U.S. cross-country mountain bike champion Keegan Swenson set the unofficial best time for the "Everest Challenge" outside Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday.

In his Strava post (opens in new tab), Swenson estimates his time on Everest at 7:42. This is well above the unofficial record of 7:52:12 set by former pro Phil Guymon on Monday at Topanga State Park near Los Angeles, but according to Cycling News' calculations, the time is slightly less than 7:40 if Strava's segment measurements are accurate.

The 26-year-old, presumably on a road bike, chose a section of Pine Canyon Road in Wasatch Mountain State Park, part of Stage 6 of the 2019 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. This section is 312 meters long with an average grade of 11% uphill, just under 3 kilometers in length and over 2100 meters in elevation.

Climbing Mount Everest (a repetition of the same ascent to 8848 m, the equivalent of the height of Mount Everest) was a popular distraction during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Swenson, a member of Stan's No Tubes/Pivot Pro Team p/b Maxxis team, broke 8848m on his 29th run of this section, 165km in about 7 hours and 40 minutes.

Swenson completed this segment with fellow mountain biker Ryan Standish. Standish and Swenson took on this challenge as part of a fundraiser (open in new tab) for the MS Society. Standish's father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012.

Several other riders have attempted Everest for various reasons.

James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation) raised funds for protective clothing for frontline workers on COVID-19 in Mont-Royal, Montreal. Kevin Felmerke (Hagens Berman Axeon) completed the Elevation in 8 hours 19 minutes and 26 seconds as a personal challenge. Giulio Ciccone (Trek Segafredo), Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren), and Luke Rowe (Team Ineos) are taking on this challenge with Zwift, and Emanuel Buchmann of Bora Hansgrohe will be raising money for children's charities later this month. He plans to hold a fundraiser to raise money for the cause.

Geraint Thomas completed another epic challenge in April to raise funds for the UK National Health Service (NHS) by riding three 12-hour rides on Zwift, raising over £375,000.