Nearly 90 robot-making teams took part in the first World Robot Mount Taishan Climbing Competition in Tai'an, Shandong, on 2 November, citing Global Times. The 3.9 km route rises about 600 metres, and the best robots finished in under an hour; not all competitors completed it.
New Atlas reports the fastest finisher was a four-legged robot from Beijing's Lingyi Technology, a subsidiary of , in 43 minutes 41 seconds. Another company's robot dog reportedly ran 35 minutes 47 seconds in a trial run, using lidar and real-time 3D mapping. The competition also had load-carrying, exoskeleton and scouting events.
The headline claim of beating human records is New Atlas's framing; the source says an average hiker needs one to two hours.
Limits
A staged competition on one route; not a field deployment. Times come from state media via New Atlas.