Lachlan Morton set a new record for climbing Everest. He surpassed Keegan Swenson's time, summiting the 8,848-meter peak in 7 hours, 32 minutes, and 54 seconds.

Morton, an Australian EF Pro Cycling (open in new tab) rider and adventurer, broke the record on Saturday, just days after his test ride. Morton, based in Boulder, chose a short list canyon climb outside of Fort Collins, Colorado. The starting elevation was 2,200 meters, but Morton ran the 1.9 km 11% climb 42 times to set the record.

"Lachlan Morton raised the bar on Everest..." Swenson posted on Instagram to congratulate him. Swenson posted a congratulatory post on Instagram, "Lachlan Morton has raised the hurdles on Everest... Maybe we need to have a head-to-head race for Everest."

Morton wrote on his Strava ride, "List 42 laps was hell. He posted details of his Everest climb, which were later verified by the Everest Ascent Supervisory Group Hells 500, albeit with data delays. He ran 169 km at an average speed of 22.4 km/h, reaching 121.3 km/h on the way down, with an average power output of 276 watts. His average calorie consumption was 6,891 kilocalories.

Morton is the second World Tour ride to challenge Everest since the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus blockade, forcing riders to look for cycling challenges that respect social distances and health measures. Some riders also participated in this event on digital platforms.

Emmanuel Buchmann of Bora-Hansgrohe recently clocked 7 hours 28 minutes, which was confirmed as travel time, not elapsed time. He also did not follow the rule of using the same climb on every attempt.

Former pro rider Phil Guymon is also making a serious attempt at the Everest record, and it will be interesting to see if other riders will consider attacking Morton's new time.

EF Pro Cycling team manager Jonathan Vaughters congratulated the rider on Instagram: "Everest is yours. Your new nickname is "Sherpa."

Morton is mixing World Tour road races with what EF Pro Cycling calls an "alternative calendar" of adventure rides and other events. The Australian climber finished fourth in the 2019 Dirty Kanza gravel race, third in the Leadville 100 mountain bike event, and also won the GB Duro bikepacking event.

In May, Morton set a new record on the Kokopelli Trail in Utah and Colorado, and plans to return to road racing and further adventure riding once the COVID-19 epidemic abates and racing resumes in Europe.