German ultra-athlete breaks cycling altitude record

We all have ‘must-do’ lists of hills we want to climb, or mountain passes to traverse, but German ultra-athlete Guido Kunze went further than all of us by setting a new bicycle altitude record.

The 48-year-old ascended 6,233m up the Ojos del Salado volcano on the Argentina-Chile border, beating Andre Hauschke’s 2010 record by 150m.

In total Kunze pedalled 342.77km in just over 37 hours from Bahia Inglesa on the Pacific coast to the to the northwest ridge of the volcano, ascending 6,899m in total.

“It was really tough, not only the altitude but also the brutal winds,” he said afterwards. “Now I am overjoyed. The detailed and meticulous preparation has been well worth it. Nobody in our team suffered from altitude sickness and there were no injuries or damage to the equipment.”

In November 2010 Hauschke set his record on the same volcano, using a similar fat-tyred bike to Kunze.