In 2016, Jess Wedel of Oklahoma was diagnosed with cancer. She fought hard, undergoing several surgeries and months of treatment. Luckily, she didn’t have to fight alone; her mom, Valari Wedel, was by her side every step of the way.
The mom and daughter are incredibly close. They share a love of the outdoors and mountain climbing, routinely traveling to distant peaks to plant their flag at the summit. So when Jess was declared cancer-free, she was eager to get back out in the wilderness.
What better way is there to celebrate a second chance than scaling the world’s highest peak? Jess and Valari started a hard journey up Mount Everest of the Himalayas, as soon as the passage was opened in the spring of 2021.
The two of them agree that they made the journey for more than just another feather in their cap. They are hiking as if each day is their last, because for a while, it seemed that death was a very real possibility. While they hoped to be successful and become the first American mother-daughter team to reach Everest’s peak, it was always more about the journey than the destination. “It feels like part of our healing was coming into the mountains and being able to enjoy each other and have fun and just live life,” Jess said.
Mount Everest is one of the most challenging climbs in the world. Their expedition soon met with terrifying 60 mph winds and whiteout(白化) conditions for nearly two days straight, but they kept moving. Unfortunately, on May 11, it all became too much for Valari, who is 61 and has asthma(哮喘病) . Jess was heartbroken when her mother had to turn back, but she felt more determined than ever to scale the peak not just for herself, but for her mom, too.
Jess continued on her climb, and on May 25, she woke up excited to finally reach the summit after 55 days of climbing. Yet once again, fate had other plans. Her group’s workers fell ill. “Our summit attempt was canceled because our crew was sick,” Jess wrote on Instagram. “And unlike most mountains, it is impossible to climb this one without their help.”
本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写,未经书面授权,禁止复制和任何商业用途,版权所有,侵权必究!(作者投稿及时文阅读定制请联系微信:18980471698)