Hit in the sacrum and forced, with death in his soul, to give up on the Mont-Blanc Ultra trail this year, Kylian Jornet (35 years old) had disappeared from the radar a little in recent weeks. Nicknamed “the Ultra-Terrestrial”, the greatest current runner in ultra-distance events has made a resounding return to the trails of his childhood. A challenge as he likes them, in excess, which consisted of swallowing the Pyrenees massif passing by 177 peaks of more than 3000 meters and all this in eight days.
Having left on October 2, the eight-time ski mountaineering world champion and four-time winner of the UTM (2008, 2009, 2011 and 2022) accomplished his mission on the morning of October 10 by ending his journey at the Pic d’Estats, in the Alt Pirineu Natural Park. A few additional figures to see the XXL performance of this extreme walker-runner: 43,000 meters of elevation gain in total for 155 hours of activity. He will also have connected more than 40 peaks in a single day, walked for 39 consecutive hours while using the bike to connect several sections together.
“After my convalescence, I looked into different projects until the idea of connecting the peaks of more than 3,000 meters of the Pyrenees took hold. I had this desire, but I didn’t know if it was an achievable challenge or pure madness. After consulting people who knew the Pyrenean trails well, I decided to take the plunge,” explained co-founder and athlete of the NNormal team who does not regret having embarked on this adventure which allowed him to recharge his batteries. “Rediscovering peaks that I had forgotten about was a spectacular experience and, on the other hand, one of the most difficult things I have ever done,” he added, delighted to have traveled the trails on which he did his ranges as a teenager. It was 22 years ago.