French YouTuber “Inoxtag” disappeared from the internet for six months to train for a hike up Mount Everest, and finally completed his mission by wearing Luffy’s straw hat in September.
Inoxtag is a leading French designer with over 8 million subscribers on YouTube. He is known for posting IRL-style content like travel vlogs and over-the-top challenges, like spending “24 days in the mountains” or receive “a surprise a day” for a month.
In April 2024, Inoxtag decided to set the bar high to take on the “biggest challenge” of his life: climbing Mount Everest.
He announced the news in a YouTube video titled “Goodbye YouTube,” where he revealed that he would not be making content for a while in order to focus on training for the climb.
On September 14, 2024, Inoxtag finally released the long-awaited video chronicling his journey to the world’s highest peak, a two-and-a-half-hour video that garnered more than 24 million views in just four days.
Entitled “KAIZEN”, a Japanese word meaning In the long term or “continuous improvement,” Inox took his viewers with him on the arduous climb up the mountain, culminating in an emotional moment atop Everest’s crown.
“Without the Sherpas, we wouldn’t be here,” Inox said through tears, embracing his companions. “We would never have made it. Thank you to everyone who believed in me. We really did it.”
“We shouldn’t be trying to be the best,” he continued. “We should just be trying to be better than yesterday. We should all be doing projects. We should stop sitting behind screens, scrolling through pages, living life vicariously. Get out there. If you have a project, do it.”
As part of the celebration, one of his friends slapped Luffy’s straw hat on his head, and the YouTuber posed for some victorious photos wearing the anime character’s iconic accessory.
Ultimately, Inoxtag wants his journey to be a message to viewers about “becoming better than yesterday every day and going on an adventure.”
Inoxtag’s monumental feat went viral on social media, leaving his viewers and anime fans alike in awe of his dedication.
“Hello man!” a user wrote on Twitter/X. “Taking Luffy’s legendary straw hat to the top of the world (Everest), an epic tribute to adventure and dreams, incredible.”
“Oda should add him to the Straw Hat crew.” another suggested, referring to the series’ author, Eiichiro Oda.
Even YouTube itself congratulated the influencer, calling the feat something “no one will forget.”
So far, Oda has not spoken publicly about Inoxtag’s viral video — but regardless, it’s clear that it has had a lasting impact on anime fans everywhere, showing viewers that with enough determination, anything is possible.
He’s not the only creator to pull off physical feats of late. On September 4, German streamer Arda Saatçi completed a 3,000-kilometer ultramarathon from Berlin to New York after breaking his tibia, and streamer Doug “Censor” Martin broke the world record for most pull-ups in 24 hours on September 8.
