Check out the tailor made Everesting Challenge Training plans.

Whether you are planning your attempt in 12 months time or need a last minute cramming session, we have Everesting specific training plans prepared for you.

General training guideline: A proven training technique for endurance events of any kind is to slowly build during your training to a maximum effort of 50-60% of the total gain/distance that you are planning (eg. 4,500-5,500 vertical metres) followed by a short taper period. This will give you an accurate idea of how you will go on the day.

Hint: The quarter and half Everesting challenges are the perfect way to get a feel for a full Everesting, and we highly recommend building these stepping stones into your training plan.

You want to start by building an established base. Once you feel you have a solid base generally you can train for an Everesting in a 10-12 week period. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, you may have come off a big event or alternatively you might need to spend some time building a base, but generally it is a good guide to go by.

The hydration and nutrition suggestions below are a guide only. Please note that individual requirements vary. We encourage you to consult your health practitioner or dietitian for individual recommendations.

Main nutritional considerations:

1. Increasing existing energy (Glycogen) stores in muscles through carbohydrate loading

One of the main types of fuels used by muscles for energy production during endurance exercise is glycogen. Glycogen is the stored form of the carbohydrate glucose. Muscles usually store enough glycogen for 90 mins of endurance exercise.

For an event such as Everesting that lasts longer than 90 mins, Carb loading is important to increase the stores of glycogen available. Carb loading aims to increase the store of glycogen that the muscles can tap into once the normal stores are used up. One effective way of carb loading involves exercise tapering combined with increased carbohydrate intake a few days prior to your Everesting.

Recent research has refined recommended carbohydrate loading methods. The current recommendation is to have 1-4 days of exercise taper while following a high carbohydrate diet of 7-12g carbs per kg of body weight. This has been shown to elevate muscle glycogen levels sufficiently. (Reference)

A note on protein. With carb loading being the focus pre-event, it is a common mistake for athletes to omit protein from their diet. Your body needs protein on a daily basis. Hence, you can and should eat a small serving of low-fat proteins such as poached eggs, yogurt, turkey, or chicken as the accompaniment to most meals (not the main focus), or plant proteins such as beans and lentils (as tolerated). (Reference)

2. Effective and efficient energy consumption on the day

Even with the best carb loading regime the muscles are capable of retaining only a certain amount of usable energy stores. This is where nutrition on the day to supplement the intake of carbs is important.

“Depletion of body carbohydrate stores may cause heavy legs due to glycogen depletion of the quads or ‘hunger flatting’ due to reduced blood sugar levels. While some cyclists are more affected by low blood sugar levels than others, all cyclists will benefit from preserving carbohydrate levels during long rides”. – AIS –

To prevent depletion of energy it is recommended to eat before you are hungry. Be prepared and ensure you have access to sufficient supplies. Setting up a base camp with access to a variety of foods and hydration will be essential. Aim for a combination of real foods along with sports bars, gels and sports drinks. Carbohydrate intake needs to start before you hit a hunger flat. Aim for about 30-60 g of carbohydrate per hour.

Commence carbohydrate consumption early on in the Everesting to avoid low stores in the latter stages of the ride.

Examples of 50 g Carbohydrate Intake:

– 3 medium pieces fruit

– 2 cereal bars

– 800 ml cordial

– 500 ml juice

– 50 g jellybeans or jelly lollies

– 1 jam sandwich

– 800-1000 ml sports drink

– 2 carbohydrate gels

During training and the attempt, a range of solid and liquid forms of sustenance is recommended. Sports drinks are a great choice – providing both carbohydrate and fluid. Experiment with different sports drinks during training to discover what you like and can stomach over long periods of time. In hot conditions, when fluid needs outstrip carbohydrate needs, you may require additional fluid such as water.

Many previous Everesters will recommend eating on the descent phase allowing your body time to digest and process the kilojoules before beginning the ascent again. This also minimises time between laps having breaks which can significantly add up over the course of the day adding to total ride time. Portable foods include bananas, dried fruit, sports bars, cereal bars and gels.

It all comes down to personal experience and metabolism however many previous Everesters will express caution against the consumption of too many gels due to the dramatic sugar high and subsequent low experienced along with the effect they can have on the stomach. Some suggest reserving carbs with extremely high sugar contents for later in the day when “things start getting a little wonky” -Sarah Hammond-

It is a good idea to have a mix of proteins and carbs a few hours out from beginning the ride. A big bowl of rolled oats with honey and cinnamon and some scramble eggs with ham & cheese. Consider a top up 1hr before you start with a rice cake and/or banana depending how hungry you are plus a bottle of electrolytes/water for hydration.

Beginning the day in a well hydrated state will allow your body to function more efficiently. This begins with good training practices keeping hydrated along with increasing fluid intake a few days out from the ride. It is also important to maintain proper hydration throughout the ride. Fluid needs will vary according to exercise intensity and environmental conditions. Fluid losses of approximately 300 ml/hr to 1200 ml/hr are reported in the literature but in some conditions, losses are expected to be much higher.

It is important to hydrate with a variety of fluids including sports drinks and water. Where possible it is better to begin drinking early in exercise and adopt a pattern of drinking small volumes regularly rather than trying to tolerate large volumes in one hit. Most athletes can tolerate 200-300 ml every 15-20 minutes but tolerance will vary according to the exercise intensity. -AIS–

Plan ahead particularly if attempting an Everesting in a remote area. You may not have access to fresh drinking water so setting up base camp with a generous supply is important.

Summary of Fluid Guidelines from the Australian Institute of Sport:

Begin each exercise session in fluid balance. This requires drinking regularly throughout the day leading up to training or competition. Have a drink with all meals and snacks.

Immediately, before exercise commences, consume 200-600 ml of fluid.

Develop a plan for fluid intake for all exercise sessions longer than 30 minutes. Aim to match previous fluid losses as closely as possible

Don’t underestimate the challenge, it will push you to your physical and mental boundaries, prepare well physically and mentally.

“Your legs need to get you to 6,000m and your head needs to get you the rest of the way” -Andy van Bergen–

What to expect:

• It is critical to minimise breaks throughout the day as this time accumulates quickly, potentially adding significantly to your total elapsed time. Even if you are not chasing a particular time, you should aim to reduce your total elapsed time to have the best experience.
• The infamous everesting ‘death zone’ (above 7,000m), exhaustion, lack of sleep, descending in the dark
• Physical and mental exhaustion. Due to the length of time you are likely to be out on the climb you will inevitably encounter exhaustion. It is possible to plan for and minimise this.
• If you can start your Everesting attempt a few hours before daybreak, your first stint in the dark will hopefully see you through to sunrise without experiencing too much tiredness and fatigue. It also means that if you go to bed early you’ll be more rested before your attempt.
• When the sun comes up naturally your body clock will kick in and fatigue should not be an issue.
• By the time the following evening hits and normal bedtime comes around hopefully you will have the finish line within sights spurring you on despite looming fatigue. The earlier you can start the Everesting the less likely you will still be out on the climb when nighttime fatigue hits. This way you can get in a good sleep the night before your attempt so you wake fresh and well rested.
• We recommend starting your attempt as soon as you wake up so you are maximising your alert time. Good planning the day before will allow you to get going straight away. Avoid last minute preparation the night before this will eat into your precious sleep time.

• Prepare for all weather and conditions. Better to have options on the day rather than wishing you had packed a rain jacket.
• Prepare multiple changes of clothing for your Everesting attempt. A new kit change part way through the challenge will be really appreciated and give you a new lease for life.
• Cap to keep sun, sweat and rain out of your eyes.
• Change your socks every few hours to keep your feet dry
• You will find yourself getting warm on the climbs and cool on the descents therefore a light weight jacket shell is a good idea to keep you warm on the descents.
• Consider a pair of clear glasses/goggles for descending at night, they will help keep the bugs out of your eyes.
• General wet weather gear eg. jacket, warm gloves, arm warmers.
• Consider warm jacket for meal breaks at base camp or during supported descents.

Kit Organisation

We recommend pre-organising all your clothing into either a tub or rain bag to keep things easier to find.

Recording Device

• You can record on a dedicated fitness watch or smartphone – anything that allows you to record your activity on Strava.
• Test all gear before the day, charge all batteries and consider having back up equipment.
• Consider running a second unit if you are worried about any data mishaps.
• We suggest you take pictures of your stats throughout the attempt. History has shown that data can fail, either during the activity or in the upload. Data is important, but we understand sometimes tech accidents happen. So long as you can sufficiently prove the attempt we’ll accept it.
• We highly recommend an external battery pack, particularly if your activity is going to be on the longer side of things. Please make sure you test this during your training!
• If your recording device does go haywire mid-attempt don’t panic. You can switch to a mobile, or another device and you can splice the files later or upload both activities.

Your Everesting attempt will be verified through proof of the laps repeated of a hill (or a shorter section of that hill).

You will need to be prepared for long hours of climbing in the dark, potentially whilst fatigued. Make your attempt as safe as possible by improving your night visibility with good lights.

Make sure you bring along fully charged headtorch, spare batteries or portable battery pack.

Batteries of recording devices tend to die after around 15 hours of recording. A portable battery pack is a cheap solution for charging on the fly.

Everesting is an endurance challenge. Like any endurance event the longer you are out there, the increased fatigue and challenge. We recommend planning a time schedule allowing designated time for meal breaks and aim to stick to it.

• Prepare a time schedule in advance. Sticking to your schedule will help prevent adding unnecessary hours onto your elapsed time
• Consider your starting time. This might come down to personal preference such as starting in the early hours of the morning to maximise coming from a rested state and make the most of the day light hours. Some of our crew prefer to start late at night making the most of feeling fresh and alert whilst in the dark.
• Aim to pace yourself, start too fast and risk blowing up later in the day, especially when you hit the ‘death zone’ at 7,000m.
• A time schedule will help keep you focused and chunk the endurance event down to step by step goals to work toward and achieve.
• Minimising breaks: Dilly-dallying throughout the day could cost a lot of extra time when it is added to the end of the day – especially if you have entered your second night shift. Even small breaks can add up to hours. Lost time when the weather is nice and light is good can translate to a lot of extra time when you are really tired at the end. It is not unusual to see 5 hours+ of non-moving time during an Everesting. Eating on the go and using your support crew to bring you things can help keep non-moving time to a minimum.

Final advice: don’t over-complicate things. It’s just a ski, albeit a long ski. You know your body, listen to it. Time will fly by. You will get to a place where it is just you and the mountain – no pretending – stripped back to your raw humanity. Succeed or fail, you’ll discover things about yourself.

As with any extreme endurance event it is important to be prepared and well supported.

• Let someone know your plans if you are attempting a solo Everest, particularly in remote areas. This might be family, friend or local authorities.
• Ensure you have appropriate insurance, ambulance cover.
• Consider having basic first aid supplies at your base camp.
• If you plan on flying solo make sure you check in to your notified family or friends a various points throughout the Everesting.
• If you are under the age of 18 please ensure a parent or guardian is aware of your intentions, and that you have the proper support in both the lead in, and on the day.
• When climbing at night in many areas you will need to consider wildlife. Take care especially on descents.
• Be sensible. If conditions on the day just aren’t in your favour, call it. There is always another day. Every failed attempt only makes the success all the more sweet!

One final thing, this is a self moderated endurance event that you participate in at your own risk. It is your responsibility to stay safe, to stay upright and to not put yourself or others at risk. Like in mountaineering, it only counts if you get back off the mountain.

You undertake an Everesting entirely at your own risk. Everesting, this website, and its contents accept no liability for your actions or your safety.