Answer the Bell Ultra
IronHike's Backyard Ultra.
You vs the 00:00🔔 About the Answer the Bell UltraSolo Mountain Athletes Only. No relay. No team.
You have heard of the Backyard Ultra. IronHike built one on a Mountain. The Answer the Bell Ultra takes the most mentally brutal format in endurance sport and puts it on up to 604 feet of vertical per lap. One lap per hour, every hour, on the hour. Each lap is up to 1.5 miles. You have until the bell rings at the top of the next hour to complete your lap and be back at the start. Make it, you go again. Miss it, your Event is over. Your only competitor is the clock, the Mountain, and yesterday's version of you.
The Basic format gives you 24 hours. The Full gives you 84. Both are available at Mohawk Mountain and Amicalola Falls. Both demand the same thing from you: show up every single hour, no matter what the Mountain or the night throws at you.
This Event is purpose-driven by design. Whether you are trekking for wounded veterans, raising funds for a cause, or showing up for something personal, the Answer the Bell Ultra turns effort into meaning. Solo Mountain Athletes only. No relay. No team. Just you.
🏔️ IronHike VenuesSame Backyard Format. Different Mountain.Mohawk Mountain📍 Cornwall, ConnecticutBasic Duration 24 HoursFull Duration 84 HoursLap 1.2 mi · 600' gainBasic Total 24 laps · 28+ mi · 14,400'Full Total 84 laps · 100+ mi · 50,400'Course Ski slope · Forest trailBadass FeatureThe course runs on the historic Old Appalachian Trail route. At hour 60 of the Full, you will be doing laps on the same ground where thru-hikers walk north, in the dark, alone, by headlamp.Register Now 🎯Amicalola Falls📍 Dawsonville, GeorgiaBasic Duration 24 HoursFull Duration 84 HoursLap 1.5 mi · 1,208 stairs per lap · 604' gainBasic Total 24 laps · 36 mi · 14,496' · 14,496 stairsBasic Total Stairs 28,992 (round trip)Full Total 84 laps · 126 mi · 50,736' · 50,736 stairsFull Total Stairs 101,472 (round trip)Course 67% stairs · 33% paved single trackBadass FeatureThe AT Approach Trail staircase by headlamp at 3am is one of the most disorienting and clarifying things a human being can do. The stairs keep going. So do you.Register Now 🎯🗓️ Event ScheduleAnswer the Bell Basic📋Check In & Safety BriefingSaturday morning🚀Start - IronHikers AwaySaturday at noon🔔Finish - Last BellSunday at noonAnswer the Bell Full📋Check In & Safety BriefingWednesday evening🚀Start - IronHikers AwayThursday at midnight🔔Finish - Last BellSunday at noon✅ What's Included- ⛺Tenting space on-Mountain, included for you and up to 6 spectators at no extra charge
- 🔥Base Support Station with shade, fire pit, hydration, snacks, and Tribe camaraderie
- 🏔️Summit Support Station, water and support at the top of every lap
- 🔔The Bell. Every lap. Every hour. The most honest sound in endurance sport.
- 🏅Personalized Event bib and Summit Tokens for lap tracking
- 🥇Finisher's medal and finisher's hat
- 💧Skratch Labs® hydration, electrolytes, energy chews, and endurance snacks on course
- 📋Custom training plans via Chaski Endurance Collective
- 🚑On-Mountain medical support throughout the Event
- 👣The Cadre treks every Event alongside you. You are never alone on that Mountain.
- 🅿️Free parking for Mountain Athletes and spectators
- 🤜A new Tribe. A cause worth finishing for. Proof.
🎖️ This Event Fuels ImpactThe Answer the Bell Ultra is the only IronHike Event built explicitly around purpose. Whether you are trekking for wounded veterans, raising funds for medical research, honoring someone you lost, or showing up for a cause that matters to you, this Event turns every lap into something larger than yourself.
From midnight starts to midday pushes, through darkness, fatigue, and doubt, you will hike, climb, and reset, hour after hour, in pursuit of something greater than a summit. Every lap is a statement. Every bell is proof.
Answer the Bell. 🔔
▲ ▲ ▲
💬 "Growth hides in discomfort, and in the pain most people avoid. That is what is so special about IronHike Events. It forces you into rewarding suffering, surrounded by a Tribe of people who choose to prove themselves right."
— Isabelle · Age 17 · First-Ever Answer the Bell Ultra Finisher
▲ ▲ ▲💬 "I signed up because I needed something that would hurt enough to mean something. I am trekking every lap for my brother who came home from Iraq a different person. The bell is going to ring. I am going to answer it."
— Mike · IronHike Mountain Athlete
🔔 How the Backyard Format WorksThe Backyard Ultra format was designed to find the one person who refuses to stop. IronHike put it on a Mountain. The rules haven't changed: every hour on the hour, the bell rings and you start your next lap. You must complete the lap and be back at the start before the next bell. Miss it and your Event is over. You are not racing anyone else. You are racing the clock, the Mountain, and the person you were 60 minutes ago.
1Answer the BellTop of the hour, every hour. You start your lap.2Do Your LapUp and back down. Under your power. Do your full lap, and pay the bucket with your Summit Token.3Recover and Lock-inRest, eat, recover. When the bell rings again, you go.Miss the bell once and your Event ends. That is the format. Simple, merciless, and the most honest test of will that IronHike offers. The Backyard Ultra found its Mountain. Now it's yours.
💬 "I have done trail races, mud runs, and a half marathon. None of them scared me the way this one does. One lap per hour until you can't. I do not know if I can do this. That is exactly why I signed up."
— Christine · IronHike Mountain Athlete
🪜 Answer the Bell at Amicalola Falls vs The World's Most Famous StaircasesAnswer the Bell Basic - 28,992 total stairs
A complete Answer the Bell Basic is 24 laps, up and down the staircase each time, for a total of 28,992 stairs. Each landmark below is measured the same way: one complete climb and descent.
9.2xEmpire State Building, New York3,152 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Basic is equivalent to 9.2x complete climbs and descents of Empire State Building.8.7xEiffel Tower, Paris3,330 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Basic is equivalent to 8.7x complete climbs and descents of Eiffel Tower.8.2xCN Tower, Toronto3,552 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Basic is equivalent to 8.2x complete climbs and descents of CN Tower.6.9xWillis Tower, Chicago4,218 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Doing an Answer the Bell Basic is equivalent to 6.9x complete climbs and descents of Willis Tower.5.2xManitou Incline, Colorado5,536 stairs for one complete climb and descent. America's most extreme staircase. 68% max grade. Doing an Answer the Bell Basic is equivalent to 5.2x complete climbs and descents of Manitou Incline.Answer the Bell Full - 101,472 total stairs
A complete Answer the Bell Full is 84 laps, up and down the staircase each time, for a total of 101,472 stairs. Each landmark below is measured the same way: one complete climb and descent.
32.2xEmpire State Building, New York3,152 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Full is equivalent to 32.2x complete climbs and descents of Empire State Building.30.5xEiffel Tower, Paris3,330 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Full is equivalent to 30.5x complete climbs and descents of Eiffel Tower.28.6xCN Tower, Toronto3,552 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Doing an Answer the Bell Full is equivalent to 28.6x complete climbs and descents of CN Tower.24.1xWillis Tower, Chicago4,218 stairs for one complete climb and descent. Tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Doing an Answer the Bell Full is equivalent to 24.1x complete climbs and descents of Willis Tower.18.3xManitou Incline, Colorado5,536 stairs for one complete climb and descent. America's most extreme staircase. 68% max grade. Doing an Answer the Bell Full is equivalent to 18.3x complete climbs and descents of Manitou Incline.
💬 "I have done marathons and a 50K. I read about the backyard format and could not sleep that night. Something about the idea of answering a bell every hour until you just cannot anymore. I had to know if I had it."
— Priya · IronHike Mountain Athlete
The Backyard Ultra found its Mountain. The bell is going to ring. The only question is whether you answer it.
Availability and Registration 🎯
💬 "I am writing a name on my bib before I start. Someone who needed me to show up when it was hard. Every lap I answer that bell, I answer for them too. That is the whole point."
— Marcus · IronHike Mountain Athlete
▲ ▲ ▲🔍 LinksEverything IronHike in one place.
▲ ▲ ▲
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok