by Dean Anderson. Photos by Kristin Anderson
 |
| Turning wheels with Matt and Jason on the icy slope. |
Everesting again? One more time in the winter? Why!?
Everesting is a challenge where the same hill is ridden over
and over again until the 8849m elevation of Everest is reached. Walking or
sleeping is not allowed.
This was my third Everesting.
The first Everesting was on Signal Mountain in Jasper. In
July of 2019, I rode my single speed mountain bike 11 laps up the rocky, muddy,
trail for 26 hours to complete my first Everest. The Strava link is below for
that ride.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2568639824
The second Everesting was in January of 2021 on the Jasper
SkyTram Hill on Whistler Road in Jasper. This was my first Everesting in
winter. I rode this hill 36 times for 31 hours. Good times! The links to the
Strava and Blog posts are below.
https://www.strava.com/activities/4627120334
http://andersonsoutside.blogspot.com/2021/01/2021-winter-everesting-on-fat-bike.html
So back to why. This year I decided on a yearly goal to ride
to space. That’s 100km straight up! 100,000m over the course of the year; and
all outside – no virtual rides allowed. I live in St. Albert, AB which is in
the Canadian prairies so gaining elevation is a challenge. So, what’s a great
way to gain elevation? An Everesting!
The previous ones that I did were in Jasper, and I have
wanted to do one locally so started looking for some hills to ride in the area.
Kristin and I searched and found Wolf Willow Hill in the Edmonton River Valley that
was a gravel path about 40m in elevation. We test rode it a week before the
event and it looked great! The snow was in good condition and the grade was
steady. With the Everesting Calculator it would be 220 laps. February 11th,
2022 would be our day!
I decided to raise money for Edmonton’s Food Bank. People
shouldn’t be going hungry. The pandemic and struggling economy have been tough
on everyone. Many in our community need
help providing food for themselves and their families. I wanted to encourage everyone
to help the Edmonton Food Bank in their mission to provide food and other
essentials to those in need. I was blown away by how everyone helped in donating
to this cause. I set a goal of raising $1500 and at the time of writing this
blog, we raised $2450!! Thanks to everyone for your support!
Donations can continue to be made here until February 28, 2022.
We had chosen the trail and picked the date, then the warm
snap hit! Typically in February, the temperatures are below freezing. But for
the week before our planned starting date, the temperatures were in the plus 6-9°C range! We have had a lot of snow this year and it was all starting to melt.
It melts during the day, and at night it freezes again – the freeze-thaw cycle.
This effect creates large sheets of ice where the melted snow can pool.
Needless to say, I was getting concerned about Wolf Willow
Hill. I don’t ride that hill on a regular basis so I wasn’t sure of how the ice
pooled or flowed on that trail. There are two kinds of ice. One is white, snowy
ice. It has some air in it and will break up a little when you ride on it. It’s
the good kind of ice. Then there is the solid, clear ice. This ice is harder
and does not break up as much. If the downhill section of the trail had a lot
of solid, clear ice, I would probably not be able to ride it. It would be too
treacherous.
We planned to go the night before the attempt to check out
the ice. I was incredibly curious as I working the day away in my office, so I searched
the Local Legends in Strava to see if anyone had ridden it recently. I found a
guy, Matt, that had. I commented on his post describing my ride and incessant
desire to know how much ice was on the trail. I felt a bit odd creeping
someone’s account in search of a trail report, but what can I say, I was really
curious! Lol! Lo and behold, he replied and gave me a detailed trail report. He
heard of my ride and was considering coming out if it was to go ahead. Based on
his description, it was about 50-50 for the ice. 50-50 is better than a no-go
in my books, so I was encouraged.
Kristin and I went out that night with temperatures about 9°C
and rode the hill in the slush. It was forecasted to get a few degrees below
freezing that night so I knew all this water and slush would freeze before the
attempt. One section at the top was flatter and water was pooling a lot. Other
than that, there were only a few other spots where the clear ice would be. The
rest looked like it would be the white, snowy ice. We decided to shorten the
segment at the top to eliminate the pool of ice. The ride was still a go on the
shortened segment! It would take 245 laps now! Now it was time to sleep,
prepare and wonder exactly how slippery it was going to be after everything
froze overnight.
We prepped and got out to the trail at about 11am. As we
were unloading, Evan from CTV Edmonton was there for an interview! I said some
words and he strapped his GoPro onto my bike for the first couple of laps. We
were encouraged hearing that he was happy to be reporting on something
positive. With the pandemic stretching on for much longer than any of us
probably thought it would, there is a lot of negative news out there. He was
happy to see something fun and encouraging and we were lifted by his
enthusiasm.
 |
Evan from CTV Edmonton. (Our son has the same name!) |
 |
| Base camp. My turn around point and Kristin's home for the next 27 hours. |
 |
| A bit of the clear ice at the top. |
Up and down, up and down. Each lap was taking me about 5 minutes and 20 seconds (5:20). There were quite a few dog walkers and walkers from the neighborhood, and everyone was friendly and positive. I knew this would be a factor since the path was in a popular area of town. I made sure to ring my bell and slow down when passing to try to be as considerate as I could. Of course, slowing down was only required going down. Going up, I was only going slightly faster than them as they walked up the hill. “Passing on your left… slowly… still passing… have a good day…”
 |
| The one picture I took on the trail. See the lovely white ice! |
I banged out the first 20-30 laps pretty smoothly. I was
starting to feel the little aches and pains that happen on these rides and I
knew they would pass. Right at the start, the first guy I saw was Tom! I know
him from the ultra cycling world and he is a legend single speeder. I ride
single speed mountain bike too and we have ridden together in the past. He had
his cowbell and its ring propelled me up the hill! Thanks, Tom!! This was the
start of many generous acts as the day (and night… and day) passed by.
 |
| Tom and his cowbell of joy. |
 |
| We all need more cowbell in our lives. (musicradar.com) |
About 2pm, Robbi stopped by. He was a chap I spoke to online before the ride. He was stopped at base camp and left me a San Pellegrino! How awesome! Shortly after, Doug from Edmonton’s Food Bank stopped by for a photo and he dropped off a swag bag with some hats and masks! More encouragement! It meant so much to us to have people stopping by.
 |
| Robbi's San Pellegrino and Doug's Edmonton’s Food Bank swag. |
I kept plugging along with groups of 10 laps passing by. For diet this time, I decide to try sandwiches. Bread-mayo-sliced turkey-mayo-bread…lots of mayo. Those would be my every 2-3 hour snack and I would munch on primarily Clif Bars and various chews along the way. To drink, it would be 2 scoops of Tailwind in the bottle. Each time I would take a bottle, I would tell Kristin what flavour I wanted next. I even had some Dr. Pepper for a periodic treat. With the short laps, it was really easy to stay on top of my calorie intake for the most part. At each turn around at the bottom, I had a few pedal strokes where I would either take a bit of Clif Bar (or something else), or take a swallow of Tailwind. This kept me on track for the 200-300 calorie per hour pace I’m used to. The only time this slipped a bit is when I would forget if I happened to talk to someone at the bottom.
 |
| No-freeze cozy for the water bottle. Skillfully knitted by Kristin herself. |
 |
| Chonking down on a sandwich. |
The afternoon passed into evening and darkness fell. Just as
the sun was going down, I saw a lone coyote trot out onto the trail in front of
me. He walked along the trail for a while and then cut into the trees again.
Kristin saw it a bit later at the top of the hill. This prompted her to get the
shovel as a self protection device. Smart! Throughout the night, she would hear
them yelping in the bushes. We learned from some of the locals that they
frequent the area hunting bunny rabbits. Circle of life and all that.
Here in Canada at this time of year, sunset is about 5:30pm
and sunrise is about 7:50am. That makes for a long night. Thankfully we had
some visitors… on bikes! I stopped for a pizza break and shortly after that,
Jeff came rolling by.
 |
| My only slice of pizza. And first of a few cups of cider. |
Jeff is a guy I met online and we have commented on one another’s posts in the past. It was such a blessing to be able to meet some of these people you know from just the virtual world. He joined me for several laps and we chatted about many things such as biking, life, family, career, and trying to achieve a balance among all of those things.
 |
| Thanks for riding with me Jeff! |
I kept turning out laps and ate another sandwich.
 |
| Sandwiches are the spice of life. |
Then about 9pm, Dale, Mike, Gavin, and Daphne came by. I met
Mike and Dale through the 24 hour solo mountain bike world. We were pit
neighbors a few years ago in Canmore. They brought chicken soup and many
encouraging words. They walked down the path and cheered as I rode by. It was
so great to see them and get that encouragement.
 |
| Thanks for coming Dale, Mike, and family!! |
Just as Dale, Mike, and their crew were leaving, Matt rolled up. He was the guy I contacted out of the blue on his Strava post. It was so nice that he was able to make it out! We rode a few laps together and then Kevin joined the group too. His beard is magnificent. Three guys going up and down the hill chatting about many different subjects. It was fantastic! I appreciated it so much that these guys (and everyone else) took the time out of their schedule to ride with me on this bonkers adventure! After Matt left, Kevin did a loop around the trails in the area and then came back for a few more laps. Thanks, Kevin, for dropping off the cookies!
 |
| Thanks for riding with me, Matt and Kevin! |
After Kevin left at about 12:30am, I knew the real work would begin. These are the times it can be tough to stay awake, especially if the trail is easy to ride (which it was) and I start getting tired (which I was). In the dark, I tend to stare at the dot of light in front of me and get relaxed. As I get more relaxed, I feel like I am going to nod off. I must say, the number of laps was daunting, but it was really nice to be able to see Kristin every 5-6 minutes compared to the longer laps I have done in the past. At least with these shorter laps it gives me more opportunity to talk to Kristin and snap out of the drowsy state I was in. We purposefully delayed caffeine intake until about 11pm to hopefully improve its effectiveness. It probably sort of worked, but I didn’t notice that much.
 |
| My bundled savior at base camp. |
More laps, more up and down. When I started, the trail had a hard, icy surface, so I was running my tires at 5psi to engage all of the studs. But after going up and down the trail 140 times, I was breaking up that hard surface into smaller grains of ice. That means more traction! I decided to pump my tires up to 7psi to improve rolling resistance. It was nice. It saved me about 30 seconds a lap!
 |
| Pump it up! (said with Arnold Schwarzenegger accent) |
Between 3 and 5 am, the sleepiness was hitting me hard. Every 2 laps, I would have to stop to try to wake up enough to do two more. I took a lot of breaks, but they were necessary. I had some vinegar in case I started cramping, but this time I took a shot to try to wake me up a bit. It actually worked! For a little while at least.
 |
| Bottoms up! |
Then about 7am, my saviors came! Dale and Mike were back with their bikes! Chatting with them helped so much in getting out of that sleepy state. The sun rose and we turned out some efficient laps. Riding with those guys brought down my lap time too. In the night, I was slowing down to about 6 minutes a lap, but with them, I sped up to 5:10 to 5:30!
 |
| Mike and Dale saving my bacon! See the path worn into the ice? |
The Saturday morning light came upon us, and the dog walkers and runners emerged. The trail started to get busier and people started asking questions. The sign at the top helped a lot and we even got some donations from people casually walking by. It was such a positive response! We chatted a lot with a group of trail runners who were doing hill repeats on the same hill. They had many encouraging words that helped so much!
 |
| Lap 200 chocolate milk. Note the vacant red eyes. |
Dale and Mike stuck around until about 10 am and it helped so much! Their conversation, encouragement, and willingness to ride for 3 hours up and down the same hill to support me and Kristin meant so much! Thanks Dale and Mike! We met many people on the trail who stopped by and encouraged us including Brenda. Her enthusiasm was infectious! So many people seemed to be getting into it! Nicole, who is someone I know from online, decided to do her running workout on the same hill to give support. She was running the hill but keeping pace. So fast!!
 |
| Mike, Me, Dale. (photo credit: Brenda Shaughnessy; summittraining.ca) |
After Dale and Mike left, I thought I would slow down to my 6-minute laps again. I had about 40 laps to go, so about 4 more hours of riding. I’m not sure what got into me, but I started turning out the fastest laps I had ridden yet, including a 4:42 and several more sub 5-minute laps! It was pretty awesome and I was feeling great. Obviously tired, but the aches and pains disappeared and I was cranking hard! Hmmm, now that I think about it, this was shortly after I took my first and only ibuprofen. Maybe that had something to do with how good I felt. If that’s the case, I’ll take it!
Then Matt from last night and his friend Jason showed up for
a couple of laps. It was great to see him again… and actually see him because
last night it was too dark to really see his face. And it was nice to meet
Jason too. They rode with me for a bit, wished me well, then I was on my own
riding to the end.
I kept waiting to slow down and I did, but not by much. I think I just wanted it to be done. Dave from CTV Edmonton was there to take some follow up photos and video. It was so great to see their interest in how the ride was going! My work colleague, Adam, and his family stopped by too. So much encouragement from everyone!
 |
| Adam and family. |
230, 240, 245… We got closer to the end. Based on the math,
I should have been able to stop at 245 but the elevation on my Garmin was
showing a lower number than I expected. There was no way I was going to stop
until that number read 9000m or more! There must be no chance of being short! I
kept cranking along and before I knew it, I was done at 253 laps. My children,
Mia and Evan, and my mom came for the finish and the kids made posters too! It
was so awesome to have everyone there!
This Everesting had such a sense of community to it with the
riders that joined to those who walked and those who stopped by. There were
runners, dog walkers, walkers, and people that lived in the neighborhood. Everyone
seemed to get into the event and were supportive about what was happening, and
many donated too! What a blessing! Thank you so very much!!
 |
| 253 laps! |
 |
| Done! |
 |
| Mia and Evan with their posters with my mom in the back. So great!! |
 |
| My lovely wife Kristin! This could not have happened without her! |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter Everesting 2.0 Support Crew Edition
by Kristin Anderson
“I’m going to do another winter Everesting,” Dean announced. What?? Last year’s winter attempt I was supposed to crew from the luxury and warmth of our Jasper hotel, the main reason I agreed to it. Plans changed and I wound up having to support him from our vehicle. That was adapting out of necessity. Did I want to do it again outside voluntarily? No, I didn’t.
But I learned a lot from that experience.
When you’re sitting in the cold for 35 hours, you come up with wish lists of
what could make things better pretty fast. I could see my begrudging state was
affecting Dean’s enthusiasm and jeopardizing the attempt as a whole. What was
my hang-up? Access to washrooms at gas stations were only a 5 to 8 minute drive
away compared to 12 in Jasper. I had the advantage of preparing in advance.
Riding the Global Fat Viking event a few weeks ago confirmed I could handle being
out in the snow for hours, and I had all the warm clothing I needed. I could do
this. It wasn’t about me. It was about Dean raising funds
for Edmonton’s Food Bank and I had the ability to help. I indulged in
purchases from the wish list and set some terms. His next attempt, should there
be one, had to be in warmer weather.
 |
| ROCKSOLAR Weekender 80W Power Station. No more dying phone! |
We arrived at the trailhead where Evan, a friendly
photojournalist from CTV News, was waiting. He interviewed Dean while I set up
the pit stop further along the way. I had worked on a poster describing our
event until 3am that morning, since I never sleep well before big events
anyway. I fought the chilly wind as it tried to blow my sign away. I taped
it to the table and we were set.
 |
| Dean & Evan from CTV News |
Prior to our arrival, we shoveled sand from our neighborhood community box into a couple of empty ice melt jugs for the icy sections of trail. I took some video of Dean taking off for his first lap, then sanded the pit stop area and any shiny ice spots leading to the descent. Between tending to Dean’s pitstops and documenting the event, I chatted with visitors who came to support him, including our bikepacking friend and cowbell ringer, Tom, and with curious passersby.
There were many walkers and dog walkers,
some kindly donating trailside. A lot of the dogs came up to me as I sat in my
lawn chair. Since I’m allergic, I didn’t pet them, but I always said hello. I later
saw a dog in my periphery about 5 meters away, so I turned and said hello. It
stopped to look at me. It looked like a giant mutant red fox. I don’t know much
about dogs, but I realized it was wild and said, “Whoa!” to it out loud. Then
it ran into the woods. It was confirmed by a woman pulling her dog away and
telling it to stop going after the coyote.
It got dark early, and it was very
heartwarming the first time I saw two sets of headlights summit. Dean arrived with
another rider, Jeff. For both of us, interacting with so many people made this
a very joyful, lively event. The first Everest in Jasper in 2019, I was
isolated in our vehicle, so I rarely spoke to people apart from interacting with
those following online. A local, Chris, came to meet and congratulate Dean at the
finish. His visit was a really uplifting way to end the trip.
 |
| 2019 Everesting Finish with Dean & Chris |
Last year’s winter Everest in Jasper, we were cautious about COVID protocols because of provincial government restrictions. I spoke with Chris whenever he’d come by to check on Dean’s progress.
 |
| 2021 Everesting with socially distanced Chris and Dean |
Other locals came to cheer for him from their vehicles. We’d chat from inside our respective vehicles with our windows rolled down while we waited for Dean to summit. Our bikepacking friend from home, Tim, and his son were in town and drove up to cheer for Dean too. Closer to the end, locals came to ride with him, including reporter, Bob, and a hardcore guy on skinny, studless tires. Chris and Bob came back to welcome Dean at the finish. The Jasper community was amazing.
 |
| 2021 Everesting with Dean, Bob, and hardcore guy with skinny, studless tires |
 |
| 2021 Finish with Chris, Bob and Dean |
Flash-forward to 2022. After Jeff’s arrival by bike, our friends
Mike and Dale came by along with Mike’s kids. Dale dropped off a thermos of hot
chicken noodle soup and chocolate for us. I was so touched! Dean was later
joined by Matt and Kevin. Kevin dropped off cookies made by his lovely wife.
Again, touched, just melting at our visitors’ thoughtfulness and generosity.
Our visitors eventually went home. The moon was so brilliant, and the night was crisp and still. My pizza was starting to freeze and that particular texture isn't very good. I stuffed a couple of slices in a Ziplock and put them in my pants pocket. The next time I ate, the slice was more room temperature. Not great, but tolerable. The trick to fueling this Everesting was keeping everything from freezing, so food, drinks, everything was insulated.
 |
| When the moon hits your eye like a big(?)... |
 |
| First we heat the water, then we insulate the things |
I was spooked when coyotes howled nearby, way too close for comfort. I thought about how they could come after the food, so I’d haul it with me whenever I had to make a trip to the vehicle for water, which was often. The nice thing about this Everesting attempt was Dean’s arrival about every six minutes, so I never felt alone. On his next pit stop I told him my idea to get the bike pump so I could defend myself if coyotes came by. He said, “No, get the shovel.” He took off down the hill while I went to get my sleeping bag and shovel. The sleeping bag was rolled up lengthwise like a rug, and I tossed it over my left shoulder while I grabbed the shovel with my right hand. I wondered if the neighbors would call the cops on me thinking I was burying a body in the woods.
 |
| Basking
in the warmth of the moonlight with a shovel at the ready Photo by Dean |
We were blessed with good weather, although
the wind gusts were cold. It was the wee hours of the morning where Dean was really
struggling to stay awake. We were trying to come up with ways to keep him
distracted. I hadn’t seen the Fort Edmonton Foot Bridge yet so I figured I
would walk down the hill swinging a lantern to break up the darkness that
lulls him into a stupor. I took some *video of him riding up the hill with the massive
moon above.
 |
| Talking to the moon |
 |
| Fort Edmonton Foot Bridge. Blue emergency phone by right lamp |
The sun was finally coming up. Mike and
Dale returned around 7am with bikes in tow. Dale
brought me a bagel and a hot chocolate so massive that my arm shook as I
brought it up to drink. It was so nice yet so strange. It was like I drew an
UNO reverse card. The support crew was being supported. They helped Dean out of
the sleepy state and made me laugh at the pit. I was incredibly thankful for
their presence.
 |
| Hot Chocolatus Giganticus |
I took some pictures and video of them with
some beautiful dawn light followed by a blazing sunrise. Knowing that Dean was
in good hands, I left him with a spare bottle of Tailwind. I walked towards the
vehicle to make a food run and pit stop of my own. At the trailhead I met a
couple of runners who had arrived specifically to cheer Dean on. Once I got in
the vehicle, I heard the ladies cheering Dean’s arrival. I laughed to myself
and took off.
 |
| Sleep monster slayers |
After I returned, I noticed Dean’s lap
times were much faster with the guys. Runners began to arrive. At first it was
a couple at a time, then a massive clacking of ice echoed up the trail. A big
group of trail runners arrived for their Saturday morning run. Hill repeats on
ice. Impressive! A couple of trail runners stopped by at different times.
Melissa, a friend of Matt’s, and Nicole from Facebook each came to cheer for
Dean. One a triathlete, and the other an ultrarunner who’ve crewed for other
athletes themselves, they were a great encouragement to me. They knew the
amount of work involved and acknowledged the extra challenges of doing it
outside in winter. I felt seen.
The running activity died down with the occasional walkers remarking how Dean was the guy they saw on the news. We expected his lap times to increase after Mike and Dale left, but he stayed at a speedy five minutes. Matt came back with his friend Jason to ride a couple of laps. The end was arriving fast. One of our engineers, Adam, arrived with his family to cheer Dean on and later, Dean’s mom arrived with our kids to greet him at the finish. He finished so strong, and I couldn’t have been prouder. We met so many wonderful people and surpassed our fundraising goal. 27 hours and 42 minutes well spent.
*Videos of the Everesting can be viewed on Instagram and at Dean on Wheels on Facebook.
