Everesting is an endurance riding craze that seems to have begun over a decade ago in Australia. It challenges riders to ascend 8,849 meters (29,029 feet), or the height of Mt. Everest, in a single ride by repeating the same climb and descent. Now, Everesting will have its first official world champions crowned on Mt Etna this autumn.
Everesting was once a hyper-niche and almost laughably difficult thing for truly crazy cyclists. Thanks to advances in training and fueling, benefiting all cyclists, it’s gone from seemingly impossible to fairly approachable for a recreational rider to complete in a day. During the pandemic, when all road racing was on pause for a season, Everesting became a way for the world’s best to compete remotely. Many of the world’s top riders, including Phil Gaimon, Lachlan Morton, and Alberto Contador, briefly held the records for the fastest Everesting times during the summer of 2020. This marked the beginning of Everesting becoming a competitive space, and now, 5 years later, the Everesting World Championship will showcase who’s got the toughness required to be crowned world champion.
In over 30,000 recorded Everesting attempts, the current fastest time is held by Ronan Mc Laughlin, at 6 hours, 40 minutes, and 54 seconds. Given that his record was set on a dead straight 810-meter-long segment with a 14% grade that gained 117 meters of elevation per lap, it’s unlikely that Everesting World Championships will produce a winning time close to Mc Laughlin’s record.
Yet, the challenge of Mt Etna will be arguably more difficult, because the segment is much longer at 21.9 km, fully exposed to the elements, and the road will be crowded with riders all going different speeds, which may prove especially tricky when descending. Part of the quirky fun of Everesting and the streak of record-smashing rides in 2020 and 2021 was scouting a “fast” hill that catered to a specific rider’s strengths. Etna will be different, as it will slowly whittle down the field while riders meander up and down its exposed moonscape. With such a long ascent and descent, there will be opportunities for all types of riders to animate the race, but in the end, a pure climber who has been able to survive many hours of descending in the wind without wasting matches will likely outlast their rivals on the final ascent.
Mt Etna – Europe’s most active volcano – is steeped in racing history, having hosted 8 stages of the Giro d’Italia since 1967. Recent winners of Giro stages on Etna include Jan Polank in 2017, Esteban Chaves in 2018, Jonathon Caicedo in 2020, and Lennard Kamna in 2022.
There will be two days of Everesting racing at Mt Enta – one for individuals and another for teams of four. In the team event, each team member will twice ride a 46.3 km loop that gains 1,165 meters (3,822 feet) of elevation, contributing 1/4 of the team’s total Everesting. Entries for the inaugural Everesting World Championship will be limited. Registration officially opens on 5 May, with pre-registration now available via the official event website.
