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Video: Jens Voigt completes challenge to 'Everest' hill in Berlin – or does he?

Neither cold, hail, snow nor wild boar stopped German legend – but did he fall 3 metres short?

UPDATED: Jens Voigt has completed his challenge to 'Everest' the Teufelsberg climb in Berlin and raise money for a cancer charity, and neither freezing temperatures, hail, snow, nor the presence of around 30 wild boar, managed to put him off course. Some are questioning, however, whether he has in fact climbed higher than the elevation of the world's highest mountain.

In a tweet sent at around 3pm local time, the retired Tour de France stage winner and former UCI Hour Record holder said it had taken him 27 hours to climb 8,845 metres – but some people replied that he was three metres short of the target.

This is where things get complicated, because of a long-running dispute between Nepal and China, whose borders meet at the summit, about how the mountain's height should be calculated.

A 1955 survey conducted by India put the height of the summit at 8,848 metres, and was confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975.

But in 2005, China remeasured the mountain's height, putting it at 8,844 metres. That calculation was based on the rock height and excluded the 4 metres of snow at the summit, which Nepal insisted should be included to give the height of 8,848 metres.

The dispute was resolved in 2010, with China accepting the official height at 8,848 metres, but Nepal acknowledging the rock height at 8,844 metres, as claimed by China.

The missing three metres in Voigt's attempt suggest he wouldn't be eligible to join the Hall of Fame on Everesting.cc, which stipulates 8,848 metres as the required elevation gain, though the rider himself has been clear throughout that 8,845 metres was his target.

He was raising money for the Tour de Cure charity and set off at noon yesterday, with his ride initially expected to last around about 24 hours including meal breaks and stops to post pictures and video to social media to keep his supporters involved.

To make the required elevation gain, the 45-year old, riding a Trek Cronus CX bike, had to make around 100 ascents of the man-made hill in Berlin's Gruenwald forest. 

Journalist Martin Heller posted a video to Twitter of a 30-strong sounder of wild boar coming close to the road where Voigt was riding.

The police were said to be nervous at the animals' proximity, but the former Trek Factory Racing rider kept pedalling.

Teufelsberg – the name translates into English as 'Devil's Mountain' – is a man-made hill built after World War II using rubble from Berlin. During the Cold War, a US listening post was stationed at its summit.

Voigt has already beaten his initial target of raising €10,000 and has set a new one of €20,000. Donations can be made here.

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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28 comments

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don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
1 like

You forgot to put the bits I disagree with. You came in with an arrogance and belittling attitude of those who either want to run multpile marathons on consecutive days, because you once ran a fair bit, or have Everested as being " frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading."

So apart from you arrogance, belittling attitude and inability to accept the use of the word Everesting, yes, we're in complete agreement...

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Simboid replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes
don simon wrote:

You forgot to put the bits I disagree with. You came in with an arrogance and belittling attitude of those who either want to run multpile marathons on consecutive days, because you once ran a fair bit, or have Everested as being " frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading."

So apart from you arrogance, belittling attitude and inability to accept the use of the word Everesting, yes, we're in complete agreement...

Pretty sure you didn't bother to analyse the opinion you asked for enough to realise you were in agreement with almost all of it. As for belittling multiple marathons, what other appropriate response is there when it's clearly within Jens capabilities yet he makes it sound so awesomely tough and superhuman?

Pretty sure Eddy Izzard couldn't have ridden a bike anything like as hard as Jens. Not in heels anyway. Yet he ran that distance for weeks on end and seemed to quite enjoy it.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes

Wow, these AI bots are getting cleverer all the time, but you need to work on your pop culture references, Simboid.

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Simboid replied to Leviathan | 7 years ago
2 likes
Leviathan wrote:

Wow, these AI bots are getting cleverer all the time, but you need to work on your pop culture references, Simboid.

Pop culture? Would you like me to invent something that never happened because it's a bit more current? Sorry for being a bit old and not knowing any Harry Kane stories.

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alansmurphy | 7 years ago
0 likes

So you never managed to climb Everest? Loser!

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Tommytrucker | 7 years ago
1 like

I don't think there's anybody who does think they're anything like each other. It's using Everest as a comparison for the relative height someone has climbed, it being quite a well known mountain, non cyclists can see that in their minds as opposed to somebody telling them they climbed 8848m by going up their local hill umpteen times.

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fukawitribe replied to Tommytrucker | 7 years ago
0 likes
Tommytrucker wrote:

I don't think there's anybody who does think they're anything like each other. It's using Everest as a comparison for the relative height someone has climbed, it being quite a well known mountain, non cyclists can see that in their minds as opposed to somebody telling them they climbed 8848m by going up their local hill umpteen times.

Yeah, exactly this. Simboid, if someone actually did try to equate the two achievements I would whole heartedly agree with you, but no-one really does - it's bloody hard but it's just an easily relatable height challenge.

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Simboid replied to fukawitribe | 7 years ago
1 like
fukawitribe wrote:
Tommytrucker wrote:

I don't think there's anybody who does think they're anything like each other. It's using Everest as a comparison for the relative height someone has climbed, it being quite a well known mountain, non cyclists can see that in their minds as opposed to somebody telling them they climbed 8848m by going up their local hill umpteen times.

Yeah, exactly this. Simboid, if someone actually did try to equate the two achievements I would whole heartedly agree with you, but no-one really does - it's bloody hard but it's just an easily relatable height challenge.

Fair point.

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don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes

If I'm right here, you're slating people for having a bit of fun, while imagining that they imagine that they've done the equivalent of climbing Everest. You're lambasting anyone who's done this by citing the dificulties that an Everest climber would face, even though you have no experience of climbing Everest.

#Cute

I also think that anyone who has achieved climbing of 8848m in a singlke ride has done pretty well. Why do you want to dismiss this achievement as being nothing?

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Simboid replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes
don simon wrote:

If I'm right here, you're slating people for having a bit of fun, while imagining that they imagine that they've done the equivalent of climbing Everest. You're lambasting anyone who's done this by citing the dificulties that an Everest climber would face, even though you have no experience of climbing Everest.

#Cute

You're not right.

-It's never described by those who do it as a bit of fun but as an acheivement, which it is as it's far from easy.

-I don't believe anyone who's done this imagines for a minute they've done something equal to climbing Everest, however the phrase 'the equivolent of climbing Everest' is frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading.

-In the 80s, 90s and early 2000s I climbed whenever I could afford it. Mostly the Alps but 6 times in the Himalaya. The highest I managed was in the Annapurna massif where we  got up the sub-peak of Hiunchuli at 6441m.  Not huge but scary enough.

So you're right that I have zero experience on Everest, but I've only ever climbed alpine style with no sherpas or fixed ropes and with a very limited budget,  I wouldn't touch a congested tourist trap like Everest if you paid the 60 grand summit fee for me. There is very little respect shown by those who go there, mostly rich men looking for a bucket list acheivement recruiting locals who'll do the hard bits for them.

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don simon fbpe replied to Simboid | 7 years ago
0 likes
Simboid wrote:
don simon wrote:

If I'm right here, you're slating people for having a bit of fun, while imagining that they imagine that they've done the equivalent of climbing Everest. You're lambasting anyone who's done this by citing the dificulties that an Everest climber would face, even though you have no experience of climbing Everest.

#Cute

You're not right.

-It's never described by those who do it as a bit of fun but as an acheivement, which it is as it's far from easy.

-I don't believe anyone who's done this imagines for a minute they've done something equal to climbing Everest, however the phrase 'the equivolent of climbing Everest' is frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading.

-In the 80s, 90s and early 2000s I climbed whenever I could afford it. Mostly the Alps but 6 times in the Himalaya. The highest I managed was in the Annapurna massif where we  got up the sub-peak of Hiunchuli at 6441m.  Not huge but scary enough.

So you're right that I have zero experience on Everest, but I've only ever climbed alpine style with no sherpas or fixed ropes and with a very limited budget,  I wouldn't touch a congested tourist trap like Everest if you paid the 60 grand summit fee for me. There is very little respect shown by those who go there, mostly rich men looking for a bucket list acheivement recruiting locals who'll do the hard bits for them.

I think that climbing 8848m in a single ride is quite an epic thing to do, and people who do it should be proud of their achievements. You haven't done anything special that puts you in a position to judge them.

Some of the nicest people I've met in sport are the winners, the champions, the world champions. Those that aren't near the best are the ones who complain, criticise and generally have a pop at everyone else for their own failures.

You were told to stop digging a hole for yourself some time ago. You didn't. Your opinion on these people achieving something, including Jens, puts them head and shoulders above you.

Have a great Christmas!

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Simboid replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes
don simon wrote:

 

I think that climbing 8848m in a single ride is quite an epic thing to do, and people who do it should be proud of their achievements. You haven't done anything special that puts you in a position to judge them.

Some of the nicest people I've met in sport are the winners, the champions, the world champions. Those that aren't near the best are the ones who complain, criticise and generally have a pop at everyone else for their own failures.

You were told to stop digging a hole for yourself some time ago. You didn't. Your opinion on these people achieving something, including Jens, puts them head and shoulders above you.

Have a great Christmas!

You could at least read the post you're criticising, you seem to agree with most of it while ignoring the rest. Ever climbed a remote Himalayan peak with what you can carry and no oxygen? I can tell you that, in your own words, it's an epic thing to do.

The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special. Any climber with that attitude is a danger to themselves and anyone around them and is generally avoided. I was unlucky enough to meet Oscar Pistorius several times while supporting a paralympian friend and I can tell you he was always a complete c*nt. Sure, celebrity winners doing a bit of PR say all the right things but you don't know them or what they're like in private. 

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mike the bike replied to Simboid | 7 years ago
4 likes
Simboid]</p>

<p>[quote=don simon

wrote:

 

......  I was unlucky enough to meet Oscar Pistorius several times while supporting a paralympian friend and I can tell you he was always a complete c*nt. ....... 

 

Oh come on!  He may not be your favourite person but it's not like he murdered his girlfriend or something.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to Simboid | 7 years ago
0 likes
Simboid wrote:
don simon wrote:

 

I think that climbing 8848m in a single ride is quite an epic thing to do, and people who do it should be proud of their achievements. You haven't done anything special that puts you in a position to judge them.

Some of the nicest people I've met in sport are the winners, the champions, the world champions. Those that aren't near the best are the ones who complain, criticise and generally have a pop at everyone else for their own failures.

You were told to stop digging a hole for yourself some time ago. You didn't. Your opinion on these people achieving something, including Jens, puts them head and shoulders above you.

Have a great Christmas!

You could at least read the post you're criticising, you seem to agree with most of it while ignoring the rest. Ever climbed a remote Himalayan peak with what you can carry and no oxygen? I can tell you that, in your own words, it's an epic thing to do.

The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special. Any climber with that attitude is a danger to themselves and anyone around them and is generally avoided. I was unlucky enough to meet Oscar Pistorius several times while supporting a paralympian friend and I can tell you he was always a complete c*nt. Sure, celebrity winners doing a bit of PR say all the right things but you don't know them or what they're like in private. 

You see, this is where I get confused.

You said: -I don't believe anyone who's done this imagines for a minute they've done something equal to climbing Everest, however the phrase 'the equivolent of climbing Everest' is frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading.

I replied that Everesting is epic for these people and that they are not equating it to actually climbing Everest, it does not dimish anything, it's their own personal Everest, so not agreeing with you.

You said: The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special.

I say: QED.

Whether I have or haven't solod Everest in my boxer shorts singing The Greatest Hits of The Back Street Boys is irrelevant in your little game of one upmanship.

Avatar
Simboid replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes
don simon wrote:
Simboid wrote:
don simon wrote:

 

I think that climbing 8848m in a single ride is quite an epic thing to do, and people who do it should be proud of their achievements. You haven't done anything special that puts you in a position to judge them.

Some of the nicest people I've met in sport are the winners, the champions, the world champions. Those that aren't near the best are the ones who complain, criticise and generally have a pop at everyone else for their own failures.

You were told to stop digging a hole for yourself some time ago. You didn't. Your opinion on these people achieving something, including Jens, puts them head and shoulders above you.

Have a great Christmas!

You could at least read the post you're criticising, you seem to agree with most of it while ignoring the rest. Ever climbed a remote Himalayan peak with what you can carry and no oxygen? I can tell you that, in your own words, it's an epic thing to do.

The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special. Any climber with that attitude is a danger to themselves and anyone around them and is generally avoided. I was unlucky enough to meet Oscar Pistorius several times while supporting a paralympian friend and I can tell you he was always a complete c*nt. Sure, celebrity winners doing a bit of PR say all the right things but you don't know them or what they're like in private. 

You see, this is where I get confused.

You said: -I don't believe anyone who's done this imagines for a minute they've done something equal to climbing Everest, however the phrase 'the equivolent of climbing Everest' is frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading.

I replied that Everesting is epic for these people and that they are not equating it to actually climbing Everest, it does not dimish anything, it's their own personal Everest, so not agreeing with you.

You said: The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special.

I say: QED.

Whether I have or haven't solod Everest in my boxer shorts singing The Greatest Hits of The Back Street Boys is irrelevant in your little game of one upmanship.

Not only are you misquoting yourself, you're failing to recognise that it's impossible to play one upmanship on your own.

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to Simboid | 7 years ago
0 likes
Simboid wrote:
don simon wrote:
Simboid wrote:
don simon wrote:

 

I think that climbing 8848m in a single ride is quite an epic thing to do, and people who do it should be proud of their achievements. You haven't done anything special that puts you in a position to judge them.

Some of the nicest people I've met in sport are the winners, the champions, the world champions. Those that aren't near the best are the ones who complain, criticise and generally have a pop at everyone else for their own failures.

You were told to stop digging a hole for yourself some time ago. You didn't. Your opinion on these people achieving something, including Jens, puts them head and shoulders above you.

Have a great Christmas!

You could at least read the post you're criticising, you seem to agree with most of it while ignoring the rest. Ever climbed a remote Himalayan peak with what you can carry and no oxygen? I can tell you that, in your own words, it's an epic thing to do.

The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special. Any climber with that attitude is a danger to themselves and anyone around them and is generally avoided. I was unlucky enough to meet Oscar Pistorius several times while supporting a paralympian friend and I can tell you he was always a complete c*nt. Sure, celebrity winners doing a bit of PR say all the right things but you don't know them or what they're like in private. 

You see, this is where I get confused.

You said: -I don't believe anyone who's done this imagines for a minute they've done something equal to climbing Everest, however the phrase 'the equivolent of climbing Everest' is frequently and liberally used in everything written about it which is disingenuous and misleading.

I replied that Everesting is epic for these people and that they are not equating it to actually climbing Everest, it does not dimish anything, it's their own personal Everest, so not agreeing with you.

You said: The biggest arseholes I've met in life have been the ones obsessed with winning, with bagging famous peaks or holding records, who look upon everyone else as losers and themselves as something special.

I say: QED.

Whether I have or haven't solod Everest in my boxer shorts singing The Greatest Hits of The Back Street Boys is irrelevant in your little game of one upmanship.

Not only are you misquoting yourself, you're failing to recognise that it's impossible to play one upmanship on your own.

Eh?

Crack on matey...

We're all in awe of your awesomeness.

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Simboid replied to don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
2 likes
don simon wrote:

[

Eh?

Crack on matey...

We're all in awe of your awesomeness.

So you want to know what I've done that allows me to have an opinion (about which I should have kept quiet, but you asked so I told you), then tell me I'm boasting? Odd.

You think that me saying 'Everesting' is undoubtably an achievement and that I don't think anyone who does it thinks for a minute they've done the literal equivolent of climbing Everest and you replying  'that Everesting is epic for these people and that they are not equating it to actually climbing Everest' is somehow you not agreeing with me?

And you say YOU'RE confused...

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fukawitribe | 7 years ago
0 likes

Simboid. The rules are the rules and, being set out by a person they are by their very nature contrived, at least you now know they exist. Of course part of this is fun, in a particularly perverse, that doesn't stop it being a challenge, as you may now appreciate if you've actually read them. If you still have massive objections to the term, perhaps your next search might be into its origin and in particular who coined it... just a thought.

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Simboid replied to fukawitribe | 7 years ago
1 like
fukawitribe wrote:

Simboid. The rules are the rules and, being set out by a person they are by their very nature contrived, at least you now know they exist. Of course part of this is fun, in a particularly perverse, that doesn't stop it being a challenge, as you may now appreciate if you've actually read them. If you still have massive objections to the term, perhaps your next search might be into its origin and in particular who coined it... just a thought.

George Mallory, grandson of George Mallory, interesting. Still don't like the idea of it being a 'thing' in itself, he was using it as a training aid for an actual climb after all and explains how the 2 things are nothing like each other.

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Simboid | 7 years ago
1 like

fukawitribe,

Those  rules are an utter contrivance, just a bit of fun really.

 

davel,

I wouldn't specifically call it a malfunction, but having had several friends die whilst climbing and mountaineering including 2 in the Himalaya I probably take concepts such as this a little more seriously than most. Perhaps too seriously.

Anyway, I'm off to 'Mariana Trench' a local block of flats by repeatedly catching the lift to the top then running down the stairs...

Or is it more complicated than that?

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fukawitribe | 7 years ago
1 like

There are rules, obvious with even the most cursory of searches. Perhaps go and find out what this thing is you don't like before you slate it completely.

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davel | 7 years ago
2 likes

@Simboid - 1. It's a figure of speech (I don't think anyone is claiming to have climbed Everest by doing it), and 2. Doing it over 15 years doesn't count, no.

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Simboid replied to davel | 7 years ago
0 likes
davel wrote:

@Simboid - 1. It's a figure of speech (I don't think anyone is claiming to have climbed Everest by doing it), and 2. Doing it over 15 years doesn't count, no.

It's an insulting and innacurate figure of speech. Since there are apparently no rules and we can draw an arbitrary line only at 8848m whatever the circumstances I say it does count which makes me a hard man and total legend. Now pay up an amount of your choice to The Himalayan Trust. 

Thankyou.

Avatar
davel replied to Simboid | 7 years ago
3 likes
Simboid wrote:
davel wrote:

@Simboid - 1. It's a figure of speech (I don't think anyone is claiming to have climbed Everest by doing it), and 2. Doing it over 15 years doesn't count, no.

It's an insulting and innacurate figure of speech. Since there are apparently no rules and we can draw an arbitrary line only at 8848m whatever the circumstances I say it does count which makes me a hard man and total legend. Now pay up an amount of your choice to The Himalayan Trust. 

Thankyou.

What is your major malfunction?

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Simboid | 7 years ago
0 likes

My house is 25' higher than the shop at the end of the road which in the last 15 years I have visited over 4000 times. Have I:

a) Triple Everested my house which entitles me to boast endlessly, ask people for money and join an imaginary club?

Or

b) Bought lots of milk?

'Everesting' things is a total misnoma and completely misunderstands what it is to climb very high mountains. The reason it's hard is not the distance involved but the conditions battled against, which are highly dangerous and often impossibly tough.

Climb a small hill as many times as you like, I'm not saying it isn't an acheivement, but hundreds of people whose friend or relative is currently a corpse frozen to the side of Chomolungma will see the comparison as a little misguided to say the least.

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bendertherobot | 7 years ago
0 likes

Can we have an update to the update showing that he did do 9000m?

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guildwheeler | 7 years ago
2 likes

As a fellow 'Everester' I feel your pain Jens! Welcome to the club hard man!

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BikingBud | 7 years ago
0 likes

So it must be on S***** , surely the height gain can be checked on there.  If it wasn't then it din't happen, did it 

 

Well done Jens laugh still the man.

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