Karoline Hankes completes Chappies 'Everesting' Challenge

Noordhoek's Karoline Hanks has successfully completed her self-imposed 'Everesting Challenge' — running the equivalent height of Mount Everest, 8,849 m, by repeatedly ascending and descending Chapman's Peak.

- ERIN CARELSE

Over the course of more than 30 hours, she tackled the route 13 times, braving fatigue, icy winds, and the mental toll of repetition — all to raise funds for the conservation-focused Project Noordhoeked.

The effort, she said, was filled with a “complete fruit salad of thoughts and emotions and memories”.

“I need to write it all up still — the groundhog day element, the mind games, fear (sometimes), elation, recognition of the intense privilege, love for that mountain, my community, my friends, my partner, my son. And so much gratitude,” she said.

Ms Hanks, who is the founder of Project Noordhoeked, said the route was brutal, but the mountain gave her gifts in return — from porcupines and snakes to jackal buzzards, fuzzy caterpillars, and “million-dollar sunsets and sunrises.”

She described one of the most moving moments early in the challenge, during lap two, when she looked down from Chapman’s Peak and saw a crowd of volunteers cleaning up Noordhoek Beach as part of a coordinated community effort.

“My heart literally burst,” she said.