Il avait des chaussures
Sens Ultra with spikesRésumé, in english, de l'aventure
Today Kilian Jornet has started the second year of the Summits of My Life challenges. In this project, which started in 2012 and is expected to last three more years, Jornet set himself the target of crowning some of the globe's most iconic peaks. To do this, he will attempt to break speed records of each peak without assistance and with the minimum material possible, trying to convey his values and his vision of life and the mountains. As happened with the challenges of 2012, this year’s will be filmed by French director Seb Montaz.
This second year of the challenges started this morning with the ascent and descent of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the French Alps. It was 4:48 am when Jornet, accompanied by friend and mountain skier Matheo Jacquemond, set off on the third challenge of the project. The planned route started in the church square in Chamonix and climbed to the summit of Mont Blanc following the historic route of the Grands Mulet. Upon leaving Chamonix, the athletes started the climb via Jonction, then crossed the Grand Moulets and passed the Vallot mountain refuge, reaching the summit in a time of 3:30h.
Jacquemond and Jornet climbed from Jonction to the Vallot refuge roped together for safety reasons. This was the same during the descent, although Jacquemond suffered a slight fall in Jonction. It was then that Jornet ran off ahead and reached the church in Chamonix with a final time of 4:57h. The existing record broken today was 5:11h, established by Swiss Pierre-André Gobet in 1990.
Upon reaching the square Jornet said, “We knew that the weather conditions were good and that it was a good day for the attempt. We have had a constant pace during the ascent. We have been roped with Mathéo so we could hold to each other and thus avoid the crevasses. On the descend Mathéo fell down and couldn’t keep up on the final stretch. It has been a great experience anyway”
Once Mathéo Jacquemond has reached Chamonix he explained: “We climbed fast and steady until we reached the Mont Blanc Summit, it was a very nice moment. I fell while descending and I got a bit injured on my leg. Even though I was fine I felt I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted so we agreed with Kilian that he would go on his own so that I could climb down with Vivien. I am happy I was able to go with Kilian, it was a wonderful day”.
The whole journey was filmed by director Seb Montaz who said: “It is very easy to work with Kilian and Matheo because they are enthusiast people, but shooting them is a bit more complicated as they run really fast and it’s difficult to follow them. As there was quite a lot of snow today we could ski our way down and shoot them at the same time. We used a small steady cam that gives the feeling to the spectator that he is running with them. For me, the best moment today was when Kilian had to leave Matheo and they hug each other, it was very emotional”.
Together with Montaz was mountain guide Vivian Bucher, who was responsible for safety during the ascent and who descended with Jacquemond. On arrival in Chamonix, he said, "Seb and I started at 1am to get ready so we could wait for the moment for Kilian and Matheo to climb up. We have also checked the snow conditions and we have realized that it was really good. We knew well the route as we did it four times before the attempt today. With Seb we have split so we could have visual contact with them at any time. On the way down we descended with Matheo after he fell. It has been an amazing experience”.
Following the basic premises of his project Summits of My Life, Jornet wanted to make the climb respecting the values he sustains: friendship (climbing alongside Jacquemond up to the summit); simplicity (using lightweight material), effort (trying to break a record) and respect for nature, among other factors. Kilian Jornet said: “If I had to define today’s day with one word it would be friendship. It was very nice to get to share the route with a friend. Once we reached the top we looked at each other and we understood what this route meant for the two of us”.
EQUIPMENT USED
SenseUltra with spikes
Shorts
Thermal t-shirt
Windproof jacket
Windproof trousers
buff
Sunglasses
Gloves
0.5l water
2 gels
Watch
15m of rope