Trail legend Kilian Jornet returned this Friday to his incredible and unprecedented journey through the Alps completed last Sunday. The 36-year-old Catalan climbed 82 peaks over 4,000 meters spread over three massifs in just 19 days, driven by his love of performance, adventure and his desire to witness the effects of climate change in the mountains.
A few days after returning home to Norway, how do you feel?
Physically, I’m pretty good. I managed the diet side very well compared to last year in the Pyrenees (eight days to climb 177 peaks over 3,000 meters, editor’s note) where I lost a lot of weight. The recovery went well. It’s more on the psychological side that we have to digest… It was a project loaded with emotions.
During the expedition, what was a typical day like?
Since I was quite dependent on the weather, it was quite a change. The idea was to enter a massif and stay there for a few days to complete all its summits by going through as many ridges as possible. During these periods I slept little, between an hour and a half and three hours. When I went back down I allowed myself a little more rest in a van that followed me at a distance to prepare for what came next. The hardest part was really keeping your concentration: on a 20-hour day of climbing, you had to stay alert at all times.
You covered more than 1,000 km and 70,000 m of elevation gain by bike or on foot in less than three weeks, what struck you the most?
It had been 7 or 8 years since I had been to the Alps. They have changed a lot. What struck me the most was the number of rock falls, both day and night. There were times when it was decided by very little, like during the crossing of the Brouillard glacier in Italy.
“I think I can still improve”
We imagine that there were also some very beautiful moments…
I think of the climb of the Weisshorn in Valais (Switzerland). I had been in the mountains for five days and there was a very technical passage with 800 meters of ridge before a difficult climbing section that I absolutely wanted to reach before nightfall. I was able to get there just as the sun was going down and, with the light, I had the impression that my shadow was climbing next to me with a magnificent landscape all around. It was so beautiful that I felt like I was flying… I no longer felt tired. It is also for moments like this that I do this kind of project.
Friends and renowned mountaineers have accompanied you on around thirty climbs. Did you want to share your experience as much as possible?
It especially helps to reconnect a little. When you are on a rope team, you can rely on others to decide where to go, it allows you to rest your head. On the other hand, I preferred to do the dangerous parts alone to be more free. There were a lot of friends with whom I had not climbed for a long time, it was cool to see them again and share moments, we remain social beings, even in the mountains.
At 36, you have won two tough trails this season, Zegama and Sierre-Zinal, and completed this project in record time. Are you in the form of your life?
Yes, finally, because I have no pressure. I am happy with my career and what I have done. I no longer feel the obligation to do one race or another and that gives me freedom. Of course my abilities will change with age, I will perhaps be a little slower, but I still love training. I will try to progress, especially in my approach to nutrition. I think I can still improve.
