{"id":678378,"date":"2026-05-18T22:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678378\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T22:30:11","slug":"hannah-otto-targets-historic-one-day-kilimanjaro-ascent-by-bike-cycling-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678378\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannah Otto Targets Historic One-Day Kilimanjaro Ascent by Bike – Cycling West"},"content":{"rendered":"

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah \u2014 Professional endurance cyclist Hannah Otto has built a career on pushing beyond the edge of what most riders consider possible. This October, the Salt Lake City-based cyclist plans to take on her biggest challenge yet: a single-day bicycle ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. If successful, Otto will become the first known woman to ride from the mountain\u2019s base toward its 19,341-foot summit in one continuous push, battling nearly 15,000 feet of elevation gain, brutal high-altitude terrain, and oxygen-starved air \u2014 all to help provide bicycles for communities around the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The project, called \u201cBeyond the Summit,\u201d combines elite endurance sport with a humanitarian mission. Otto hopes to raise $165,000 for World Bicycle Relief, enough funding to provide 1,000 bicycles to people in rural communities worldwide through a campaign powered by The Intrepid Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis attempt scares me,\u201d Otto said. \u201cBut that\u2019s how I know it\u2019s worth pursuing. The deeper purpose is what makes it worth it because for someone else, a bicycle isn\u2019t a way to push limits, it\u2019s access to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike traditional Kilimanjaro expeditions that unfold over six to eight days, Otto plans to compress the climb into a single sustained effort at extreme altitude, where oxygen levels drop to roughly half those at sea level. The lower slopes offer stretches of rideable dirt road, but higher on the mountain the route deteriorates into steep volcanic scree and technical terrain that will force Otto to shoulder her bike and hike toward the summit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy of Hannah Otto\/Beyond the Summit<\/p>\n

Few cyclists have ever completed the climb in a single day, and many reported attempts survive mostly through rumor and word of mouth. Cory Wallace documented a successful men\u2019s ascent several years ago, but Otto has found no documented examples of a woman completing the feat in one push by bicycle.<\/p>\n

And reaching the summit marks only half the challenge.<\/p>\n

After hours of climbing through freezing temperatures and thinning air, Otto will still face the long descent back down the mountain while fighting exhaustion, altitude sickness, and rapidly changing conditions that can humble even well-acclimated athletes.<\/p>\n

Otto plans to spend a week acclimatizing on the mountain before launching the October 2026 attempt. A film crew will document the project, capturing both the physical intensity of the climb and the deeper story behind the mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt its core, the project is about mobility,\u201d Otto said. \u201cThe bike has given me so much in my life. I want the bike to continue to transform the lives of others as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otto has become one of endurance cycling\u2019s most recognizable ultra-distance athletes. She currently holds the USA Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship title and won the Leadville Trail 100 MTB in 2022. Her previous endurance projects include a record-setting ascent of Mauna Kea \u2014 one of the hardest climbs in the world \u2014 along with the films \u201cKokopelli Strong,\u201d \u201cInfinite Pursuit,\u201d \u201cChasing The Triple Crown,\u201d and \u201cThe Whole Enchilada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters can learn more about the project and contribute through Beyond the Summit<\/a>. Organizers say 100 percent of donations will go directly to World Bicycle Relief.<\/p>\n

(Visited 21 times, 21 visits today)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY, Utah \u2014 Professional endurance cyclist Hannah Otto has built a career on pushing beyond the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-678378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}