The Matt King Show – Episode 032: “I Tried The 29029 Everest Challenge and It Changed My Life FOREVER”

Podcast: The Matt King Show
Host: Matt King
Date: September 30, 2025
Episode Theme:
Matt King delivers a solo deep dive into his transformative—and brutal—experience participating (twice!) in the 29029 Everest Challenge, a grueling endurance event replicating the elevation gain of Mount Everest within 36 hours. King unpacks the pain, the camaraderie, and the mindset shifts required for immense endurance, drawing broader lessons about challenge, community, and pushing personal limits.

Overview

This episode is a solo reflection from Matt King—no guests, just “me, a camera, a microphone, and some thoughts.” After recently completing the 29029 challenge in Whistler (with his wife, Melissa), Matt relives the agony and elation of the journey, shares humorous and harsh realities from the mountain, and draws life lessons about personal Everest-like challenges. He emphasizes the critical role of community, the value of suffering, and the importance of doing something truly hard every year to grow.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

29029 Everest Challenge: What Is It?

• The Event: Created by Jesse Itzler and Colin O’Brady because their wives said “No” to climbing Everest (03:45).

  • “You have 36 hours to complete this challenge. You have to hike the elevation of Mount Everest within those 36 hours. You hike up the mountain, take the gondola back down. You might as well call this event Hell on a Hill. You are in hell.” (A, 00:22; 01:40)

• Format: Multiple ascents of a ski mountain with a cumulative elevation gain of 29,029 ft—the height of Everest.

  • Locations change, with each mountain requiring a different number of ascents (04:58).

• First Attempt vs. Second Attempt:

  • First time: Vermont, miserable conditions (“poured rain the entire time”), 17 ascents, only 48% completion rate (05:35–06:45; 33:25).
  • Second time: Whistler, birthday weekend, eight ascents, better conditions (07:11–08:00).

The Reality of the Climb

• Expectations vs. Reality:

  • Expecting beauty (“Vermont in the fall, it’s going to be gorgeous...”) only to face relentless rain and mud (06:05).
  • “People were making stairs by hammering their feet into the mud.” (06:15)

• The Suck Factor:

  • “The hiking part, man, that sucks. It absolutely sucks.” (08:20)
  • “The weird part is the first lap, you go out, you’re excited... by the third lap, everybody is in the suffer zone.” (09:15–10:13)

The Psychological Journey—The “Suffer Zone”

• First Lap: High spirits, excitement, optimism (09:43).

• Second Lap: Fatigue creeps in.

• Third Lap: “Everybody is in the suffer zone... that third lap kicked my ass.” (10:13)

• “By the third lap, man, everybody is in the suffer zone… that third lap made me want to quit.” (A, 10:13)

• Team Dynamics: Importance of sticking together and sharing accountability through low moments (11:03–12:55).

Survival Tactics

• Rest: After five laps, planned group nap at the hotel (13:32). “We got about five, five and a half hours of sleep, and we hit the hill again at about 4:30 in the morning. That 4:30am hike was miserable.” (13:50)
• Boredom and Monotony of the same trail wears on the mind: “When you’re on the same damn trail for the third time, you don’t want to see another rock, you don’t want to see another step.” (14:23)

The Nature of Pain, Endurance, and Mindset

• Pain as a Portal:

  • “I have learned… that on the other side of pain is oftentimes the greatest thing you can experience in your life.” (15:05)
  • “On the other side of this event... is going to be a version of me that I’ve either forgotten about or have yet to discover.” (15:20)

• Group Support & Accountability:

  • Peer-to-peer accountability (both for encouragement and “peer pressure” not to quit).
  • Group fitness stat: “95% of those people who start a weight loss program with friends complete the program.” (18:58)

• Solo vs. Group Struggle:

  • “It is very easy to hit snooze...very easy to quit... when the only person you’re reporting to is yourself. But if you have to report to your friends or your spouse ... all of a sudden you feel like a pressure, a liability, like, I got to show up for them.” (20:12)

Physical and Mental Training

• Does the Mind Quits First, or the Body?

  • Ongoing debate during the event: “Does the mind quit first or does the body quit first?” (30:08)
  • Matt’s conviction: “The mind has to tell the body when to quit… I think our mind wants to quit before our body is truly ready.” (30:38)
  • “When you figure out how to train the mind, your life starts to become limitless.” (32:15)

• Benefits of Doing Hard Things:

  • “When you show your mind and body and spirit you can do something really, really hard… it makes everything else in your life easier.” (29:03)
  • The importance of annual hard goals to reset perspective and shed limiting beliefs.

Humorous & Memorable Moments

• Wrong Turn on Final Lap:

  • On their eighth (final) ascent, despite having done the trail seven times, Matt led the group the wrong way. (25:35)
  • “My dumb ass took a right turn way too soon. And the next thing you know, we were at the woods in a wrong spot.” (25:45)

• Food Games on the Trail:

  • “Trying to come up with a food for every letter of the Alphabet… we made it to ‘U’ and then we struggled.” (30:53)

• The Peanut Butter Incident:

  • First attempt: “I hammered all the peanut butter... By the 17th lap, that peanut butter had some different plans for me.” (40:21)
  • Puked repeatedly, learned to avoid sweets, and attributes this as a turning point for his health journey.

Comparing 29029 with Real Everest

• “Our Everest, summiting that mountain, nothing like [climbing Everest]. … It was just the top of a nice ski mountain with a restaurant next to a gondola. However, I will say I was still really freaking proud of myself, of my wife Melissa, of our friend Haley.” (35:43–36:23)

• The importance of pride in personal achievement, scale being relative to the individual.

Key Takeaways and Broader Life Lessons

The Power of Community

• “It’s all about finding the right people to do life with.” (22:38)
• Kelly’s and other team members’ success attributed to mutual support.

Doing One Big, Hard Thing Every Year

• Riding a bull, marathons—the theme: intentionally seeking discomfort to push boundaries.

Your Everest (Metaphor)

• “Everyone has their own Everest… for some of us it’s business challenges, addiction, relationships...” (45:11)
• “The worst thing that happens when you tackle your own Everest… is you’re right back to where you started. For most of us, our Everest, it’s not about life or death. It’s about just having a little bit better life.” (46:11)

The Magic Lies in Doing the Work

• “The magic we seek lies in the work that we’re unwilling to do. For most of us, it’s that Everest that’s staring us right in the face.” (49:47)

Pushing Past the Breaking Point

• Refusing to “train” for the next grueling event—instead seeking an early “breaking point” to maximize mental training.

Enduring Hardship Together

• Matt encourages stacking the odds in your favor (community) and willingly leaning into challenge: “Don’t run from the hard things. Experience it. Embrace it. Do it with others.”

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “On the other side of pain is oftentimes the greatest thing that you can actually receive or experience in your life.” (A, 01:29; 15:05)
• “You might as well call this event Hell on a Hill. You are in hell. For 36 hours.” (A, 01:38)
• “That third lap kicked my ass. I didn’t think I was gonna finish. That third lap made me want to quit.” (10:13)
• “Doing 29029 with a group is one of the things that made Melissa and I successful both times we’ve attempted it.” (22:15)
• “When you show your mind and your body and your spirit that you can do something really, really hard and succeed at it and enjoy it, it makes everything else in your life easier.” (29:03)
• “The mind has to tell the body when to quit… The mind wants to quit before our body is truly ready.” (30:38)
• “When you figure out how to train the mind, your life starts to become limitless.” (32:15)
• “Our Everest, summiting that mountain, nothing like [climbing Everest]. ... But I was still really freaking proud of myself, of my wife Melissa, of our friend Hayley.” (36:08)
• “It’s all about finding the right people to do life with.” (22:38)
• “We all have our Everest... For me, 29029 has taught me whatever your Everest looks like, take it on. Stare it in the face, go after it.” (46:07)
• “The magic we seek lies in the work that we’re unwilling to do.” (49:47)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Challenge introduction and background – 00:00–06:45
• Reality of the event – 06:45–10:50
• First vs. third lap: entering the suffer zone – 10:13–12:35
• Group dynamics & accountability – 11:03–22:38
• Physical & mental struggle; sleep strategy – 13:32–15:05
• Power of pain & mindset – 15:05–18:55
• Science of group achievement – 18:55–22:15
• Comparing Everest & 29029 – 35:43–37:43
• Personal health transformation – 40:21–42:57
• Metaphor of Everest in life – 45:11–47:53
• Encouragement to face your Everest – 48:39–49:47

Conclusion

Matt King uses the grueling 29029 Everest Challenge as both a literal and metaphorical framework for discussing the role of adversity in fostering growth, the indispensable role of community, and the ways in which intentionally pursuing “hard things” creates breakthroughs in health, wealth, and life fulfillment. His relatable anecdotes, frank humor, and motivational reflections make a compelling case for each of us to “find our Everest”—and to climb it, together.

Final encouragement:
"Do something hard. Chase the view. Chase the life you desire." (49:56)