Everesting: The Ultimate Climbing Challenge

‘The concept of Everesting is fiendishly simple: Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 8,848m – the equivalent height of Mt Everest. Complete the challenge, and you’ll find your name in the Hall of Fame, alongside the best climbers in the world.’ – https://everesting.cc

Cycling the alps was simply amazing. The trans-alpine journey of one thousand miles was a project which consumed me for months. From concept, to planning and logistics to ultimately doing and completing. In the back of my mind, I had this niggling thought… What happens when it’s done?

After riding an average of 150km across the alps every day for 14 days, I knew I’d need something to occupy me when I got home. Having just completed my degree prior to the trans-alpine bikepacking project, I knew there would be a big space in my life to fill. Hours spent on my degree, studying and dissertation’ing became hours spent planning and dreaming up routes.

Now what?

Flicking through social media one evening in Slovenia. I came across one post which caught my eye. Jaimi Wilson, a British round the world cyclist, was proposing an Everesting challenge. At first glance I merely thought ‘fair play, good luck!’. The same night I ended up pretty drunk on cheap Slovenian beer… I couldn’t shake this thought of this Everesting challenge. Whether it was the beer taking or just curiosity, I decided I wanted to attempt too.

I first met Jaimi the night before the Everesting challenge, we shared stories and introductions over hot chocolate. Jaimi has clocked up 58,204km across 43 countries over 3+ years. Her photos are some of many which have given me so much adventure inspiration. My 2 weeks trans-alpine ride didn’t hold too many points against her 3 year round the word ride! I was fascinated by her stories across South America, Asia and other places on my bucketlist. What interested me most was how she got through places which you read horror stories about, where common perception tells you not to go!

The Alps was tough. Dealing with the elements and the continuity of 14 days riding. But never at any point did I feel at breaking point. So I guess that’s the ‘why’ for my Everesting attempt. I wanted to find out what my body is physically capable of, I wanted to find my breaking point.

Saturday the 31st was to be the fateful day. We would set out to cycle the equivalent vertical ascent of mount Everest, 8848m in one day. Hartside Pass was the location, near Penrith, where 23 laps of the pass was required to be successful.

The 31^st August seemed ages away when I first agreed. But after a week back home recovering from the alps, it soon dawned I had only 3 weeks to prepare. Those evenings spent training went so quick! I didn’t feel myself get any stronger to be honest. I took comfort in that my body was so conditioned to hill climbing after the alps, I felt it was important to just sustain that level.

Training was just hours spent repeating hills in the Ribble Valley. Ride up, turn round and descend before going up again. Lancashire is home to some fantastic hill climbs, all of which are accessible from my front door, it’s a brilliant place to call home. I spent so many evenings riding from 7 till 11pm. Just hill laps. Accumulating 100km with thousands metres ascent per evening.

I would finish work at 6, cycle home and head straight back out again. It seemed like the best way to simulate the long day the Everesting challenge would present. Those who follow me on social media were probably wondering why on earth I was putting in 4-5 hours hill rep training per night, in the rain… thinking I’m bonkers!

Getting home late and tired, then getting up the next day to ride to work was tough. I knew I couldn’t simulate an Everesting challenge, but I could simulate the fatigue level. I could get both my mind and body comfortable riding at all hours.

Training was hard. It would’ve been all too easy to scratch, but Jaimi had a plan and logistics worked out. All I had to do was turn up and do it, just ride my bike… a long way. Jaimi had organised this to perfection – even with a support trailer tent set up!

The only time I felt like scratching was when my alarm went off at 3am on the morning of the 31^st! I wasn’t ever really thinking about the event until the day. When that alarm went off, it was a bit of an ‘oh shit, what on earth have signed up for’ moment – Agreeing to things drunk is something younger me should’ve learnt from. But still, curiosity got the better of me.

Hartside itself isn’t a difficult climb. It’s a pretty spectacular alpine road, over the north Pennines. The segment, Melmerby to summit was a gentle 5% average climb with steepest sections at the start of only 7%. There aren’t any grinding, super tough sections. No stupid gradient where you have to wrench your bike with every morsel of your body.

There’s nothing intense about it, you can just spin away up the entire pass without breaking a sweat really. But the distance of 4.7miles meant we would be riding over 200miles, and that takes time. We would need to conserve energy, striking a balance of spinning efficiently, whilst not pushing hard at too low cadence.

Riding a bike all day sounds simple, almost fun! But knowing what nutrition will fuel you, which you can stomach whilst moving and at abnormal times proved tricky. I came up with a plan for the day. How I was to tackle the 23 laps, how I was going to split the day up and how I was going to fuel myself. This is something very much individual, there is no right or wrong answer. Please don’t assume what works for me will work for you – likewise a nutritionist would probably tell you what I eat could be better!

For me, its bananas, pork pies and Veloforte bars as snacks along with chocolate biscuits to satisfy my sweet tooth/offer a morale boost. I have to have real food, I can’t stomach gels. I had some premade pasta meals in my van, which I used as a base camp vehicle, along with the kettle permanently ready! Each stop at the van was food and coffee. In as big a quantity as possible.

I could’ve probably completed quicker on less food, with less stops. I was excessive in my eating. But that allowed me to feel comfortable all day.  My plan was 7 laps, 20 minutes to rest over breakfast. 6 laps, 30 minutes to rest for lunch, 6 laps, rest for 30 minutes for tea. 4 laps to finish.

Whilst we did very much do this as individuals, at our own comfortable pace, it was brilliant to have somebody undertaking the same physical exertion. Knowing you had someone to wave at, support & encourage each time we passed or caught up to one and other definitely made the day a little easier – psychologically.

I ended up not far off plan. 7 – rest – 6 – rest – 5 – rest – 3 – rest – 2 – finish. My reps were pretty consistent between 45 to 50 minutes. I thought this would be too fast to sustain at first, but I felt on a good comfortable level throughout the day. The only time I really suffered was lap 13. Right before lunch. I’d gotten myself well past half way on only a bowl of cornflakes, one cup of coffee and a 2 bananas. My body just needed rest and carbs.

After lunch I settled back into my comfort zone and to be honest, never got pushed back out of it. I learned quickly that listening to my body was key. I ate when hungry and rested when I needed to. The reps I did when hungry were miserable, especially given the weather. Of which we had it all – the worst Cumbria could throw at us! From 4am it was just damp and dark. But we were excited… kind of?

The first few laps were in the dark with intermittent rain. You know the rain where it just doesn’t make its mind up! Layering for these conditions was horrible to be honest. It was cold, windy and damp. You get sweaty on the way up and the winds rip though you on the way down. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get my layering right all day.

We had sideways rain, whiteouts & 40mph winds. Thankfully the weather came good later on, clear blue skies giving way to a blissful sunset. The sunset was beautiful, but also a stark reminder that I still had 4 laps to do – In the dark. Several more hours in the saddle. By evening time, I was still damp. Sweat and rain in my shoes and shorts which never fully dried out. I finished the event very cold, the last few descents had me shivering. I never thought to bring a change of clothes. Jaimi did. Best bit of advice I’d recommend!

I guess those are the thing that make you smile afterwards, type 2 fun!

Starting at 4.04am and topping out at 23.18pm last night was mentally and physically tiring. That final climb was one of pure adrenaline. From turning around at the bottom, I knew the end was in sight – barring a catastrophe I was set to complete. My legs felt heavy, my body cold, but my spirits soared. Just half an hours of climbing in front of me.

Taking that last hairpin, to face the headwind for the final few hundred metres was so satisfying. I had defeated the wind. I had won this round! Euphoria came over me when I saw the summit sign. Punching the air, screaming to myself I had done it – only to be greeted by funny looks from chavs smoking weed in the car park!

The summit of Hartside at 11.18pm wasn’t the place for celebrating. I was tired and knew I had a cold descent to endure. I was ecstatic inside, but my body didn’t allow me to show it. I wanted my bed, that was to be my celebration – even a beer didn’t sound tempting!

Passing Jaimi on the way back down to briefly share congratulations & wish her the best of luck with her remaining laps. Mental exhaustion was creeping in, we had to stay focussed on our own rides. It wasn’t till the next morning where we caught up over breakfast. Both over the moon to have completed, we ate just about everything in Melmerby village café!

Looking back, when I told people about this challenge, it was never with confidence. I always said it would be an attempt, being careful not to suggest I could definitely complete. Whether I underestimated myself or not, this is a challenge deserving of utmost respect. It is incredibly tough and luckily everything fell into place perfectly for me. I felt prepared and comfortable for the most part & we had no mechanicals or mishaps to deal with either.

This was supposed to be a challenge to break me, physically and mentally. Like the alps. But once again, I didn’t feel much out of my comfort zone. It was just a long day. I never felt completely broken at any point, like I couldn’t physically do anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely delighted to have Everesting added to my cycling CV, I feel accomplished to have completed this physical endurance challenge. But in that sense, Everesting hasn’t given me what I wanted. I’m still going to search for that thing that will break me.

I feel accomplished but not satisfied. I’m looking for something to really make me suffer. I have a few ideas…

Bike: I chose to do the ride on my steel gravel bike, as opposed to my road bike. Reasons were simple. Steel frame is so comfortable whilst stiff enough to be a beast on the climbs. Shimano 105 offers 1:1 ratios (via 34T cassette) perfect for climbing. Hope wheels stiff enough. Saddle and geometry perfect for long distance riding. Plenty of hand positions. Hydraulic disc brakes for descending. Yeah, you get picture.. I love my Shand!

Kit: Giro Privateer shoes – so comfortable and broken in nicely after my 1000 mile trans-alpine ride. Castelli Nano-flex bib shorts – no saddle soreness at all. Rapha core jersey. Castelli/Gore Transition windstopper jacket. Gore C7 shakedry jacket. Proviz Reflect 360+ Jacket. Lezyne 1100lumen front light & Cateye rear. Giro savant helmet. Oakley Evzero photochromatic lense – ideal for changing conditions throughout the day.