The Torturefest Club, in collaboration with Everesting.com, are holding a virtual Everesting event on Zwift on December 29, 2025. On that day, riders around the world will take on Zwift’s infamous The Grade segment to push together through a Quarter, Half, or Full Everesting.
Read on to learn a bit about vEveresting, and details of the events planned around Global vEveresting Day!
What Is vEveresting?
Everesting, named after the highest mountain on Earth, is a grueling challenge for cyclists. The mission is simple, but the task is brutally difficult: find a climb and keep riding your bike up and down until you’ve climbed the height of Mount Everest (29,032 feet/8,848 meters). The challenge often takes riders 12-24 hours to complete, depending on gradient and fitness level.
Do this on Zwift (or any other virtual cycling platform) and it’s called virtual Everesting, or “vEveresting.” Frank Garcia became the first-ever vEverester in 2015. He rode a Strava segment on Zwift called “Watopia Wall” – the first piece of the Hilly KOM– 315 times in 24 hours!
There are rules, of course. The climbing must be done on one hill. 100% Trainer Difficulty is required. And the challenge must be completed in one attempt, with no sleep. See complete vEveresting rules >
Training Rides
New to Everesting? Join the Torturefest Club’s prep sessions, which have already been running for the past several weeks. You will learn about pacing, nutrition, and the importance of team camaraderie as you prepare your body and mind. 7.3 laps is a Quarter vEveresting, and 14.6 laps is a Half Everesting (all of which can be uploaded to the Everesting hall of fame).
Events do not allow Coffee Breaks, and 100% Trainer Difficulty is enforced. But you do get a feather at every banner.
- 7 December 2025
- 7:30am US CT Click to join
- 2:30pm CET Click to join
- 14 December 2025
- 7:30am US CT Click to join
- 2:30pm CET Click to join
- 21 December 2025
- 7:30am US CT Click to join
- 2:30pm CET Click to join
vEveresting Day Events
The Torturefest Club is hosting eight dedicated rides across every major timezone, so you can climb with a global community and tackle the full 8,848 m together. All riders on course will be visible, so these events are structured to give you pacing support, motivation, and camaraderie along the way.
- vEveresting Day: Australia/New Zealand
- Monday 29 December: 0700 AEDT – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: Asia
- Monday 29 December: 0700 SGT – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: Middle East
- Monday 29 December: 0500 GST – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: Europe (East)
- Monday 29 December: 0700 EET Click to join
- vEveresting Day: Europe (West)
- Monday 29 December: 0700 CET – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: United Kingdom
- Monday 29 December: 0700 GMT – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: USA (ET/CT)
- Monday 29 December: 0700 ET / 0600 CT – Click to join
- vEveresting Day: USA (MT/PT)
- Monday 29 December: 1000 MT / 0900 PT – Click to join
Questions or Comments?
Check out the event page on everesting.com for more info. Got questions or comments? Share below!
I’ll be there!!
Thanks Eric, with the evolution of Virtual gearing 100% Trainer difficulty has been removed as if correctly named and explained by zwift it is in fact an extension to gearing.
All remaining bootcamps are 7.30am US CT and 7.30am Euro Zone West
I still see in the rules on https://everesting.com/rules-virtual/ “Your trainer must be set to 100% effort or equivalent.” Are you saying that’s not a rule anymore?
Good one. Funny. It is 2026 in a few days and no one is any longer capable of a discussion. They show up, poo their words, and move on.
Yes I had dialog with Andy, founder of Everesting about what to do here. Without wanting to get into the tired TD debate. Most zwifter run a flat / mix cassette and we start busting knees. Let me chat with Andy some more. I’m 100% TD guy but have virtual gearing.
Best of luck, I hope that change occurs! I don’t currently have a smart trainer, so I can’t use 100% TD. However, power is power, so it does seem a bit arbitrary to allow virtual shifting but still require 100% TD.
I’m with you. With the advent of virtual gearing, you will have people on Wahoo bikes, for example, that can specify ANY gear ratio they want. So putting in MTB gear ratios is really no different than letting me ride it at 50% TD. We still have to put out the watts to get up the climb.
It looks like it’s been added back in. It was definitely removed from the rules for a while. I just checked the WayBackMachine and it wasn’t required in November 2024. It was added back in February 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20241111034132/https://everesting.com/rules-virtual/
Reducing TD does not do the same thing as changing a gear. It reduces the effective gradient sent to your trainer, which reduces the effects of undulations.
Whatever this post means, it NEEDS to be ignored until it is explained with more than those words. Sorry. We can assume and comment but it is ass-u-me.
I’m organizing the Everesting bootcamps and virtual Everesting Day in conjuction with Everesting. Im not just random zwifter dropping comments.
Although virtual gearing has a similar effect, it does seem 100% trainer difficulty is still required. I think the intention is to avoid setting trainer difficulty to 0%, and essentially using erg mode. By requiring gears, whether physical or virtual, you will have to make adjustments as you go up.
What are you waiting for?! Just register and go for it. Will be fun.
Zwift article: https://www.zwift.com/ja/news/114-veveresting-the-new-ultra-cycling-challenge
1636 Zwifters on the unofficial list: https://zwiftpower.com/everests.php
hadnt seen that list before, but it doesnt seem to list all Everestings done on Zwift. would be interesting to know how the list is populated (e.g. criteria)
I do believe it is simply triggered by the badge achievement on Zwift. Quite a few on the list are definitely Not official (not 100%, not done with zero sleep, and many did not climb 8848) On Road to Sky, for example, if 18 meters come before the Alp, then one must finish with 8866. Also, the rules say elevation on the downhill does not count unless it is steep enough that one must pedal. So going down the radio tower and gaining 5 m of elevation before making a u-turn would not count to one’s total. Ventop bump must be subtracted because one can coast through it unlike the tooth on the downside of epic kom reverse.
The good thing is you get 5000 xp plus a whole lot of xp and drops!
Thanks, I have done lots and lots of Everestings IRL and on Zwift (and fulgaz), and all are approved in the official Everesting HOF, but only a few are included in the zwiftpower list. Seems a bit random too, as Double is included but not 20k and not Triple, and I am not sure climb portal is considered at all(?) Anyway, I guess it is populated via some criteria and not bullet proof in doing that =)
I didn’t even know that list was a thing! I found myself on 20 March 2021!
How can you schedule such an appointment on a weekday??? When you have to work on the same day and the following day… I just can’t understand it.
Shame its on a work day…..
“Shame its on a work day…..”
agree, why not one day earlier.
It really needs to be a Saturday so people have Sunday to recover before the next workday that some people like myself likely have.
Those extra Christmas pounds certainly won’t be helping this effort.. how many won’t have an accurate weight on Zwift I wonder… 🙂
… but after 😉
What if you keep a set of scales beside your bike and keep changing your weight as you shed it for each ascent?
What scares me most is that, just for a few seconds, I thought this is something I might join in…
I’m feeling crazy enough to do this at the moment, but on a Monday? That’s an odd time to schedule an event of this nature.
Sorry I will be on much flatter terrain doing the Rapha 500
Question: Do I need a heart rate monitor for vEveresting? I am using my smart watch for heart rate, which, however, does not connect to Zwift. Thx!
Perhaps the Torturefest Club could win an award for the most appropriate club name. Would love to see a kit for this club!
It does have it’s own kit, I know because I have it. I’m not doing VE though as I’m working.
I’ll do it at the Alp the same day. No way doing this on the Grade for me.
How did it go? Perhaps “oh Hill No” wasn’t that bad of a choice, 29 micro-breaks, no steering required. Okay not going to lie, it was, really really bad but perhaps AdZ would have been worse…..
I did it once in 2024 on ADZ. And I don’t want to do it again. At least not in the virtual world. I did it on my first try, but not everyone is as lucky. I watched a lot of videos and followed the recommendations. My main recommendation is to complete the PRL FULL route and ask yourself if you can and want to do it again today. But keep in mind that the second “round” will be much more challenging. I also strongly discourage people from trying Everesting if they haven’t completed PRL Full and The Uber Pretzel. If you do decide to try it… start as early as possible before the sun rises.
Never did PRL or Pretzel, didn’t watch a lot of videos and were still successful 2024.🤷♂️
Dear All, what is the climd to get vEveresting on 29/12?
Do you have to manually turn around at the top & bottom?
or will this be automated every lap?
No manual turns needed. That’s the nice thing about the Oh Hill No route!
But you save around 1 minute per lap if you manually turn top and buttom. It’s about 30 minutes save for the vEveresting !!!
@Eric Schlange , is it possible to do Uturn in a event ? If not, I will do it free riding and if I understand correctly, I will see everyone in and out the event.
On the Everesting website, under Recording and Submission, it notes that it must be recorded on Strava, in addition to “Submit your activity through the Everesting website.”
I don’t even see a spot on Everesting where I can create an account? Any ideas of how to submit the activity on the Everesting website!
https://hof.everesting.com/
I hope it is ok to post this link.
Worked like a charm – thanks for sharing @Viril!