Virtual walk: Self isolation has given hikers a new challenge. Photo / Supplied
Virtual walk: Self isolation has given hikers a new challenge. Photo / Supplied
An indoor trek might seem the perfect antidote to coronavirus boredom - but, not so fast! There are many perils in taking an imaginary walk, not all of them virtual.
Lest we forget, like Fanta and the VW Beetle, the virtual walk is a guilty pleasure invented by Nazis. After his sentencing for war crimes, Albert Speer took to pacing out his prison yard in Berlin reading the Baedeker travel guide. He described the project as "a battle against the endless boredom," walking the streets of European capitals.
However while we might rightly eye those goose-stepping around their front garden with suspicion, there are some who have used the imaginary walk to go the extra mile for a good cause.
Last week 'Captain Tom' Moore a 99-year-old World War veteran walked 100 lengths of his front garden the to raise $24 million for the UK health service.
The creative response to the coronavirus and the lockdown has been admirable. There are many who are fortunate to enjoy good health but suffer the indignity of not being able to visit the places they love, to hike freely with friends and enjoy the outdoors as they once might have. Staying fit and staying sane under Level 4 conditions has been challenge enough.
However some mountaineers have this opportunity of time to conquer their own Everest, without ever leaving home.
Sport Otago have used the opportunity to create an Everest challenge to "tally up your walking, running or other exercise and challenge yourself to get to the top before the lockdown ends." It's a feet Sir Edmund Hillary achieved in 47 days and, in theory you could be over half way to by now.
Climb your own everest, but be careful. Photo / Supplied, Sport Otago
Albeit locally, and without the altitude, this imaginary summit is a goal that's not easily achieved. The Sport Otago challenge insists that only the uphill counts. Everest's 3486 metres is broken down into 996 boxes of 20 steps.
Last week, Rob Ferguson became the first person to complete climb the height of Everest in 24 hours ... barefoot.
He was supposed to be part of an actual Everest expedition taking place this month, but this cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. So instead Ferguson and his team took to climbing the closest thing to hand - 6,506 flights of stairs.
Calling it an "insurmountable amount" of steps Ferguson almost stopped with 1000 flights left to go. Climbing mates Jenny Wordsworth and Lucy Aspden who were also competing in isolation from their separate bubbles both had to withdraw due to injury.
It might be a virtual climb, but it is not without real risk.
Ferguson was met at the top of the final staircase – the Hillary Step, if you will – by a Zoom call with Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Sherpa Tenzing who led the first ascent of Everest in 1953.
Rob Ferguson, 51, became the first person to climb virtual everest in 24 hours. Photo / Supplied
"I might have lapsed into insanity now and then," Ferguson told Euronews on Friday.
"Long distance climbing is always about pacing yourself, whether that's up a mountain or at home.
"There are various emotional states you go through, but it's all about one step at a time."
Just last year, there were complaints that too many climbers were taking on an ascent of Everest. Dramatic photos of queues on the side of the mountain caused people to question if the quest to conquer the world's tallest peak was damaging the routes and endangering lives.
While no doubt mountaineers will return to Everest, for now, this feet of endurance and virtual travel might be a more sustainable way to take on the challenge at home.
We are reminded regularly that self isolation is a marathon not a sprint, but what if it could be a "thru hike" with friends?
An app has been invented to turn your lockdown into a hike through America's Appalachian trail. Walk the Distance was invented to keep track of your daily steps and map you and your friends' progress onto a route trail.
Keeping up with friends. Photo / Virtual Walk LLC
Connected to your iPhone's pedometer it sets you the challenge of walking the 3200km of the overland trail. Watching your group's progress, to motivate and keep each other up to the challenge software engineer Jon Zaccone told Outdoor magazine he wanted it "to be a social experience."
