Cyclists attempt Zwift Double Everest to raise cash for NHS

Two cyclists are attempting to climb twice the height of Everest on Zwift to raise money for the NHS. You can see how Francis Cade is getting on here and how Alex Hill is doing here.

The two men are repeatedly riding up Alpe du Zwift on their turbos, aiming to climb 17,696m in one session – double the height of Everest.

The Hells500 official Everesting rules state that they’ll be allowed just two hours of sleep during the entire challenge, and only after they have completed the first virtual Everest. They can take as many breaks as they want to.

“We're going to put ourselves through a whole world of hurt,” they write on their Just Giving page. “But it is nothing compared to the selflessness and day-in-day-out dedication of our frontline NHS staff that are helping us all in our time of need.”

They’ve so fair raised over £3,500 – but with Hill having only completed 1,500m at the time of writing, the challenge is yet young.

Hill has previously done a real-world Double Everest in Shropshire – he was the first person in the UK to achieve the feat.

“I’m really interested in the difference between the outdoor version and the indoor, both mentally and physically,” he said.

“Clearly at the moment we can’t go and do challenges like this outdoors, so being able to really suffer indoors whilst raising some cash for the heroes that are keeping this country going is a no-brainer.”

In a vlog announcing the event, endurance rider Francis said: "Myself and [Hill] actually wanted to do the Everest outside this summer. We’ve been talking about it for a while. He’s the first person in the UK to have done a Double Everest and I think he was going to go for a triple while I did the double.

"Circumstances have obviously changed, and we’re now mainly indoors. But we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to still do it indoors on Zwift and raise a ton of cash at the same time."