THE ART OF EVERESTING

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN? NO, JUST ONE; BUT WHEN YOU GO EVERESTING, YOU CLIMB THE BIGGEST MOUNTAIN OF ALL.

- PROF. ROSS TUCKER

THE CONCEPT IS straightforward: in one ride, on one hill, go up and down often enough that you accumulate a vertical elevation gain of 8 848m - the height of Mount Everest. Why? Perhaps, as the famous mountaineer George Mallory was said to have answered, when asked why he wanted to climb the real Mount Everest, "Because it's there." Although in the case of Everesting on a bike, it' isn't really there at all; it's a contrived challenge, and 'why' is really to test your limits as a cyclist.

And test them it will. No matter how you go about it, Everesting (or base camp', where you do half an Everest - a great place to start, if the concept grabs you!) is one of the ultimate tests of cycling. It got plenty of media attention a few years ago, when the likes of Lachlan Morton and Alberto Contador briefly held the Everesting record; before an Irishman, Ronan McLaughlin, set the current incredible mark of 6:40:54, in 2021.

Physiologically, the challenge is significant; in effect it's a gigantic interval training session where you ride and recover, over and over, for almost a full day. But if you're going to conquer Everest, it's not solely about fitness and physiology, but about psychology, emotion, and a good deal of planning to balance a set of fascinating tradeoffs.

HERE'S THE PLAN

The most crucial tradeoff is in your selection of the climb you'll do. Theoretically, you'd want to ride the steepest stretch of road you can manage, because your vertical gain at any power output rises faster; more gradual slopes 'waste' time and energy covering horizontal distance when you really want to go vertically.