Kilian Jornet leaves everyone speechless at the end of his biggest challenge in the United States.
The Catalan athlete today reached the last of the 74 peaks he has reached in the States of Elevation, the challenge in which he climbed the highest peaks in the US in 31 days.
BarcelonaKilian Jornet has done it again. In one month, the Catalan athlete climbed 72 peaks over 4,200 meters in the United States. A journey dubbed States of Elevation in which he has covered more than 5,145 kilometers entirely on foot and by bicycle, with hardly any rest, surprising the American athletes who accompanied him on his latest adventure. His team had hoped that the Catalan could finish his challenge this Monday or, with luck, on Sunday. But Jornet finished the job two days ahead of schedule with the last of the summits.
An unprecedented journey that has linked the 72 peaks over 4,267 m in the United States. To put it in perspective, the project is comparable to linking "several Tours de France and dozens of marathons, but all at high altitude," as he himself explained. The project began on September 3 with the summit of Longs Peak in Colorado and ended today with the summit of Mount Rainier in Washington State. "I'm very happy to have made it this far. When I started this project, it was just an idea on a map, something I thought could be great, but I didn't know if it was possible. Now I see that it was, and beyond the numbers, it's been a true adventure, a way to discover places that have become very special to me," he said. In total, he has covered 5,145 km and reached 72 summits. fourteeners (over 14,000 feet), has been moving for 488 hours and has accumulated an elevation gain of 403 km.
Jornet began the adventure in the mountains of Colorado on September 3rd with the goal of climbing all 56 peaks. fourteeners Colorado. He was able to complete iconic traverses like the LA Freeway, the Elks, and the Nolan's 14 challenge, as well as iconic peaks like Mount Elbert and Pikes Peak. On these physically and technically demanding routes, he faced storms, strong winds, and changing terrain. Despite the extreme conditions, Jornet achieved "a deep connection with the environment and the wild nature" of the Rockies.
"It was amazing to finish the Colorado leg - the mountains are spectacular and the nature here feels very special. The first two weeks the weather was really harsh which added an extra challenge. The first week I felt terrible - probably because of the jet lag and altitude–, but then I got better, even when the bad weather continued,” he explained.
Jornet linked up 56 peaks over 14,000 feet (about 4,267 meters) across Colorado, and cycled 1,210 miles (1,943 km), the 78,004 meter, with the 78,004 meter. He also walked a lot. He did this on about 4.5 hours of sleep a night, in harsh conditions: rain or snow on eight of the sixteen days, with temperatures as low as -9°C (20°F) on the summits and 26°C (80°F) in the valleys
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Throughout the journey, Jornet has been supported by a community of athletes who have contributed their time, knowledge, and experience, including Kyle Richardson, Lael Wilcox, Sam Wescott, Chris Myers, and Hans Troyer. NNormal athlete Dakota Jones accompanied Jornet from Mount Sneffels. After climbing Mount White in Colorado, Kilian Jornet headed north and spent two long days pedaling through Nevada and California, directly toward Mount Shasta. Between September 28 and 29, he covered 626 kilometers in just under 30 hours of riding, averaging 14 to 15 hours in the saddle each day.
On September 30, he summited Mount Shasta, his 71st during the challenge, battling what he called "the craziest wind I've ever experienced on a mountain," with summit temperatures hovering around -20°C. Once he descended, he got back on his bike and rode north again, this time pushing toward the states of Oregon and Washington, where he reached his goal. A beautiful end to the adventure, with a snowy summit that he climbed in just a few hours.
A new challenge
This project is part of Kilian Jornet's previous challenges, such as Alpine Connections and Pyrenees 3000, in which he linked high mountain peaks in the Alps and the Pyrenees, respectively. In 2023, Jornet embarked on the first of these challenges, which combines sport, nature, and identity. He then wanted to reconnect with the scenes of his first summits. the Pyrenees, and made an eight-day tour of 177 peaks over 3,000 metersCombining cycling and climbing, he crossed the Pyrenees on an emotional journey through the scenes of his life. Jornet, who climbed the 3,404-meter Aneto peak at the age of 5, grew up in these landscapes because his father worked at the Cap del Rec refuge and his mother was a mountain sports instructor. The 2023 goal led him to think about a new one, this time in 2024 in the Alps. He then decided to climb all the peaks over 4,000 meters in that mountain range, moving from one to the next on foot or by bicycle, which he accomplished in nineteen days.