From Ice to Ascent: My Everesting Journey
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Former professional ice hockey player Corbin McPherson takes on the "Everesting" challenge at Snowbasin Resort, navigating 13 ascents over two days with a 14-hour gondola schedule. In conquering this feat, he redefines personal athletic boundaries and underscores the enduring power of family support.
Personal Everest: Conquering Snowbasin's Slopes
The goal was 13 times up, an average of 1 hour per ascent, with only 14 hours of total gondola run time to get it all done over two days. September 2nd would be Day 1 of my personal challenge up the ski run at Snowbasin Resort in Huntsville, Utah, though the climb started twelve weeks earlier.
My boss at work asked me out of the blue one day what upcoming fitness goals I had planned. As a former full-time athlete turned full-time working professional, I realized this had become a foreign concept to me since retiring from professional ice hockey in 2016. After thinking about his question for a few moments, one challenge stuck out to me – I vividly remembered how inspired I was by the red caps and pain-staked faces up at Snowbasin during the 29029 Everesting event the previous summer. I answered his question with, “Everesting Snowbasin.”
After our conversation, I went on the 29029 event site and signed up for the official event. However, after a few days of considering the cost as well as other scheduling factors, I decided I’d rather mimic the climb on my own, which seemed entirely possible given my home’s proximity to the mountain.
“I can do that,” is something most people regularly tell themselves. Happily, I did do that. Following the conversation with my boss, I embarked on a twelve week training and preparation program, fitting in climbing hours anywhere I could between chasing around my two young children and working a full-time job. When the big day finally arrived over Labor Day Weekend 2023, I felt ready for my chance to complete the challenge.
The Challenge
The official event requires you to climb from the base of Needles Gondola up City Hill, onto Needles run before switching from the Porcupine to Strawberry Traverses into Needles Lodge. Each hike gains 2,310 vertical feet over 2.3 miles. The event requires you to hike this route 13 times, covering a total of 29.9 miles. The grade tops out at around 50 percent. At the end of the 13 hikes, you will have climbed the equivalent of Mt. Everest. The participants have 36 hours to complete the course with the gondola running the entire time, allowing participants to hike nonstop without limitation.
During Labor Day Weekend, the gondolas only ran from 9am to 4pm (a total of 14 hours across the two days), which required some creative planning and adjustments. I did not have the luxury of aid tents, refueling stations, or doctors on-site throughout the climb. Thunderstorms threatened the weekend, but gratefully, ultimately never came. Fortunately, the overcast skies and cool temperatures culminated in the most perfect hiking weather.
What I did have throughout my training and the weekend of the climb was the best family and support group I could hope for. I already considered myself an active, athletic person, but in order to train for something like this and ultimately be successful, I had to commit to a drastic increase in my regular everyday activity. This meant hours upon hours of additional time training, and my family graciously allowing me to spend precious nights and weekends on the treadmill and on the trails preparing. In the end, their sacrifice was worth it and we were all successful.
All that mattered (and what kept me going) was putting one foot in front of the other - getting one step closer to the gondola, a restful descent, and the sweet smiling faces waiting for me at the bottom.
Corbin McPherson
When the time came to start, my wife and our children joined me at the base of Snowbasin, right next to the gondola, so their smiling faces were the first thing I saw before each climb. They acted as my cheerleaders, refueling and aid station, and home base for the rest of my friends, family and neighbors who stopped by to watch me endure the climbs.
Each time up was steep. All that mattered (and what kept me going) was putting one foot in front of the other - getting one step closer to the gondola, a restful descent, and the sweet smiling faces waiting for me at the bottom. The fifteen minute ride down was just enough to refuel and reset before starting the next climb after I reached the base. On Day 1, I managed to climb Snowbasin 6 times before the gondola closed for the day. I averaged just over 57 minutes each climb. I was lucky enough to be joined for the first ascent and partially on another by enthusiastic and cheerful friends. Step by step, together we climbed the mountain.
However, 6 climbs weren’t enough for Day 1 – I needed (and wanted) to accomplish 7, to leave the remaining 6 for Day 2. I had two options once the gondola stopped running: do another climb and walk down, or go home and do my final climb on the treadmill. I knew that the first option would potentially set me back for the climbs on Day 2, or even result in hurting myself (my downhill training did not match my uphill training).
Though disappointed not to finish the final climb on the actual course, I decided to take the safe route and finish the day on the treadmill at home. The clock ran out on the gondola, so I adapted. My number one goal was to finish the challenge after Day 2, so I knew I really couldn’t risk injury on Day 1. The incline of the course at Snowbasin averages 19% and peaks at 50% - with a maximum incline option of 15%, the treadmill required just over a half mile longer to achieve 2,310 vertical feet of climbing for the 7th and final climb on Day 1.
Day 2 went according to plan and I was able to achieve all six hikes on the mountain, averaging 58 minutes each ascent, until I had climbed a grand total of 30.5 miles and 30,030 feet over 2 days.
Reflecting on the Journey
Though I say that I successfully “solo” completed the “Everesting” challenge, I mean only that I completed it without the support of an organized event. I could not have done it without the abundance of expert guidance from friends, planning, preparation, research and training – and most of all, the never ending love and support of my family. In that sense, it was hardly a “solo” accomplishment.
I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this physical feat, accomplishing a goal that felt harder in the moment than I could have possibly anticipated. I deepened relationships with friends, forged new partnerships, and proved to myself that, though my professional athletic career is over, my personal athletic achievements are not. I feel inspired more than ever to strive towards future physical challenges, and I look forward to many more KÜHL adventures ahead.
