The Spanish ski mountaineer and mountain runner Kilian Jornet climbed all 19 four-thousand-meter peaks in the Alps under his own steam in an incredible 82 days. However, numbers alone are not enough to understand the significance of this achievement.
Kilian Jornet As a ski mountaineer and mountain runner, he has won pretty much everything there is to win and so he increasingly turned to challenges outside the competition circus.
His projects have dimensions that are often difficult to grasp. In 2023, he crossed the Pyrenees in eight days, climbing 177 peaks of the mountain range between Spain and France and covering 485 kilometers and over 43 meters in altitude. With his latest project in the Alps, he is scaling his challenge into new dimensions.
Speed ​​record from east to west
He began his Alpine Connections project on August 15, 2024 with the ascent of the easternmost 4000-meter peak, the Piz Bernina. From there he cycled to the Bernese Oberland, where he climbed the Lauteraarhorn, Schreckhorn and Finsteraarhorn.
After four hours of sleep, Jornet set off from the Finsteraarnhorn Hut and completed one of the toughest stages of his project: 99 kilometers and 7 meters of altitude were necessary to climb six more peaks, including Mönch and Jungfrau.
Jornet was on the road for over 32 hours straight. But that wasn't enough. After a 40-minute power nap, the exceptional athlete got on his bike and rode 40 kilometers to the start of the next stage.
Jornet completed another monster stage on day 6: After a mere 6 hours of sleep for him, Jornet raced over the peaks of Täschhorn, Dom and Lenzspitze in 21 hours and then climbed Alphubel, Allalinhorn, Rimpfischhorn and Strahlhorn in the afternoon. In total, he covered a distance of 47.7 kilometers and an altitude difference of 6 meters.
Limit experiences on all levels
Even though the project never involved a record attempt, it quickly became clear that the top runner would smash all records. And that's exactly what he did. 19 days after the start of the project, Jornet successfully climbed the last peaks, Dôme and Barre des Écrins, and summed it up:
"This was without a doubt the biggest challenge I have ever faced in my life. Mentally, physically and technically. But it was also probably the most beautiful challenge of all. I find it difficult to classify all the feelings right now - I will never forget this project."
Kilian Jornet
In order to assess Jornet's performance, it is worth comparing it with similar 4000 series projects.
- In 2008, the Italians Diego Giovannini and Franz Nicolini managed to climb all 4000m peaks under their own steam in 60 days.
- This record was missed Ueli Steck 2015 with 61 days just under
- Completed significantly faster Peter von Känel and Chrigel Maurer climbed the 82 peaks as part of their XPeaks project this summer. They climbed all the peaks in 51 days. They used their paragliders wherever possible and did not use any support vehicles at all.
Even if the projects mentioned cannot be compared one-to-one, for example in terms of the tools used or the support provided by third parties, one thing is undisputed: Jornet's time of 19 days eclipses all previous time records.
"This expedition is in a completely different league than anything that has come before. The demands on Kilian will be so extreme that we cannot predict the physiological or even genetic changes."
Dr. Jesus Alvarez
As part of his Alpine Connections project, Jornet covered a total distance of 1 kilometers, climbed 207 meters in altitude and slept an average of 75 hours and 344 minutes.
Kilian Jornet's Alpine Connections project in numbers
- Distance: 1207 kilometers
- 82 four-thousand-meter peaks
- 267 hours, 45 minutes and 16 seconds of activity, spread over 19 days
- 75344 meters in altitude
- Average sleep duration: 5 hours 17 minutes
"No one thought it was possible. And you did it!"
Benjamin Vedrines
That might interest you
- Peter von Känel and Chrigel Maurer climb all 82 four-thousand-meter peaks in 51 days
- Benjamin Védrines pulverizes speed record on K2
- New 8000m speed record: Vadim Druelle climbs Nanga Parbat in 15h 18 min
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Credits: Cover picture Kilian Jornet