Kilian Jornet Takes Speed Soloing to Absurd Level

© Suunto

Kilian Jornet, 25, one of the world's great endurance runners, has speed soloed the long, technical and exposed Innominata on the Italian side of Mont Blanc in a scant 6:17. The time is amazing on many levels. While technically the climb is easier than the north faces of the Eiger or the Matterhorn, the scale is much greater and the objective dangers are higher. Jornet, who is not even known as a climber, started from the church in Courmayeur at roughly 1000m and ran the 3600m to the summit of Mont Blanc, then ran over 3600m down the French side arriving at the church in Chamonix in a total time of 8:43.

Kilian Jornet  © Suunto
Kilian Jornet
© Suunto

He covered over 7,300m, climbing and running roughly 32km over glaciers, loose rock faces and miles of snow and ice slopes, all solo.

Jornet's astounding feat is, everything considered, on par with the recent Eiger speed ascents by Dani Arnold and Ueli Steck and fulfills the prophecy that the next level of technical speed climbers will come not from the world of climbing, but from ultra running. Ultra runners, it seems, can quickly learn to climb, while climbers are not so adept at ultra running, lacking the endurance. "Can you imagine what I could do if I had the physique of Kilian?" Steck told Rock and Ice.

Balancing act on the stunning snow arete of the Innominata- Mont Blanc S face. One of my favourite shots  © Jon Griffith
Balancing act on the stunning snow arete of the Innominata- Mont Blanc S face. One of my favourite shots
© Jon Griffith

Jornet, it should be noted, has one of the highest VO2 max levels ever recorded and has won the grueling Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) three times and holds the speed record for running up the non-technical Mount Kilimanjaro (5:22). His speed solo of the Innominata is a huge leap beyond his previous achievements in terms of climbing difficulty and danger—a fast team typically bivies twice on the route, which is well known for its loose rock.

While Jornet is a new name to most American climbers, he is well know among runners. In 2011 he won the punishing 100-mile Western States Endurance Run and this year won the Pikes Peak Marathon and set the speed record for climbing and descending the Grand Teton. Also this year, in June, Jornet and Stephane Brosse attempted to cross the entire Mont Blanc Massif in two days when Brosse broke through a cornice and fell 600m to his death.


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I define myself as a lover of mountains. I like competing, but, above all, I conceive sport as a way to discover landscapes both inside and outside you.

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3 Oct, 2012
I first thought was "that's amazing", my second was "must be a bit dodgy running solo across glaciers".....I then read the bit about his mate dieing. Crazy stuff.
3 Oct, 2012
"3600m feet" and his name is spelt with a C at the end and K at the start.
3 Oct, 2012
Very, very impressive. However, this is inexcusably tabloid standard journalism. There is no way the Innomonata has greater objective danger than the Eiger N. Face. He says a fast team would bivi twice on the route - nonsense; an average team would spend one night in a hut before doing the rouite and descending next day. Comparisons with speed records for the Eiger N. Face are pretty meaningless; the Innominata is mostly pretty easy scrambling on which it is easy to move fast safely, whereas the Eiger has lots of quite technical ground at which most alpinists would shudder at moving at Steck's pace even for a few metres. The record for the Eiger is from base of the face to the summit, whereas this Innominata time will mostly have been spent jogging along paths and across easy snow - a very different game. But yes, if you could combine this fellow's endurance with Steck's ability to climb tehnical ground fast you would have something pretty special!
3 Oct, 2012
Agree with everything you said Robert. I'm sure that must be a first. btw. "absurd" is surely the wrong word: "irrational, silly, ludicrous, nonsensical. Absurd, ridiculous, preposterous all mean inconsistent with reason or common sense"
3 Oct, 2012
whereas this Innominata time will mostly have been spent jogging along paths and across easy snow I don't think "jogging" describes the pace he would have been moving at.
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