SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — 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’s 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 — all to help provide bicycles for communities around the world.
The project, called “Beyond the Summit,” 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.
“This attempt scares me,” Otto said. “But that’s how I know it’s worth pursuing. The deeper purpose is what makes it worth it because for someone else, a bicycle isn’t a way to push limits, it’s access to everything.”
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.
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’s ascent several years ago, but Otto has found no documented examples of a woman completing the feat in one push by bicycle.
And reaching the summit marks only half the challenge.
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.
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.
“At its core, the project is about mobility,” Otto said. “The bike has given me so much in my life. I want the bike to continue to transform the lives of others as well.”
Otto has become one of endurance cycling’s 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 — one of the hardest climbs in the world — along with the films “Kokopelli Strong,” “Infinite Pursuit,” “Chasing The Triple Crown,” and “The Whole Enchilada.”
Supporters can learn more about the project and contribute through Beyond the Summit. Organizers say 100 percent of donations will go directly to World Bicycle Relief.
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