Take on the Refugees Rock Everest Challenge: A Fundraising Idea for University Climbing Clubs
Calling all university climbing clubs! Want to bring your club together, welcome new students and raise money for a good cause? Take on the Refugees Rock Everest Challenge and climb the equivalent height of Mount Everest at your local climbing wall.
Whether you're looking for a fun freshers' week activity, a team challenge for your university climbing club, or a fundraising event for your student society, the Everest Challenge is a simple way to get your climbing community involved.
What is the Refugees Rock Everest Challenge?
The idea is simple: get a team of climbers together and attempt to climb the equivalent height of Mount Everest (8,849 metres) at your local climbing wall. You choose your climbing wall, put together your team and decide how long your challenge will last based on the size and fitness of your team.
And it doesn't have to stop with your club. You can invite other climbers at the wall to contribute climbs to your total, turning your fundraiser into a bigger community event.
Why is it a great university climbing club event?
Starting university can be daunting, particularly for new students trying to find their people. A climbing challenge gives your club an easy way to get everyone involved.
The Everest Challenge can work particularly well as:
A freshers' week climbing event
A welcome event for new members
A fundraiser for your climbing club
A team-building challenge
A social event for your university climbing society
A post-Christmas challenge when students return to university
A collaboration between your climbing club and local climbing wall
You don't need everyone taking part to be an experienced climber. A larger team means people can contribute different amounts, with stronger or more experienced climbers potentially taking on more of the climbing.
The challenge is designed as an endurance event, though, so climbers should be competent, reasonably fit and comfortable with longer climbing sessions.
How does the Everest Challenge work?
Once you've decided to take part, there are a few key steps.
1. Find a climbing wall
Your first step is to speak to your local climbing wall and get them on board. You'll need their support for the event and should check that their insurance covers what you're planning. You can also provide a risk assessment if the wall requires one (we've got a template for you!).
It's useful to agree a designated 'basecamp' at the wall. This can be your team's central point for keeping track of climbs, sharing information about Refugees Rock and encouraging donations.
2. Build your team
Get your climbing club together and decide how many people will take part.
The number of climbers will affect how many climbs each person needs to complete.
For example, the original Refugees Rock Everest Challenge in Liverpool had 12 climbers, with each climber aiming for approximately 185 climbs to reach the equivalent height of Everest. They reached their target in around three and a half hours and ultimately raised £3,500 for Refugees Rock.
3. Start climbing!
Choose how you'll keep track of your progress. The original Liverpool event used paper and pens to record each climber's ascents, with the total updated regularly on a large tally board. You can climb problems at any grade, but only the ascent counts towards the total – not the down climb.
As your total increases, your team can track its progress towards basecamp, the summit and, hopefully, beyond Everest.
4. Get the wider climbing community involved
One of the best things about the Everest Challenge is that it doesn't have to be limited to your team. Invite other climbers at your wall to contribute climbs to the tally. They could donate, climb a few problems or simply come along to cheer you on.
This turns a university fundraiser into a community climbing event – and allows your climbing wall to get involved too.
5. Raise money for Refugees Rock
The Everest Challenge raises funds for Refugees Rock, helping us build a UK-wide climbing community that welcomes people seeking sanctuary.
Your fundraising page can be set up through the Refugees Rock Crowdfunder account. Our central team can help set this up and provide a QR code for your event. You can also make your fundraising more fun with additional activities such as a raffle, cake or drink sale, subject to the relevant rules and permissions.
Make it your own
There's no single way to run the Everest Challenge. You could make it competitive by seeing which climber can contribute the most. You could encourage the whole wall to help you beat 8,849m. You could organise food, drinks or prizes. Or you could simply get a group of friends together and see how far you can climb.
The original Refugees Rock event found that having a large team worked particularly well because climbers had different fitness and experience levels. The important thing is to make the event work for your club and your climbing wall.
Why Refugees Rock?
Refugees Rock is a free climbing club for refugees and people seeking sanctuary. We work with climbing walls and local community partners to create welcoming spaces where people can climb, have fun and build connections.
By taking on the Everest Challenge, your university climbing club can help us continue creating those opportunities.
Ready to take on Everest?
We're looking for university climbing clubs across the UK to take on the Refugees Rock Everest Challenge. It could be the perfect event for your freshers' programme, your first big club social of the year or a challenge to kick off the new term.
Want to get involved?
Get in touch with the Refugees Rock team and we'll send you everything you need to get started, including the Everest Challenge fundraiser toolkit and promotional assets.
Think your university climbing club would be up for it? Send them this page.
