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The Black Bib

Earned, Then Worn

By 29029 Everesting

July 25^th, 2025

Finishing 29029 once is something most people will never do.

It takes guts to sign up.

Dedication to complete the training.

Grit to climb for 36 hours.

And serious resolve to earn the Red Hat.

For those brave enough to tackle such a challenge, the reward goes far beyond a Red Hat.

That reward, gained on the mountain, comes home with you: confidence, clarity, resilience, and the quiet pride of knowing that discomfort doesn’t break you, it builds you.

But for some, one mountain isn’t enough.

They come back.

Not because they have to.

Not because it’s easy.

But because something inside them says, “I need to do that again.”

That’s when their Black Bib story begins.

Your first climb was full of unknowns.

You didn’t know how your body would respond at 2 am.

You didn’t know when the doubts would hit, or what it would take to silence them.

You didn’t know how tempting it would be to close your eyes in the recovery room and never get back up.

But the second and third?

You knew.

You knew exactly what the mountain held.

And you showed up anyway.

Because something inside you needed to.

“Immediately after Vermont in 2017, I knew I was addicted to 29029. I returned in 2018, and it definitely wasn’t easy. Maybe even harder. But I think that’s what made it so addicting. The feeling of accomplishment is all the better when it’s hard!” - Joannie Rich

The more mountains you climb, the more clearly you see: the finish line was never the only summit.

The real reward was in who you become on the climb.

It takes three 29029 mountains to earn the Black Bib.

Three separate events.

Three times through the climb-at-night, legs-on-fire, doubts-in-your-head experience.

Three times battling the urge to stop, and choosing not to.

Three times walking the Red Carpet.

Three finishes that each tested a different part of who you are.

Three Everests.

Three Red Hats.

And the unshakable knowledge that you didn’t just survive the mountain, you became someone new because of it.

Only then do you get the Black Bib.

You can’t buy it.

There are no shortcuts.

No VIP routes to the summit.

No upgrades you can buy to set you apart.

There’s only the mountain.

And your choice to keep climbing it, again and again.

The Black Bib isn’t given.

It’s earned.

Once you’ve earned it, you don’t just own a Black Bib.

You wear it on your next mountain - visible to everyone, but fully understood only by those who’ve been there.

Because the Black Bib means more than just personal achievement.

It’s a symbol of experience. Of perspective. Of purpose.

“Wearing the Black Bib symbolizes more than personal accomplishment. It’s a powerful reminder of who I’ve become on the climb - I’m someone capable of deep resilience, unwavering commitment, and a willingness to lift others up along the way.” - Spring Bengtzen

When you wear it, you carry every summit, every setback, every late-night lap, with you.

The mountain stays with you.

And the lessons do too.

The Black Bib isn’t a fast reward.

It’s a slow-earned transformation.

A shift that happens over seasons, not weekends.

Over setbacks, restarts, and the long decision to keep going.

Eventually, the question stops being “Can I finish?”

It becomes: “How can I help others finish?”

Because when you’ve stood on that mountain more than once, you realize the summit isn’t just for you.

It’s for the person climbing beside you as well.

“The gift of 29029 is that it reminded me why I was here. It reminded me of the power that personal connections can have. It reminded me that a simple act of kindness can make all the difference in the world to somebody. Just a single act can bring immeasurable changes to someone’s life. I can help someone reach the summit at 29029, but that can resonate through the rest of their life too.” - Patrick Keeble