Almost anyone can tell you that the highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest; however, not many people can tell you what it takes to summit Everest. First, there’s the 29,029ft of elevation gain on rugged, technical, and varying terrain. Then, there’s the cost of the expedition, averaging $60k per person for the travel, gear, guide, and other expenses. Finally, there’s a plethora of other factors like adjusting to the altitude, dealing with extreme weather conditions, staying well hydrated and fueled throughout the expedition, and much more. Despite all of this, the most intriguing part of sumitting Mount Everest, to me, has always been the 29,029ft of vertical gain (vert).
I am not alone in this fascination, as there is an entire community of masochists runners and cyclists who see this number as the holy grail of vert. An Everest-honoring endeavor has been created where people seek to gain the same amount of vert as the famous peak without any of the weather, challenging terrain, insane budget, or other factors. In this endeavor, Everest is stripped down to its most basic feature: a tall peak. This is known as Everesting, and it involves going up and down a single climb over and over in one activity until reaching 29,029ft of vert.
Everesting is a pretty common activity among cyclists, but fewer runners do it just because of the sheer amount of miles required to conquer this quest. However, I spent some time in Chamonix, one of the best trail running locations in the world, last month and I felt a deep burning desire to “Everest.” I knew that doing it in one activity would likely injure me, or at least hamper my training for a week, so I decided to attempt it over the course of 7 days. Watch the video below to see if I can conquer Everest.
