THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Climbing Everest — sort of — in North Idaho

It was an idea that had been floating around in Jeremy Dye’s mind for well over a year.

So why not climb Mount Everest, right?

Due to COVID, that couldn’t be done in Nepal.

Consider the Fernan Saddle area near Coeur d'Alene to be the closest thing to that.

“About a year ago, I had a friend that said we should start doing an Everest ride,” Dye said. “You just ride until you reach the elevation (29,029 vertical feet). We didn’t end up doing it last year, but it’s something that’s become a little more popular this year, so I wanted to give it a try this year.”

ON Aug. 30, Dye, 43, set out to ‘Everest’ at the Fernan Saddle.

“I felt my fitness has been pretty good this year,” said Dye, who is a physical therapist at North Idaho Physical Therapy in Hayden. “It’s just something that I’ve wanted to do. A lot of time, I’ll do a Fondo ride, so I thought this would be something fun to train for.”

To 'Everest' is something which can be completed anywhere, but there’s strict rules involved. Participants can do the challenge on foot or bike.

“In one attempt, you can go up and down the same segment of road as many times to reach 29,029 vertical feet,” Dye said. “You can take rest breaks, but you can’t sleep and it’s got to be the same portion of road for the entire time.”

Dye often trains in the Fernan Saddle area for various bike events.

“I’ve climbed that area three or four times in a day before, and knew the road really well,” Dye said. “But I’ve never went out and tried to see if I could do it more than 10 times in a day.”

To ‘Everest’ in the area around Fernan Saddle, Dye had to climb the mountain — which is roughly 1,707 vertical feet from the base to the top — 17 times, starting at 3 a.m.

“It was still pretty cool out, and in the mid-50s, so I had a sweatshirt on for the first three or four laps,” Dye said. “I think the high that day was 70 degrees, so it never got to the point where it was too hot.”

OF COURSE, there were some ups and downs.

“I did get tired and exhausted,” Dye said. “The first four or five hours, I was having fun. After that, it felt like work for a while, and then I was exhausted. I just basically kept going so I didn’t have to do it later. I remember finishing 14 laps and thought I’ve only got three laps to go, but also have another three hours to go.”

Dye did have some friends come and encourage him throughout the day during his ride.

“There wasn’t a lot of folks, but I had a friend come do a lap with me and another friend come out and do the same thing,” Dye said. “The very last lap, two of the guys that were out there earlier came out and rode the last lap with me.”

When he reached the finish — around 10 p.m. — there was a well-deserved beverage.

“One of the guys drove his car up for the last lap and had bought me a milkshake,” Dye said. “Getting back down from that ride, it tasted kind of good.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.