This year on Everest, there were several interesting climbers to watch beyond the hundreds of aspirants on commercial teams. One in particular, I found very unique and interesting.

Romanian Madalin (Cris) Cristea, 34, summitted Everest on May 20, the busiest day of the season, along with 273 other people. But he didn’t just “summit”; he summited after walking 1,125 kilometers (approx. 700 miles), starting on March 4^th, 2026, from the village of Digha, India, on the Indian Ocean. Oh, then he walked back, covering 2,000 km (1,242 miles) over more than 100 days.

This was not the first time he had done this feat. Cris has been on a journey to climb the highest mountain on each continent, starting from sea level and back to sea level – every single meter up and down, on foot. Cris calls his project “Traintosummit.” He began in 2024 with Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro. After two grueling months, he summited both peaks, from sea to sea, in the process covering more than 1400 km/870 miles. 

In this extensive Podcast, we discuss Cris’ “why”, the challenges of walking from the Pacific Ocean to the summit of Aconcagua and from the African coast to the snow-capped summit of Kilimanjaro. His wife, Viv, is a key part of his team, often going ahead to establish his base camp and at times staying with him to help him through tough times.

Cris was inspired by Bear Grylls’ autobiography, in which he framed his experience on Everest as that of an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. One of his sponsors was outdistancing British gear company PHD Designs.

What’s next for Cris? He discusses his plans towards the end of this Pod.

Gang, this is a special one, albeit long, I invite you to listen, enjoy and be inspired.

 Cris’s Instagram

Cris’s YouTube

Chris Gofundme

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

The Podcast on alanarnette.com

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