”.

The path up is fairly short from there, maybe 3/4 of a mile, but it’s exceptionally steep. We have friends that have dubbed the initial hill you climb up “the wall of will”. Slowly but surely I was able to make my way up the mountainside. Jeff helped by standing on a fallen tree so I could climb over it, but other than that, I made it up the hill entirely by my own power, just as I manifested with this goal. I have to say, the trainers at the PEAK have been doing a great job putting together workouts to help prepare me for the hike. They are super receptive to helping me to find ways to do activities that are outside of the “normal” realm of what most paraplegics are able to do. We spent the rest of the weekend with our friends playing games, hiking around the woods, and having a bbq to celebrate the 4th of July. Included are a couple of pictures from the hike up and the creek crossing.

I just wanted to share this update and send my gratitude to the High Fives Foundation for helping me get back to doing the things that I love and get to the places I want to go. We made it!