Team 'Climb-It Smart' training log – The Wentworth Stairs

WWF Canada

By Heather Crochetiere, Administrative Coordinator, Strategic Partnerships and Development
The climb is just over 2 weeks away! Many of you have probably already started training, perhaps by taking the stairs at work or hitting the stair climber at the gym! These are fantastic strategies, but what if you’re thinking you want to do more? Never fear! As always, we’re here to help! Team Climb-It Smart has been searching around the GTA to find the best training stairs and we’re going to pass our knowledge on to you! Follow us as we get ourselves ready for the physical test of the Canada Life CN Tower Climb!
Team members present: Heather and Steph
Location:  Wentworth Stairs, Hamilton, ON – located at the end of Wentworth Street S at the bottom of the escarpment.
Wentworth stairs2
Number of Stairs: 500
Strategy:  Climb up and down 4 times = 2000 stairs!
Heather
Hamilton has many staircases leading up the escarpment but we chose the Wentworth stairs because they’re the largest.  Go big or go home right!?
Likes: This is the largest staircase we’ve been able to find so far meaning we got a large number of stairs without having to spend as much time climbing down them (which gives you a bit of a break). It gave me a better idea of how to pace myself for the actual climb. If I started running at the bottom of those 500 stairs and was jelly by the top, just think how it’ll be when there’s 1776 stairs! The stairs are also surrounded by a bit of a natural area with lots of trees. It’s very pretty!
Dislikes: It’s a bit far from where we are making it not the most practical for a regular training spot.
Steph
First stair climb of the season – always an intimidating affair. But it’s great to train with a buddy who pushes you (and commiserates). It was fun even though my quads were yelling profanities at me and my calves took their revenge for the next three days. You can do it!
Likes: I felt like I was rock climbing up the escarpment and the view from the top was phenomenal. It was also motivating to share the stairs with so many active people! I was especially impressed by the woman wearing garbage bags under her sweats, walking up sideways and backwards…there’s a training tip for ya!
Dislikes: The woman wearing garbage bags under her sweats, walking up sideways and backwards. I GET IT, YOU’RE MORE HARD CORE THAN ME!
If you know of any other staircases in the area, post in the comments and we’ll try to check them out!
(Team Climb-It Smart is the WWF-Canada staff team. It’s made up of Hadley Archer, Steph Morgan, Mike Terry, Heather Crochetiere, Jamie Joudrey, James Snider and Rebecca Spring.)