GEORGE NEWS - From 22:00 tonight, Thursday 12 May through Sunday, Knysna cycle shop owner Tyrone van Rooyen will cycle up and down the Outeniqua Pass about 67 times in a quest to complete four Everest Challenges – a total climb of 35 500m on his bicycle.

Passing motorists are asked to look out for Van Rooyen, who will start this challenge in the dark of night. There will be a permanent base at the bottom and top of the pass which will provide support and a place to rest.

Through this initiative Van Rooyen will be raising funds for the Dok Wayne Foundation, which helps underprivileged children with disabilities who require prostheses or other mobility aids.

This foundation is locally based and covers the needs of the Garden Route District. Read more about the foundation here.

Van Rooyen’s administrator, Stephen Drew, said earlier this morning that the cyclist will be resting today before starting the challenge tonight. He said from a safety point of view the Outeniqua Pass is actually quite good, but the gradient is not that steep, therefore Van Rooyen will need to cover more miles than some of the other passes he cycled before. 

“It will take him roughly 36 minutes to go up, and 15 minutes to go down. Only the gain in ascent counts for the challenge,” said Drew.

The challenge

“Everesting” is an activity where one cycles up and down a hill of your choice, until you tally 8 848 metres of ascent – the height of mount Everest.

The concept originated in 1994, when George Mallory (grandson of the British mountaineer of the same name) clocked 8 848m cycling 10 times up Australia’s mount Donna Baung. In 2014, Everesting became official when everesting.cc was set up. In order to be official, the attempts need to follow strict rules.

Since inception, about 20 803 people from 109 different countries have completed Everest challenges. There are no time limits to complete a challenge, but there are strict rules and no sleep is allowed. Over time the bar has been raised and by now, some people are making multiple single Everesting attempts. 

The rules for such attempts are slightly different, where two hours sleep is allowed after completing 8 848m. Only four people in the world have done four consecutive Everest challenges. A week ago, Australian Grommit Gibbens broke the record by completing five Everest challenges.

Fourth challenge

Tonight’s venture will be Van Rooyen’s fourth Everest challenge. He did his first in 2016, ascending 8 600m and raising R21 320 for Knysna Animal Welfare. In 2017 he ascended 10 000m and raised R35 220 for animal welfare. In 2019 he took on the Mighty Mont Ventoux climb in France. 

With no backup or support, only with his provisions and supplies in his backpack, he cycled the 29km to the base of the climb and started his challenge. He managed to cycle 20 500m (2,26 Everests), which to date is the highest anyone has ascended in France. 

To put this in perspective, the South African record is 10 965m and was done by David Kleynhans up the Franschhoek pass.

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