Katie Hall sets new Everesting women’s record

Katie Hall (Boels Dolmans) broke the Everesting record for women this weekend climbing 8,848 metres elevation in 10 hours on the Bonny Doon ascent outside of Santa Cruz, California. Hall broke the previous record by over 2.5 hours, Boels Dolmans confirmed in a post on Twitter.

"Congratulations [Katie Hall] breaking the Mt EVEREST CHALLENGE record for women!" Boels Dolmans posted on Twitter. "After 10 hours and one minute Katie climbed the 8848 meters breaking the previous record with over 2,5 hours. Katie participated in the challenge to support the fight against the coronavirus."

Riders have been Everesting, officially run by Hells 500 out of Australia, by riding 8,848 vertical metres, the height of Mount Everest as fast as possible. The previous women's record was more than 12 hours (12:32) set by Alice Thomson from the UK.

Hall chose to complete her Everesting ride on the Bonny Doon climb, which is 3.8km in length and has an average gradient of 8.8 per cent. She completed 27 repetitions of the climb, a total distance of 197km and 8,848 metres of elevation in 10 hours and one minute.

Hall also completed her Everesting ride as part of the Giddy Up For Good, a climbing challenge run by seven-time world champion Rebecca Rusch, and for COVID-19 relief via the Be Good Foundation. The beneficiaries were CDC Foundation, World Bicycle Relief and People for Bikes. This event was run over May 22-25, Memorial Day weekend. It had a category called Queen's Everest as part of its elevation challenges.

US national cross country mountain biking champion Keegan Swenson set the unofficial best men's time for the Everest Challenge outside Salt Lake City, Utah, last week. Swenson estimated his time to be 7:40, well inside former pro Phil Gaimon's unofficial record of 7:52:12, set in the Topanga State Park, near Los Angeles.

Other riders who have completed the Everest Challenge are Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) and James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation).