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The Origin Story

By 29029 Everesting

June 21^st, 2019

Would you hike with us?

What if we brought Mount Everest to you? If one of the world’s toughest challenges was right on your doorstep, would you hike with us?

What if we brought together a small group of like-minded individuals, and as a community we conquered the challenge together. Would you hike with us?

What if we brought you a weekend experience so transformational that it became one of the defining achievements of your life resume. Would you hike with us?

We call it 29029 or Everesting. You can call it endurance hiking. Whichever term you use, we’re going to climb 29,029 feet - the vertical height of Mount Everest - and we’re going to do it together.

The Origin Story

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It’s not how far, it’s how far up!

29029 came from a simple question among running friends: How many vertical feet did you gain? The more our co-founders Jesse Itzler and Marc Hodulich let that question percolate, the more excited they became.

You may have heard of Jesse, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur who has sold businesses to Warren Buffet and Coca-Cola. His #1 bestselling book, Living With A Seal: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet gave us a snapshot into the types of life experiences Jesse is trying to accumulate, and the types of things he is trying to prove to himself. “I feel most alive when I’m challenged, when I’m pushed, when I’m forced to see what I’m made of” he says.

Sporting events are often known for their distance: the 100-meter dash, the 26.2 mile, or 140.6 in the Ironman. But as Jesse and Marc quickly found out during their research, there were no events that were synonymous with vertical gain. It’s not how far, it’s how far up!

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Just say Yes

Everesting is a new category to challenge your mind, body and soul while building bonds within an incredible community. You have 36 hours to complete as many ascents of a private mountain to accumulate as many vertical feet as possible. Hike to the top, and take the gondola back down. Repeat.

The number of ascents is up to you.

“Every time you get off the gondola at the base, you have the choice to make a left turn and go to the tents, or to turn right and go back up the mountain” says Marc. To this point, no-one who has turned right to go back up the mountain has come down without completing another summit.

In creating an entirely new category of event, it was important to us that we took the opportunity to design the most impactful individual experience for every single guest. We left nothing to chance in creating community and camaraderie that exist when you come together for a common purpose.

We build a base camp village with bands, bonfires, food, and drink. Your training plan, massage therapy and weekly coaching calls are all included in your entry. So is the private Facebook Group, which has been described as one of the more meaningful keepsakes. All you need to do is say “yes” and trust us to get you there prepared.

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THE RED BIB

29029 doesn’t have winners. There is no podium, no age or gender groups, or race categories. Your only goal is to ascend our mountain more times than you thought possible. For many the ultimate goal will be to gain the coveted red bib, an indication that you’re on your last ascent up the mountain. It even says Final Ascent’ in big letters on the bib, the ultimate symbol to let all your peers know you are about to conquer 29029.

One reality is that hiking up the same mountain over and over again is not easy. Anything worth achieving rarely is. You’re out in nature, exposed to the elements. When your legs are aching and you’ve got 11 ascents left, your mind starts to question everything. Eventually, even the fittest among us will feel what we’ve endearingly termed, “the suck.”

Yet, this isn’t an endurance event for the fittest athletes in the world. You don’t have to be a marathoner or Ironman to finish this challenge. This is an inclusive event that is exclusive to the people who are climbing the mountain. It’s an event for those of us who want to truly live. The lasting bonds that are formed at 29029 will never be replicated, and no two events will ever be the same. The way 29029 will endure is through the hearts of those competing, and through the stories that our guests tell.

This site tells those stories.

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Let's find out together

Some of our guests have already begun telling their stories in the public domain, like Tom Vanderbilt from Outside Magazine, who notes: “Looking back, 29029 was hard—mentally more than physically. My heart rate never got into the red, but my psyche did, as I struggled to convince myself to climb the same hill for the tenth time. As people hiked up the mountain, they encountered the very lessons Itzler was trying to get across.”

Rob Meredith, a financial planner from Ontario, says that 29029 has strengthened his belief in positive self-talk, visualization, and mindset. Rob’s LinkedIn post looks back at the inspiration he drew from the record-breaking adventurer Colin O’Brady, whose catch cry is to “Find Your Everest.” Rob writes, “I would challenge you to [Find Your Everest] and have no doubt you will find out more about yourself than you ever imagined.”

Or, there’s Susie Orman Schnall from Huff Post, who found a deeper version of herself by joining our Vermont event: “29029 has tattooed itself on my heart and in my brain. I’ll always know this way of feeling is possible. I’ll always know what it feels like to push past self-imposed boundaries that don’t serve me at all.”

Over the coming months and years, this site will house many more stories of those who challenge themselves out on the mountain. It’s impossible to predict the kind of soul-enriching, transcendent self-discovery that will grace these pages.

We hope you’ll follow along as we find out together.

Listen to the Co-Founders talk about 29029's origins and early years on the 29029 Podcast

THE 29029 PODCAST | EPISODE 1

THE 29029 PODCAST | EPISODE 2

THE 29029 PODCAST | EPISODE 3

THE 29029 PODCAST | EPISODE 4

The Origin Story

29029 the film

Watch now

Footnotes

Photos by Mitch Meyer Photography, Published by Travis McKenzie

FootNotes

Photos by Mitch Meyer Photography, Published by Travis McKenzie

© 2026 29029 Everesting

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