Everest in May – The Rules

Good morning everyone! Or good evening, depending on where you are in the world.

The difference in elevation from the Base Camp of Mt. Everest to the summit of the peak, is 11,431 ft. Many people have successfully made the attempt. Many, unfortunately, have not been successful. And failure at such a high altitude rarely works out well for those who attempt to make the summit.

Regardless of the danger level, the idea of making the climb is exciting to me. I just don’t have any excitement for climbing through an area known as the Death Zone.

So, I decided on a sea level compromise. Climb the same distance in elevation gain (11,431 ft.) by climbing stairs, or stepping up on a plyo box, etc. While that would be a challenge in itself, it didn’t seem to be enough. So, I added on the challenge of carrying your own pack by mixing in some rucking exercise as well. 114.31 miles of rucking, to be exact.

I created this challenge to help gamify the art of pushing yourself outside your boundaries when it comes to exercise. For some of you, this will quite literally be a walk in the park. For others, this may be the hardest thing you have ever attempted. Either way, we are all cheering each other on to complete the summit to Everest.

Here are the rules for the Everest in May challenge!

1. You are responsible for posting your own miles rucked and stairs climbed to the Google form at this link: Everest in May
2. You have two days from the time you do the work, until you must have it entered in the log. This is to try and keep the leaderboard as up to date as possible.
3. The deadline for entering your data for the end of the month is May 31st, 11:59 PM CDT.
4. Miles Rucked: You can enter your miles in a format allowing up to two numbers after a decimal. For example, 3.45 miles rucked. Not 3.4567 miles rucked. Anything over two numbers past the decimal, will be rounded down.
5. Weight for Rucking: If you weigh less than 150 lbs. or have never rucked before, 20 lbs. is the suggested weight to carry. If you weigh more than 150 lbs. and have experience rucking, 30 lbs. is the suggested weight to carry. These are minimum weights, so if you are able to carry more, be my guest, but don’t hurt yourselves.
6. Steps (Stairs): You can get your steps from climbing up a flight of stairs or from stepping up onto a box, etc.. I encourage everyone to wear their rucks for this, but do as you need to do. You get credit for the steps climbed whether or not you are wearing your ruck, or climbing the steps slick (without a ruck). Additionally, if you climb a flight of stairs while rucking, you get credit for that distance toward your rucking miles (must be in conjunction with your rucking walk, not just climbing stairs for 0.03 miles).
7. Be safe. If you are struggling, listen to your body and your instinct. No one wants anyone to get hurt. You are participating at your own risk.
8. Have fun.

The “winner” of this challenge is you. You win by doing this.

If you have any questions, hit me up. Share this with your friends. Your co-workers. The people you hate. Everybody, in short.

LFG!