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After 31 days, more than 3,000 miles, and countless vertical feet of climbing, Kilian Jornet has done it again. On October 4, the Spanish mountain athlete reached the summit of Washington’s Mount Rainier, completing his States of Elevation project—an ambitous, human-powered linkup of all 72 accessible 14,000-foot peaks in the contiguous United States.
The journey began just a month earlier, on September 3, at Colorado’s Longs Peak. From there, Jornet moved relentlessly through three of America’s most iconic mountain ranges including the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascades, running up each summit and traveling between them by bicycle. It was an effort that combined endurance, precision, and creativity on a scale rarely seen, even for Jornet, who has built a career redefining what’s possible in the mountains.
“I’m really happy to have made it this far, Jornet said in a blog post after finishing the project. “When I started this project, it was just an idea on a map—something I thought could be great, but I didn’t know if it would be possible. Now I see that it was, and beyond the numbers, it’s been a true adventure—a way to discover places that have become very special to me.”
The States of Elevation route demanded a mix of technical mastery and raw endurance. In Colorado, Jornet climbed all 56 of the state’s 14ers in just 16 days, covering more than 1,200 miles and 255,000 vertical feet of climbing, which is nearly the equivalent of ascending Mount Everest nine times. His days stretched past 16 hours, with an average of only 4.5 hours of sleep, as he linked legendary routes like the LA Freeway and Nolan’s 14 while facing everything from freezing summit winds to late-summer thunderstorms.
- Related: Kilian Jornet Climbs all 56 Colorado 14ers in 16 Days as Part of ‘States of Elevation’ Project
Rather than rest after Colorado, Jornet pedaled nearly 900 miles across the desert Southwest toward California’s Sierra Nevada. The ride took him through canyons, mesas, and the parched Mojave, often in triple-digit heat. Once there, he immediately tackled Norman’s 13, California’s notorious 101-mile high route that links 13 of the state’s tallest peaks. Jornet completed it in a blistering 56 hours and 11 minutes (pending verification), setting a new supported fastest known time. From the Sierra, Jornet continued north to finish on Mount Rainier, where temperatures dropped below zero and fresh snow blanketed the route—a fittingly brutal finale to a journey that tested every facet of his endurance.
- Related: Kilian Jornet Sets 56-Hour FKT in Sierra Nevada After Cycling 900 Miles From Colorado to California
All told, Jornet covered more than 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) and ascended tens of thousands of vertical feet, all under his own power. He averaged the distance of a Tour de France stage every day for a month, while climbing and descending some of the most challenging peaks in North America. Yet for Jornet, the project wasn’t about setting records or proving dominance. True to his philosophy, States of Elevation wasn’t just a feat of fitness but a meditation on endurance, connection, and movement through wild places.
This latest adventure builds on Jornet’s recent streak of monumental self-powered linkups, including all 82 4,000-meter peaks in the Alps in just 19 days last year and 177 summits in the Pyrenees in 2023. But States of Elevation may stand apart as his most ambitious, and his most human project yet. In the end, Jornet’s journey across America’s high peaks wasn’t just a test of limits. It was a reminder of why he pushes them in the first place: to explore the edge where body, landscape, and spirit meet, and to keep moving forward, one summit at a time.
