Climbing Mount Everest is one of the greatest challenges in mountaineering, and its peaks are covered with frozen corpses to prove that point. If you’re interested in taking on the most infamous climb on earth, you should probably make your way up these five auto parts stores first to help determine if it’s really for you.
1. NAPAWhile you won’t need a sherpa and an oxygen tank to make your way to the top of a NAPA store, its completely vertical walls, which are made of slick painted brick and glass, do represent a similar challenge on a much smaller scale. If there’s a dumpster close to the store, you might be tempted to use it to help get up to the roof, but keep in mind there won’t be any dumpsters on Everest to boost you up to the top.
2. Carquest 
While climbing Everest is the quest of a lifetime, climbing Carquest is at least the quest of an afternoon. Visually, Carquests may appear very similar to NAPA stores, but the slight differences in the texture of their painted cinderblocks make summiting the two completely different experiences. It’s definitely a good idea for beginner climbers to cut their teeth on a more digestible challenge like climbing to the top of an 18-foot-tall auto parts store before attempting Everest—just remember that on Everest, you won’t be able to swing inside and grab a pair of wiper blades for your Hyundai after your climb.
3. O’Reilly 
With its challenging roofline and unforgiving exterior, O’Reilly is considered to be the “Mount Everest of auto parts stores” by those who have summited both. While the challenge of climbing an O’Reilly is approximately 1/10,000th of the challenge of making it to the top of Everest alive, it’s still a good idea to try O’Reilly first to get a small taste of how you’d fare in the Himalayas.
4. Auto Zone
Don’t let the fact that it’s not a 29,000-foot-tall mountain fool you: Climbing to the top of an Auto Zone is no joke. Plus, unless you want to call the fire department, once you get up to the top you’re going to have to climb back down—good prep for Everest, where you’ll have to do the same. For an added challenge, you can try making it to the top of this auto parts mecca with a 50-pound backpack on the coldest day of the year. Can’t do that on an Auto Zone? Miiiiight wanna rethink your Everest attempt.
5. Advance Auto Parts
If you look at the pure numbers, there are actually many more people who have made it to the top of Everest than there are people who have climbed an Advance Auto Parts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier. In fact, overestimating your ability to climb 42 miles in the frigid, low-oxygen environment of Everest is pretty much guaranteed to kill you, whereas the worst thing that can happen while summiting an Advance Auto Parts is spraining your ankle or getting a ticket for trespassing. Sure, a photo of a climber atop an Advance Auto Parts has never made the cover of Climbing Magazine, but we still think it’s a good idea to try it at least once before stepping up to the big leagues.
