“What I hold on to the most are the moments shared with friends on the ridges, the beautiful sunsets,” explained the athlete, a great lover of mountain sports in all its forms (mountaineering, hiking, trail running, ultra-trail, cycling…). He hardly paused to linger: in nineteen days, Kilian Jornet covered a little over 1000 km, averaging nearly 53 km per day, moving only on foot and by bicycle, with a vertical gain of more than 70,000 m.
“A great page in the history of mountaineering”
Kilian Jornet had already embarked in October 2023 on a similar project: eight days in the Pyrenees to climb 177 peaks over 3000 m in altitude, not far from the mountains at the foot of which he grew up. For his project in the Alps, he was frequently accompanied by friends and renowned climbers like the Frenchman Benjamin Védrines, with whom he reached his final summit.
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“I was moved and honored to be with him on this last summit. It represents a significant page in the history of mountaineering. Kilian has done something inspiring with this project,” said Védrines, a specialist in alpine style ascents. Now, it’s time to rest and also to digest everything that has happened. We experienced very strong emotional moments,” said Kilian Jornet.
If the weather windows are narrow in the mountains and dictate the agenda, the fact that Jornet’s feat somewhat overshadowed the holding this weekend of the 21st edition of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is not insignificant. A four-time winner in Chamonix, the Spaniard had a falling out early in the year with the organizers of the largest race in the world, which is the origin of a whole global circuit of ultra-trail racing. Wishing to break free from the “UTMB universe,” the “ultra-terrestrial” announced his desire to now focus primarily on “XXXL” adventures, off the beaten path. “Mountain projects allow me to seek deeper limits.”
The controversy: Kilian Jornet calls for a boycott of the UTMB
An unknown winner in Chamonix
In his absence, the UTMB was won on Saturday by a little-known runner, the Frenchman Vincent Bouillard, a 31-year-old from Annecy who is not part of a sponsored team, participating for the first time and only aiming to complete the 176.4 km course with a positive elevation gain of 10,000 m “in less than 24 hours and as close to 21 hours as possible.” Winning in 19h54’23, Vincent Bouillard benefited from the withdrawal of many favorites, including American Jim Walmsley, but entered the very select club of runners who have completed the race in under twenty hours.
In the women’s race, which appeared quite open in the absence of the defending champion, American Courtney Dauwalter, it was her compatriot Katie Schide, already victorious in 2022, who prevailed in 22h09’31. She took 13th place in the overall ranking for both men and women.
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