Climb Everest together, from your own neighborhood

Short answer

A virtual walking challenge turns the steps you take at home into a famous journey. In the Walk & Water Weekend Summit, everyone’s steps and water climb Mount Everest together, 29,032 feet, from Saturday through Monday night. Walk outside, on a treadmill or on a walking pad, and watch the shared climb rise.

Download for iPhone Get it on Android

First two rounds free · teams of 2–4 · a new round every Tuesday

By Coach Josh · Get Your BMR

2 sources · Reviewed October 29, 2026

The short version

  • Walk anywhere, climb Everest together
  • Opens Saturday at midnight Arizona time, closes Monday night
  • iPhone and Android on the same climb
Illustration: a winding path of footprints climbing a gentle hill toward the sunrise.

What is a virtual walking challenge?

You walk real steps wherever you are. The app puts those steps on a famous route, so a walk around the block becomes part of a climb or a journey.

Some virtual challenges are a race you run on your own. The Weekend Summit is shared: nobody climbs alone, and every woman’s steps move the same climber up the same mountain.

Base camp: Saturday morning

When the weekend opens, the climb starts at base camp. In the newest version of the app, each team’s flag goes up there and the card shows how many teams are ready. From there the trail is the same for everyone.

The Walk & Water app’s Weekend Summit card at base camp: Mount Everest with a row of team flags at the bottom, 24 teams at base camp (sample data).
Base camp in the newest app version (sample data).

The climb: everyone’s steps, together

The goal is sized to how many women walked that week’s round, so a smaller group climbs a mountain that fits it. Steps and water both count, and each woman’s water counts for up to 12 glasses a day.

It isn’t a race between teams. The weekday board ranks teams on their average; the summit is one shared climb that everybody pushes up.

The Weekend Summit card mid-climb: a glowing trail zig-zags up Mount Everest, with everyone’s steps and glasses of water shown below (sample data).
The shared climb, mid-weekend (sample data).

The top: we made it

When the steps and the water both reach the top, the card says “We made it to the top.” Fireworks play when motion is turned on. In the newest version of the app, climbers also get a Mount Everest banner and badge. Then the next round starts Tuesday.

The Weekend Summit card at the top: a flag on the summit of Mount Everest, fireworks in the sky and 29,032 feet reached together (sample data).
Reaching the top (sample data).

Walk it anywhere

Your phone or watch counts the steps, wherever you take them. Steps come from Apple Health on iPhone and Health Connect on Android, so friends with different phones climb the same mountain.

  • Your neighborhood, a park or a school track
  • A treadmill or a walking pad on a work day
  • Laps of the house or the mall when the weather turns

Walk it with a team this week

Join a team of 2–4, walk & drink your water Tuesday to Thursday, and see the winners Friday.

Download for iPhone Get it on Android

First two rounds free · teams of 2–4 · a new round every Tuesday

The 3-Day Walk & Water Challenge

How a round works

  1. 1. Join a team

    Two to four of you on one team: a friend’s, your own, or one you join in the app. Your team gets a name, a crest & a spot on the live leaderboard.

  2. 2. Walk + water, 3 days

    Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. A step goal & a water goal sized to where you are today. The board updates as you walk & closes Thursday at midnight, Arizona time.

  3. 3. Friday winners

    Friday morning the results go up. The winning team’s card glows gold, badges land beside names on the board, and a new round starts Tuesday.

Bigger isn’t better. Teams rank on their AVERAGE.

A team’s score is its average per woman, not its total. So two friends can beat a team of four, and every walker’s day counts the same. When one of you goes quiet, the others notice & send a nudge in team chat.

The Walk & Water team card: team name and crest, team level, the average steps per woman, and each teammate’s steps and glasses of water.
Your team card. The big number is the average per woman.
The Walk & Water leaderboard: your rank this week, steps, glasses of water, day streak, and the 3-day challenge rankings.
The live leaderboard. Solo, team & global ranks for this round.

How a summit weekend works

The weekday round and the weekend climb fit together. Walk the round, then climb.

  1. Tuesday to Thursday: walk the round

    Join a team of two to four for the Tuesday–Thursday round. Your first two 3-day rounds are free.

  2. Saturday: base camp

    The climb opens at midnight Arizona time and runs to Monday night. It appears once at least three women from the last round are climbing.

  3. Saturday to Monday: the climb

    Weekend steps, and up to 12 glasses of water per challenger each day, lift the shared climb through Monday night.

Questions

What is a virtual walking challenge?

You walk real steps wherever you are, and an app turns them into progress on a famous route. In the Walk & Water Weekend Summit, everyone’s weekend steps and water climb Mount Everest together.

Is the Weekend Summit free?

The Weekend Summit follows the Tuesday to Thursday round. Your first two 3-day rounds are free; check the app for your current access. The climb opens at midnight Arizona time on Saturday.

Do I get a medal?

There’s no physical medal. When the group reaches the top, everyone sees the summit celebration, and in the newest version of the app climbers also get a Mount Everest banner and badge.

Can I do it on a treadmill?

Yes. Treadmill and walking-pad steps count as long as your phone or watch records them, through Apple Health on iPhone or Health Connect on Android.

Do my friends need the same phone?

No. iPhone and Android walkers climb the same mountain and can be on the same team.

Sources

Written by Coach Josh and checked against these sources on October 29, 2026. General information, not medical advice.

Show all 2 sources
  1. VOA Learning English (Dec 2020): New measurement shows Mount Everest a bit higher, 8,848.86 meters
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition
Coach Josh

Who writes these guides

Coach Josh

Professional trainer since 2018 · ISSA & NCCPT certified · Creator of Get Your BMR & the Walk & Water Challenge (BodyByReason)

I’m Josh. I built Get Your BMR so you could see what your body burns at rest, & I built Walk & Water so you’d have somewhere to use it with people who notice when you show up.

I walk every round too: same board, same three days, on my own team. I don’t always win. Tap Chat with Coach in the app & it’s me who answers.

About 7 in 10 women who finish a round come back & play the next one.

Walk & Water app data, 73 finishers, snapshot October 19, 2026.

Start this week’s round

Download for iPhone Get it on Android

First two rounds free · teams of 2–4 · a new round every Tuesday

Not sure where to start? Get your number first

Related guides

Get Your BMR is Coach Josh’s free calculator. The 3-Day Walk & Water Challenge is where you put the number to work, and it runs inside the APEX: Walk & Water app on iPhone and Android.