Emanuel Buchmann sets new Everesting record in Austria

Emanuel Buchmann set the new Everesting record of 7:28 on the Heimelerberg, a soaring 3,300-foot climb in Austria. But his attempt does appear to have violated one of the rules established by the keepers of the unofficial Everesting record.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s German climbing ace Emanuel Buchmann appears to have broken the unofficial men’s record for Everesting, completing 8,848 meters of climbing in seven hours and 28 minutes. But there are lingering questions over whether Buchmann’s amazing feat follows the rules established by Hells 500, the creators of the unofficial record.

The news was released by Bora-Hansgrohe on Friday afternoon alongside a video of Buchmann completing his final climb outside of Innsbruck, Austria. Buchmann completed the challenge to raise funds for the German Children’s Fund charity.

“That was one of the hardest things I have ever done,” Buchmann said. “I didn’t think it would hurt so much toward the end.”

Buchmann’s time shaved approximately 12 minutes off of the previous men’s record, which was set May 16 by U.S. mountain bike champion Keegan Swenson in Utah.

Buchmann completed the challenge on the Heimlerberg, a soaring 3,281-foot climb in the Tyrolean Alps just west of Innsbruck. According to Strava, the section of the Heimlerberg that Buchmann rode is 9.4 kilometers in length and averages 11 percent.

But Buchmann hit the climb from one direction and then completed eight ascents of the climb from another direction, and the nature of his ride appears to stand in contrast to the unofficial rules.

According to the rules riders must complete the Everesting challenge on the same stretch of road.

“Rides must only focus on one hill or mountain per ride (e.g. you can’t base yourself in one location and ride multiple hills),” reads a section of rules on the Everesting.cc website. “You cannot ride different routes on the same mountain. If there are 4 routes, that means there are 4 possible ‘everestings’ (think of it like the North and South face of Everest). ”

The long nature of the climb stands in contrast to previous records set by Swenson and retired pro Phil Gaimon, both of whom opted for shorter climbs. According to his Strava file, Buchmann completed nine ascents of the Heimelerberg to achieve the required elevation gain.

Buchmann said the final push to the line was extremely painful.


“At the beginning I found a good rhythm and then decided to push hard,” he said. “After 7000 meters of climbing completed, I started feeling my muscles. I am not used to this amount of workload and it started to hurt a lot. The last 1000 meters have been cruel.”

Multiple pro and amateur riders have tackled the Everesting challenge in recent weeks amid the coronavirus shutdown. Recently U.S. champion Ruth Winder took on the challenge in Boulder, Colorado, and then Katie Hall set a new women’s record on Bonny Doon Road outside Santa Cruz, California.

Thus far Buchmann is the first WorldTour star rider to take on the challenge this year. Last year Buchmann finished fourth place overall at the Tour de France and he is hoping for another top finish at the Tour this year.

Buchmann said the shutdown gave him the time to take on such a big challenge, even if the effort was not comparable to racing.

“This is not comparable to racing at all, but I think it was still a strong performance and it definitely shows we are on track for the Tour. But it is also important to me that people don’t forget why I did this – the charity.”