Just after setting a new record in the Sierre Zinal trail race, Kilian Jornet embarked on a project to link all 82 peaks over 4000 meters in the Alps, a project called Alpine Connections, solely on foot and by bike. In 7 days, the ultra-mountaineer had already climbed half of the Alps’ 4000 m peaks. In just two weeks, Kilian Jornet climbed 73 of the 82 peaks on the 4000-meter list, before completing the Mont-Blanc massif with difficult ridge running and climbing. On August 31, he completed his quest by climbing all 82 “4000s” in just 19 days. Arguably his greatest achievement, Kilian will remain in history as one of the world’s greatest mountaineers.
The numbers are mind-blowing, but they can’t sum up the magnitude of what he’s about to achieve. After scouring the Swiss Alps, Kilian Jornet pedaled and raced his way to Italy’s Val Ferret, and the next stage in his grandiose project: to link up and climb all the 4000-meter peaks in the Alps, on foot and by bike, called Alpine Connections.
A challenge? Not for Kilian Jornet, whose counter, after just seven days, had already reached half – 41 – of the 82 4000-meter peaks. He then pursued his extreme quest in the Valais, where, sometimes roped up or accompanied, he climbed the most beautiful peaks at breakneck speed: Matterhorn, Dent d’Hérens and Dent Blanche in the same day, or five 4000-meters including Obergabelhorn and Weisshorn the following day!
XXL days, without rest, often lasting a minimum of fifteen hours. Sometimes even more: seventeen, eighteen hours of non-stop effort! This was the case for his twelfth “stage”, and the finish in the Mont-Blanc massif, with the Grandes Jorasses ascent and traverse on the menu.
Rochefort – Jorasses. ©Nick Danielson
Kilian Jornet, Torino Hut. ©Noa Barrau
Once again, he didn’t dawdle, despite the enormous effort of the previous eleven days. So yes, Kilian Jornet isn’t always on his own, this isn’t a solo traverse, even if we doubt he doesn’t rope up much when he climbs with Mathéo Jacquemoud. But a roped party doesn’t always need ropes, it needs homogeneous elements. This was the case on this stage of the Jorasses. Kilian Jornet set off from Planpincieux at midnight, accompanied by Mathéo Jacquemoud, Bastien Lardat and Michel Lanne, also a guide and first-aider. The normal route of the Jorasses was swiftly swallowed, with Pointe Walker reached at 4am.
The ridges follow one another, from east to west: contrary to the “tradition” of crossing the Jorasses in the other direction to set off comfortably from Torino, Kilian has done it the other way round, in true fair means style. To the various 4000m summits of the Jorasses, the team added those of the Rochefort ridges (Aiguille de, and Dent du Géant) before reaching the Torino hut. There, Kilian Jornet left his companions, amazed at his ability to keep going, to descend (and climb) the Vallée Blanche to the Couvercle hut!
The day after, he has to deal with the Aiguille Verte – Droites, with 3 more difficult 4000ers, solo ridge climbing in poor conditions. A very hard task in rough alpine conditions. But after the day, he went back to Torino Hut, the same day. Wake up in the morning and roped with Matheo Jacquemoud and a photographer, he started an incredible day, which he has ended solo by a crazy feat.
In the morning, they climbed Aiguilles du Diable (5 peaks) with rock climbing up to 5c (5.9+), then mixed terrain up to Tacul (6th peak of the day) then Maudit (7th) and Mont Blanc (8th). They go down to Dome du Gouter (9th), then downclimbed Aiguille de Bionnassay (10th) where the others left, Kilian went back to Mont Blanc ridge and back to Mont Blanc summit again. Then, he downclimbed the difficult Brouillard ridge, and tackled mont Blanc de Courmayeur (11th), Pointe Louis Amedee (12th) mont Brouillard (13th) to col Emile Rey on the sunset. Then he had to climb pointe Baretti way and back (14th peak…) before crossing Brouillard glacier in the dark to reach the most remote hut of the massif Eccles, around midnight. An incredible 20 hours push in the most exposed terrain of Mont Blanc.
The next day, he woke up early to climb Grand Pilier d’Angle and Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey, both remotes peaks before downclimbing to Eccles and back to (Italian) valley floor. Mont Blanc 4000ers were done, and the 3 last summits are easier.
On the ridge of Grandes Jorasses. ©Noa Barrau
82 peaks
“I think it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, both physically and technically, as well as mentally,” declared Kilian Jornet at the end of his incredible journey, which ended on Saturday evening, 31th of August. After climbing Grand Paradis, an italian peak and easy one, Kilian cycled with friends to the south of the french Alps. With Benjamin Vedrines and Matheo Jacquemoud, he climbed the two last peaks of the 82 peaks list, Dome des Ecrins and Barre des Ecrins, late in the evening and in the clouds.
As quoted Benjamin Vedrines, who did a no-02 ascent of K2 in 11 hours, with first paraglider descent last July, “It’s inspiring, but extremely frightening. First of all, I don’t have the same metabolism, so it’s hard to project myself to that level of performance. Kilian has been training like crazy for years, with an insane volume. It’s a real achievement for him. What’s more, he’s honed his skills on this type of terrain in 3c/4b (5.7), even 4c/5b (5.9). Nobody is as quick as he is on that. I think he cultivated this in Norway, where he does a lot of days in this register, all on his own. Those 82,4000 are extreme in terms of risk-taking, both physically and mentally. You’re under enormous nervous tension and mental strain.”
Kilian Jornet’s latest achievement is quite a feat. Perhaps the most important achievement of an extraordinary athlete with numerous records to his name. But why? Because someone like Ueli Steck took …60 days to climb these 82 summits! And Steck was considered the best mountaineer of his generation – in the 2010s, before his death on Nuptse. To divide this time into 3 is simply unimaginable: without a GPS track, and without Kilian, this time of 19 days is simply impossible to believe.
But his Strava is there to show that the Catalan is one of the great mountaineers of our time. He has pushed back his own ultra-endurance limits by adding a great deal of mountaineering to the mix. The ridges of the Valais and Mont Blanc massif demand a high level of concentration at all times, bearing in mind that Kilian Jornet climbed solo (and in trail-running shoes) often. A page has been turned in the history of mountaineering: there is a before and an after to Kilian Jornet’s achievements.