It’s a record that Kilian Jornet no longer holds. While the Catalan skied 23,486 vertical meters in 24 hours in 2019 in Molde, Norway, Austrian Jakob Herrmann beat him to set a new 24-hour ski touring world record. On January 28, at 3 p.m., he stopped his watch, which showed 24,242 meters. Juste like that.
uge congrats to my mate Jakob Herrmann for smashing my 24h elevation record with 24.242m”, tweeted Kilian Jornet a few minutes after the Austrian skier and traileur’s arrival. He could only bow to the feat achieved by Jakob Herrmann, 36, from the 27th to the 28th of January, at 3pm.
In Radstadt (Austria), on a ski slope of exactly 2.5 km and 713 meters of elevation gain, he attempted to beat the world record for vertical drop in 24 hours. He climbed the slope 33 times, despite the icy conditions. “The route is not too steep but also not too flat and so it will allow me to gain enough vertical meters. My goal is to maintain 1.000m+ per hour, which includes putting on and taking off the skins and coming back down! ” he presented before the beginnning of his battle.
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
Former athlete of the Austrian national ski touring team, he started his record attempt 25% faster than expected, which enabled him to gain a lead, hold it until the end… and complete a ” bonus lap” to push the record to an additional 756 meters of ascent.
Supported by a well-practised team who prepared food and drink for him, he nevertheless achieved his record by fair-means, i.e. without outside help to remove or put back on his skins. “The hardest part for me was the early morning when I felt the freezing cold temperatures of around -8 degrees especially during the downhills, soaking all the energy out of my legs. But I tried to refill around 100g of carbs per hour through energy gels, smashed potatoes, rice, warm soup and bars. In total I must have eaten around 2.5 kg of sugar“, says Jakob Herrmann.
I’ve always dreamed of spending 24 hours ski-touring
to see how many meters of vertical drop I could reach
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
©The Adventure Bakery / Philipp Reiter
And if this Strava is not about adventure, Jakob Herrmann says he loves ” standing/walking on (his) skis for hours ! I’ve always dreamed of spending 24 hours ski-touring to see how many meters of vertical drop I could reach. I just want to know what limits you can reach and how far you can go beyond them. ” What record will he set next?