Everest is arguably one of Tough Mudder's most notorious obstacles.
Snowboarders and skate boarders have the half-pipe. Mudders have a real obstacle: Everest. A quarter-pipe that you’ll have to sprint up and enlist the help of other Mudders to hurl you over this beastly summit. Everest is coated in mud and grease, a combination which will likely send you right back from where you came. Call upon other Mudders to catch you as you run up the quarter-pipe or work together to form a human chain so that you can scale someone’s shoulders to finally summit Everest.
I just want to put out a disclaimer now, that I am not deliberately trying to brag about my success in this event, just trying to give my readers perspective.
This obstacle, will no doubt give some folks trouble getting up. It requires a combination of speed, power, and upper body strength to conquer. I was able to make it up and over on my own, on my first try, but not everyone will have the same success.
(You can see me conquering Everest at the 4:24 mark of this video)
The difficult part about Everest, is that at Tough Mudder Toronto, this obstacles was placed near the end of the race. For those that competed in this event know that there were plenty of ski hills to climb, so by the time you got to Everest, your legs were shot...at least mine were. That is why you see me take a second to catch my breath before attempting this.
You need a bit of speed and lower body explosiveness (and timing) to get some momentum running up the quarter pipe, and jumping at the right time to get your hands on the ledge. For me personally, once I was able to get my hands on the ledge, I was able to pull myself up with little problem at all. Again, as I have said in previous blogs, my training helped me with an obstacle like this specifically as I used lower body plyometrics combined with upper body training (pull-ups/chinups).
To train for an event like this, make sure to include some lower body plyometrics to improve your 'springiness' and explosiveness so that you can not only generate some speed up the ramp, but to also get a good jump. Whether or not you are then able to pull yourself up will be dependant on your upper body strength and/or help from others.
Other factors involved here include the timing of this obstacle. If this comes soon after an obstacle where you get wet and muddy, then this may become significantly more difficult as you would then have to try and combat a lack of footing.
Quote of the day:
"Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time."
~ Josh Billings
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