Tasmanian professional cyclist eyeing off top 10 finish in world’s most difficult climbing challenge
Unable to compete internationally because of COVID-19, local cyclist Nathan Earle is making the most of his time as he gears up to tackle the world’s most gruelling climbing challenge.
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RIDING the equivalent height of Mt Everest might appear crazy to most but Nathan Earle has his sights set on conquering the most difficult climbing challenge in the world.
And he has one of Australia’s most gruelling back drops to achieve the feat on.
Tasmanian professional Earle, who has been stuck in his home state due to the coronavirus pandemic, is aiming to next week complete his “Everesting Challenge” — where riders ascend and descend one climb on a mountain to reach an eventual total climb of 8848m.
Last week Earle scaled Mt Wellington a total of 10 times as part of his training and if the weather gods are kind he will early next week look to climb a section of the mountain at the Lea to complete the feat.
In the process the 32-year-old is also joining forces with his sister in law’s restaurant Dana Eating House in raising funds for the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania.
“It is something I have wanted to do for a while but just finding the right time has been the issue,” Earle said.
“It is a worldwide thing, guys all over the world are doing it.
“I did five times up the mountain in 2018 during training and I thought I could get up there 10 times, five from sea level and five from Fern Tree.
“I’ve finally had the fitness and the time to be able to do 10 times up Mt Wellington last week and it’s when I started considering doing an Everest.
“If I can get through 11,000m of vertical climbing over 320 kilometres, it has given me a bit of confidence to know I am capable of at least doing the seven and a half-hour mark for the Everest challenge.”
Four days ago American Sean Gardner became the first cyclist to complete the Everesting Challenge under the seven hour mark with a time of 6:59:38.
Earle’s target of seven and a half hours would put him in the top 10.
“If I do it on the Lea, which I would like to do, I would have to do it 46 or 47 times to get the Everest elevation.
“You have got to have the right weather, the wind, the perfect gradient which is not too steep that you destroy yourself early, but not too shallow so you end up going too many kilometres to get the elevation gain.”
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