From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The People Who Have Taken Everesting to the Next Level

Rebecca Jones

The challenge of gaining 8,848 meters of elevation in a single activity is rapidly gaining traction across the globe.

• Over 30,000 athletes from 116 countries have completed the Everesting challenge, including elite cyclists Sir Mark Cavendish, Alberto Contador, Emma Pooley, and Lachlan Morton.
• Everesting, which began in 2014, will launch its first-ever calendar of events in 2025 to promote the challenge and further expand its global community.


“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Bernd, an inspirational Everester from Germany who goes by the pseudonym @ridewithoutstomach when describing his relationship with Everesting.

To reach 8,848 meters of elevation gain in a single activity is to replicate the ascent of Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth. This monumental challenge is typically completed through cycling, hiking, running, or skiing, requiring participants to maintain continuous effort without rest. Simple in concept yet brutally hard, the “most difficult climbing challenge in the world” is both physically and mentally exhausting.

As if completing an Everesting challenge wasn’t already a monumental task, Bernd’s superhuman effort became even more extraordinary after overcoming stomach cancer. He endured the removal of his stomach and esophagus, several rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, and a battle with pneumonia before he could finally return to his beloved bike.

A year after recovering, he fulfilled his dream of climbing Pico del Veleta in Spain, mainland Europe’s highest cycling climb standing at almost 3,400m. And in February 2020, he went even further, successfully completing a “vEveresting” - using a virtual cycling platform - spending over 15 and a half hours in the saddle. (More on Everesting follows photo).



From the Lowest to the Highest Peak



Scotsman, Mark Bruce, had spent the previous decade touring the world as guitarist in the band Elephant Sessions. But overnight, the coronavirus pandemic brought everything to a halt, forcing him to confront his struggles with alcohol and his own well-being: “I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into a dark place with drink; I couldn't see a future,” he said.

He then started riding a bike, and the more he went out, the more he enjoyed being on two wheels. Cycling regularly led to better habits, renewed purpose, and a few months later, he wanted to tackle an Everesting.

“At first, I thought it was a totally unattainable challenge, but the idea got into my head, and I wondered if I could do an Everesting myself. That idea took hold of me and within weeks I was wondering if I could do a year of Everesting.”

A Landmark Challenge for the Elite

Multiple Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador, Sir Mark Cavendish with his record of 35 Tour de France stage wins, and Olympic medalist & former World Time Trial champion-turned-trailrunner Emma Pooley have all completed an Everesting on the bike in recent years.

Gravel and road race maverick Lachlan Morton thought he had set a new record in June 2020, only for a data error to reveal that he had come agonisingly short when measuring his elevation. Morton was able to draw the mental strength to regroup and attempt it the very following weekend, finally setting a brand new record and etching his name into Everesting folklore.


Reaching Everest From Anywhere in the World

Late in 2012, Everesting founder Andy van Bergen came limping into the office after the hardest bike ride he had ever done – some 300 kilometers and nearly 6,000 meters of climbing. His coworkers asked him what he’d gotten up to over the weekend. When he told them, the response was a very underwhelming: “That’s nice. So what else did you do?”

It was then that he knew he needed to come up with a bigger goal, the significance of which even non-cyclists couldn’t miss. Long inspired by mountaineering stories, he soon had his answer. He’d cycle 8,848 vertical metres – the height of Everest – in a single ride. And he’d challenge others to do the same.

The first known successful Everesting attempt goes to cyclist and mountaineer George Mallory, grandson of George Herbert Leigh Mallory, the British mountaineer who disappeared on Everest with Sandy Irvine in 1924. Seventy years later, the younger Mallory was training to climb Everest himself and rode 10 laps up Mt. Donna Buang, a 1,250 meters peak 80 kilometers east of Melbourne.

Nearly two decades after reading Mallory’s account of the ride, and inspired by the romance of early mountaineers, van Bergen set out to establish the challenge officially. In February 2014, under the cover of darkness, 65 riders undertook solo, secret attempts, marking the official launch of Everesting. Overnight, the concept didn’t just take shape - it exploded into a global phenomenon - and the term Everesting had entered the cycling lexicon.

In the decade since, Everestings have been accomplished worldwide, but the movement has stayed true to its grassroots spirit striving to create unique and extraordinary experiences for participants. This balance between local, individual challenges and global community building has helped Everesting to evolve, offering athletes around the world the chance to take on this ultimate endurance test in different settings. The ongoing growth of the movement speaks to the universal appeal of pushing physical and mental limits, no matter where the challenge is undertaken.


Andorra, the First Stop on Everesting’s 2025 Calendar

This year Everesting is launching its first official event series, beginning with the Everesting 48h Challenge from 29th May to 1st June 2025, at Andorra’s Ordino-Arcalís ski resort. Participants will tackle the Mirador Solar de Tristaina peak 19 times following a nearly 3km route, accumulating 8,848m of elevation, with descents by chairlift in a flexible 48-hour format.

The event offers a premium experience in a picturesque location in the Pyrenees featuring glamping, state-of-the-art recovery services, a full training program prepared by the Everesting Coaches and gourmet meals by three-Michelin-star chef Eneko Atxa. The Everesting 48h Challenge marks the start of a global event series, with more locations to be announced soon.



Extraordinary Stories from the Everesting Community

• Arend Vandenbrouck, Spain. Has completed more Everestings (156) than anyone else in the world, and holds the vEveresting record, achieved in May 2022.
• Nima Javaheri, Switzerland. Serial Everester who has completed 9 on foot and by bike. Has set several records, most recently in August 2024 on foot completing a 10-day Everest challenge, scaling 55,000m elevation while running 660km.
• Valentina Silvestri, Italy. A keen cyclist, Valentina suffered a life-changing car accident in 2021 while on her bike. She was told that long-distance cycling would be unlikely after her recovery but 3 years later in 2024 she defi ed the odds to complete her first Everesting, raising funds for terminally ill cancer patients.
• Mason Allen, USA. In November 2024, Mason spent over 21 hours cycling up and down a hill in Virginia on a unicycle to successfully claim his Everesting - setting a unique and unusual world record.
• Don Zwiebel, USA. He holds the title as the oldest known person to complete an Everesting, completing it on his bike at 75 years old. Now at 80, he’s an active member of the Everesting community.
• Illi Gardner, UK. Has completed 6 Everestings, and has held the female Everesting record since 2022.

Highlights:

WHO - Andy van Bergen, Australia

WHAT - Founded Everesting, the most difficult climbing challenge in the world

WHEN - 2014

HOW MANY - 30,000+ have achieved it

WHERE FROM - 116 countries

For More Information on Everesting & Their Events, go to:  www.everesting.com