Mason Geiger’s garage where he will be spending 15-plus hours for the ride Saturday. Photo provided.

News Release

WARSAW — Mason Geiger of Warsaw is participating in an online charity ride Saturday, April 25, to raise funds for a local nonprofit organization, Spoonful of Imagination.

“Spoonful of Imagination Studio exists to overcome boundaries and redefine art as a critical and healing component of community life. Given the current state of our ‘new normal,’ it is important, now more than ever, to stand with and support our local non-profits,” Geiger said. “The goal? One day, one climb, 29,029 feet of climbing and $2,900 raised to support this incredible non-profit that does so much for the children and families in our community. Whether you donate $5 or $500, every little bit helps.”

What is Everesting? 

“Fiendishly simply, yet brutally hard. Everesting is the most difficult climbing challenge in the world,”  he said.

Geiger and his wife, Lia, after the Optimist Triathlon last year in Winona Lake. Photo provided.

The challenge: Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and complete repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 29,029’ – the equivalent height of Mt. Everest. One day, one climb, 29,029 feet of climbing. According to Geiger, to date, only 740 riders worldwide have completed the Everest Challenge. 

“With the stay-at-home order in place, I’ve decided to take this challenge on. riding indoors on Zwift. I’ll be utilizing a Wahoo Kickr smart trainer and Kickr Climb that mimics all gradient changes, so a 15% grade will be a true 15% grade,” Geiger said..  

The climb Geiger has selected for this challenge is the Epic KOM. Based on estimations, he will have to climb that route 19 times, with an average grade of 4% and a max grade of 10.7%, totaling somewhere around 225 miles. 

“It’s going to be the longest single-stage ride I’ve ever attempted, let alone indoors on a trainer,” Geiger said. “Also, as a stretch goal, if we hit our $2,900 fundraising goal, before my ride finishes, I will commit to continue riding to until I complete 10k Everest challenge.” 

This will require an additional 3,780’ of climbing equating to a total of 10,000m climbed in one ride.

Geiger will be live-streaming his attempt on Facebook Live starting at 5 a.m. Saturday, April 25.

“I invite you to join in on the journey by commenting and sharing the live stream. If you are a Zwift user, I invite you to join in and ride with me throughout the day,” Geiger said. “The company would be greatly appreciated, especially as the day wears on.”

More information can be found through the Facebook page.