How to Conquer Tough Mudder’s Everest on Your First Try.

Everest is an obstacle on Tough Mudder that I personally found to be deceptive in that it looks scary but is actually easier to conquer than most people think.

Here is an awesome picture of my uncle making his first attempt at passing it:

tough mudder everest

And he did it. Then it was my turn.my tough mudder everest jump

Now he weights more than me. I am also faster than him and have a stronger spring when I jump.

So it would be no problem right? Well here’s a great picture he snapped from his Gopro:

In fact, this would become the BEST picture out of all the videos and pictures we took while on Tough Mudder.

However, if I told you that in that moment he captured, that I actually missed the top and fell, and then fell 4 more times, it wouldn’t make this picture that good, but unfortunately that’s what happened, despite my “superior” attributes.

How was it that I failed? And why do so many others fail Everest?

Well after beating it after the 5th or 6th time I tried it, I can finally give you a few tips.

 5 tips that will guarantee you beat Everest:

1) The most obvious tip to this obstacle is the speed you gain while running towards this obstacle and then upwards. It is very important that you not doubt yourself while running towards the wall.

A lot of people I noticed become very intimidated by it because they think they’ll slip and/or the height of it gets to them, so their instincts make them slow down just before they start to run up. Basically the same tips I gave to scale walls apply to Everest as well.

But this is where you need to actually exert all the energy even more. In other words, you have to push even harder on that run leading up to the wall and then get one more push to try and run up as far as you can because the higher you can reach, the easier then next tip will be:

2) Depending on how far up the wall you reach before you naturally start to slip down, you’ll have to spring up. If you’re close enough to the top, you can reach it yourself, if not, there will be people who will grab you. But the spring is something you need to practice at home to get used to the sensation. Maybe run towards a bench at a jogging pace, then step with one foot forward on it, then spring up to practice the motion itself.

3) Do not be afraid to fall along this wall. Remember, I said this wall is deceptive because it’s so high, but after falling multiple times on it, I can tell you that it doesn’t hurt and that you’ll be fine. The arch of the wall makes it so that you fall either on your stomach, back or your side and slide back down. 

Just in case you’re not wearing good shoes, when you start to run up the wall, keep your arms in front of you just in case you slip to avoid hitting your face. But based on all the people I saw go on Everest and slip, none of them had that problem.

4) If you fall once, take a minute before running back up again. I made the mistake to continually try and run up the wall over and over. It’s amazing how quickly Everest 2.0 can exhaust you.

I had to take a break and let other people because I just got tired of exploding up the wall and then falling back down over and over.

5) Make sure if you have ANY weights, to leave them on the side of the wall or give them to a team member who passed this challenge.

If you’ve been wondering why exactly I fell so many times along this obstacle, this was the main reason why.

You see, all along this race, I was carrying my hydration pack with most of our supplies there and it was also filled with water. Overall, there were a few pounds of extra weight that I had to carry and until I reached Everest, I didn’t worry that it would impede me, but each time I ran up the wall and fell, I always though that there was something pulling me back the entire time I was trying to run up as fast as possible.

The funny thing is that the backpack I was carrying was not something that crossed my mind as being the reason because I became so used to carrying it that I forgot it was even on me. You can see in that picture that I had it on me.

Well after catching my breath, after all the falls, I decided it couldn’t hurt if I tried to take it off, so I did and put it on the side, then made my next attempt at scaling Everest.

And wow, what a difference. I ran up that wall so fast that I honestly felt I could have done it without anyone helping me. It was amazing to see how a few pounds of weight made passing this so much harder than it had to be.

So if you’re carrying anything that weights over a pound, give it to someone and you will see a remarkable difference in lightness and weight and it will only add to your spring/speed. 

Now I do want to add that I kept my hydration pack on me for the remainder of the race, but some of the obstacles I had to go over made it tougher to do with the backpack on me. On Tough Mudder specifically, I would say the bag came in handy half the time, but it was still necessary as it held some very important supplies.

On something like the Spartan Race, the bag came in handy 90% of the time. So I do still recommend you keep it on you, but take it off and/or give to someone according to the obstacle/s you have to face. 

Overall Everest can be beaten easily if you practice the motions necessary to run up it, without the fear of falling on it and also without any extra weight on you! 

Even though these tips work, practice beforehand.

It can be easy to read a tutorial on Everest, but it’s more than likely that when you go on your first Tough Mudder and see it, that it can become intimidating and all these tips I gave can be forgotten which is why I am going to give you a practice tip before you attempt it:

You can try to practice wall jumps in areas where its legal and the wall itself doesn’t have to be arched like Everest. Just practice running up to, jumping on a wall to get your body and mind used to the sensation of doing it and if you want to try and recreate the Everest feeling, find a skate board park and try running up the obstacle courses there as it’s pretty close to the one on Tough Mudder.

12 thoughts on “How to Conquer Tough Mudder’s Everest on Your First Try.”

  1. Wow Everest 2.0 does not look easy at all. Even though I consider myself to be quite fit I can see myself easily sliding back down. Hopefully I will be participating in a spartan race soon, i’m not sure if the course will have Everest but I will definitely save your tips just in case.

    Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  2. As an avid CrossFitter I’ve always wanted to sign up for Tough Mudder or Spartan Race but have yet to do so. I really enjoyed the personal touch you put to your article. Would you say a Tough Mudder is easier than a Spartan race or how would you compare the two?
    Thanks! Cheers!

    Reply
    • I think you’ll do fine with both races Chase, Crossfit is a pretty prep to these events, as long as you’re not training in one of those gyms where there’s a lot of injuries.

      I do think Tough Mudder is slightly easier and I have actually compared the races here!

      Reply
  3. I have never done a tough mudder but it always looks so fun. I usually just compete in races, just did my first half marathon earlier this year.

    The Everest obstacle definitely seems like a challenging one with all of the mud it seems like it would be hard to get traction.

    I recently tore my ACL and only about half way thru rehab but I will have to look for a tough mudder near me when I am able to compete again.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hope your ACL recovers Jeremy. I would not recommend any kind of mud run or anything with explosive movements until you are fully healed though and in Tough Mudder, you will have to do a lot of that to complete most of the obstacles.

      Reply
  4. I have to confess I have not attempted a mud run – yet.

    I have a close friend who is an avid Mudder and she tells me it is so addictive! The adrenaline rush is amazing and the sense of achievement at the end is all the reward you need.

    I am duly inspired and armed – thanks to your article!

    Cheers

    Debra

    Reply
    • You and your friend should do the Tough Mudder Debra, all the things your friend said about adrenaline and the other things is totally true 🙂

      Reply
  5. Thanks for the advice. I haven’t run a mudder yet but hope to this coming year. I look forward to all the obstacles that it has to offer so any tips I can get would be great. I will check back for any other articles or advice you may have for a first timer.

    Reply
  6. I’ve been considering doing a Tough Mudder. I’ve started training and reading other peoples experiences (sometimes that’s not good) and I’ve talked to a few friends who have done it. The Everest obstacle intimidates me the most. Even with good training I’m terrified of serious injuries. But I don’t want to be so scared that I miss out on an awesome experience. Any advice?

    Reply
    • Hi Terra, I totally understand your fear about it. Everest is a massive looking challenge and adding to that, the height of it, it can easily intimidate people. I too don’t like heights and when I first saw Everest, I admit, I was worried.

      There’s a couple of things you can do:

      Practice somewhere at home with a prop or obstacle that looks like Everest but isn’t as big so you can get used to the sensation of running up to it.

      Another option is to go to find a skateboard “park” where people do stunts. Those places have an exact replica of the Everest you can practice on.

      But even if all of that fails, just know you can avoid this obstacle and move onto the next ones. I assure you, it’s not that scary and is very fun. Your first run up it may not be successful, but at least you will understand that it’s not that scary. Even if you slip and fall, its design is such that you won’t get hurt. If you keep these things in mind and practice it in anyway, I promise, on race day, it won’t be as scary and you’ll enjoy it.

      Reply

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