Zwift is full of challenges for those seeking something to chase. There are riders on Zwift who chase badges. Riders who chase jerseys. Riders who chase that one perfect KOM attempt where the stars align and the watts land exactly where they need to.
And then there’s Matt Ladd, aka “Mads Matt”, who spent 2025 chasing something very few Zwifters, or cyclists for that matter, will ever attempt, let alone complete: one million vertical meters of climbing in a single year.
That number sits somewhere between ridiculous and mythic. It’s the kind of number that you throw out when you want to be sure the absurdity is evident. But across long nights, early mornings, and relentless virtual ascents, Matt turned mythic absurdity into routine.
What makes the story even more remarkable is how unremarkably it began.
The Initial Goal: Beat Last Year
Coming into 2025, Matt wasn’t chasing a headline. The goal was simply to beat his 2024 total of just over 700,000 meters. Through the first three months of the year, he rode with structure and restraint, averaging roughly 60k meters each month. Big numbers for most riders, but nowhere near the 2,740 meters per day required to reach a million. It was on pace with his goal.
Then May arrived, and the tone shifted.
A New Achievement Stretches the Goal
During the Flamme Rouge Racing Charity Day Ride, Matt took on one of Zwift’s most iconic challenges and refused to stop. He climbed Alpe du Zwift 19 times in a single ride, covering 481 kilometers and logging 20,000 meters of elevation in just under 26 hours.
That’s more than a double vEveresting in one session. For context, many riders plan months to complete a single Everesting and treat it as a once‑in‑a‑lifetime achievement. Matt essentially completed two, mid‑season, and logged more elevation than the Giro d’Italia accumulates in its opening week.
Realizing he was capable of amassing elevation gain like that in a single session, he reconsidered his goal. He had been climbing at a relentless pace. What was he actually capable of? 800k? A Million?
And yet, the math wasn’t friendly.
By early June, Matt found himself 78,000 meters behind million‑meter pace. For most riders, that’s the point where a stretch goal quietly disappears.
Instead, it became the turning point.
Building Momentum Up Ventoux
In late June, Matt launched what may have been the most ambitious block of his year: a multi‑day effort centered around Ventop, Zwift’s virtual take on Mont Ventoux. Between June 26 and June 29, with breaks only for sleep and recovery, he climbed Ventop 18 times, riding 728 kilometers and accumulating 27,112 meters of elevation.
That’s a triple vEverest. Yes, Triple.
For many riders, that would stand as a career highlight. For Matt, it was momentum.
Two months later, he returned to Ventop and went even bigger. From August 29 to September 2, he climbed the mountain 20 times in one continuous effort, totaling 30,206 meters of elevation—creeping into the rarefied air of near‑quadruple Everesting territory.
Those monster rides didn’t exist in isolation. They were layered into months that were already pushing the limits of what seemed possible.
July: Chasing Tourmalets and Le Tour
July became its own chapter. Matt called it “Chasing Tourmalets.” Over the course of the month, he climbed Zwift’s Col du Tourmalet 60 times (at 125% no less), finishing July with 101,618 meters of total elevation gain.
One ride stood out even among that chaos: 352 kilometers, 10 Tourmalets, and 15,555 meters of climbing over roughly 21 hours, broken only by a brief two‑hour nap.
Then came the Tour de France.
As the professional peloton battled across France, Matt decided to replicate—and surpass—the race’s climbing totals on Zwift. By the time he finished, he had ridden 2,077 kilometers and climbed 89,263 meters, nearly double the Tour’s actual elevation gain. He completed the challenge a full week before the real race ended.
August pushed the year into another dimension.
A Restless August
In 31 days, Matt climbed 130,026 meters, exceeding his previous monthly best by nearly 50,000 meters. Somewhere inside that relentless block, the numbers quietly flipped. The deficit disappeared. By early September, Matt was no longer chasing the million meter pace.
Another detail makes the project even harder to comprehend: there were no rest days. There simply isn’t time for rest when each day you’re off the bike leaves you 2,740 meters you need to tack on to other days.
Matt’s Strava may suggest occasional days off, but those were artifacts of multi‑day Everesting efforts logged as single activities. In reality, Matt was active every day. The very few that were on the bike were when he was running—often commuting 9 to 15 kilometers with a 20‑liter pack, frequently at paces faster than 4:30 per kilometer.
His last true rest day was December 20, 2024.
Achievement Unlocked
As autumn turned into winter, milestones and meters continued to stack up. In October, Matt logged 35,200 meters in just nine days during FRR’s Matt Ladd Challenge. On December 16, he crossed 2.5 million lifetime meters of climbing on Zwift. Nearly one-third had come in 2025!
And then, on December 26, during yet another climb—because of course it was on a climb—it finally happened.
Mads Matt passed one million vertical meters for the year.
By New Year’s Eve, the final total stood at 1,020,002 meters for good measure. He finished the year with 10 official Everestings on everesting.com’s Hall of Fame, nine of them earned during 2025 alone. That total ranks second all‑time globally for annual climbing on Zwift, behind only Keith Roy and ahead of ultra‑endurance standout Jack Thompson.
For most riders, a year like that would mark the end of the story. For Matt, it’s simply a waypoint. Since April 2024, he has climbed more than 1.5 million meters, and the next target is already set: three million total meters on Zwift by June 2026. Along the way, he credits the Coalition and FRR communities for helping keep motivation high through the biggest days and the hardest climbs.
A million meters in a year isn’t something many riders will ever attempt, let alone complete. But on a platform built around ambitious challenges—route badges, virtual competitions, and endurance epics—it’s a reminder of what’s possible when someone keeps showing up.
One climb at a time.
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