We can’t all be like Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norway, the first men to successfully summit Everest, or Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber to reach the proverbial top of the world. However, if you’re willing to shell out a few bucks, you can conquer your very own Everest, then sip fancy cocktails by the fire and listen to great music in the evening afterward.
In 2019, all you need to do to “climb” Mount Everest is sign up for an adventure care of 29029, grab some hiking boots or trail runners, and head to Utah in August or Vermont in October. Here’s the short story right from the folks who merge extreme elevation gain with elevated lifestyle camping:
“We rent a private mountain. We build a base camp village with bands, bonfires, luxury tipi tents, food, and drink. You join a community of like-minded individuals while tackling an epic endurance challenge. It’s a new category of events. Equal parts physical, mental, and spiritual.”
“It’s a new category of events. Equal parts physical, mental, and spiritual.”
A 29029 event merges grueling physical exertion backed by an iron will with the ultimate glamping experience. If successful, you will end your stay at a 29029 weekend having climbed more than 29,029 vertical feet (albeit not at once and with some down climbing in there, too), the equivalent of an ascent of Mount Everest. At the Utah 29029 event in August 2019, the group has planned a 2.3-mile long hike up Summit Snowbasin that involves 2,310 feet of vertical gain with each completion. After 13 treks up Summit Snowbasin, you’ve achieved the equivalent of Everest. In Vermont, the October 2019 event takes place on Stratton Mountain. Seventeen completions of the 1.3-mile, 1,750 vertical hike equal the Himalayan heavy-hitter.
Here’s a secret: You don’t have to actually climb Summit Snowbasin or Stratton 13 or 17 times, respectively, to enjoy a 29029 weekend. If you pay your dues, the organizers still welcome you into the fold, which includes three nights in a luxury glamping tent, all the food and beverage you want, massage sessions after your hike, coaching calls leading up to the event, access to the private mountain (of course), and lots of neat swag.
Good stuff, right? Well, it better be. Single entry to a 2019 29029 event costs $3,395; reserving a tent for two will set you back $10,495.
So, do you have what it takes to climb Mount Everest? If you’ve got about four grand to spend on an experience of a lifetime … then yes, yes you do.
While we’re on the topic of Everest, here’s a fun little fact for you: The first team of surveyors to measure the mountain’s height came back with an exact measurement of 29,000 feet. While precise based on calculations at the time, the surveyors added a few feet to make the height seem more plausible. While slowly rising, gaining about a half inch each year, for now, 29,029 is the generally accepted height of the world’s tallest peak.
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