Climbing
After summiting all 56 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in just over two weeks, Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet hopped on his bike, cycled nearly 900 miles across the desert Southwest, and set a new supported fastest known time on Norman’s 13, one of the Sierra Nevada’s most demanding alpine routes.
- Related: Kilian Jornet Climbs all 56 Colorado 14ers in 16 Days as Part of ‘States of Elevation’ Project
The transition from Colorado to California might, for most, have been a chance to recover. Jornet instead chose the bicycle, leaving Purgatory Flats and riding south and west through Colorado canyons, the mesas of New Mexico, the red rock of Arizona, and the long, parched stretches of the Mojave. He averaged nearly 175 miles a day—some days more than 14 hours in the saddle—enduring surprise rain, headwinds, and desert heat above 100 degrees.
Norman’s 13 is California’s answer to Colorado’s Nolan’s 14, linking 13 summits above 14,000 feet along 101 miles of ridgelines and trails. The route accumulates nearly 39,000 feet of climbing and requires long sections of complex scrambling in exposed terrain. According to his Strava profile, he burned 16,662 calories during the effort.
Jornet set out from Cottonwood Lakes and, over the course of three days, moved steadily north through the range. He was joined at times by athletes with deep ties to the Sierra: Rod Farvard, Ryan Tetz, and photographer Dan Patitucci early on; Olivia Amber, who recently set the unsupported FKT, through Taboose Pass; and climber Matt Cornell on the Palisades, where new snowstorms rendered steep sections hazardous.
The conditions were far from ideal. A boulder crushed his foot. Storms obscured the technical ridges. Sleep deprivation set in as he climbed Mount Sill before sunrise. But in 56 hours, 11 minutes, and 4 seconds (pending verification) he completed Norman’s 13 in the fastest supported time yet recorded.
“It was amazing to have company. Nice people running with me, all sharing the same values and connection to these mountains. The quantity of beautiful mountains, the wilderness, the endless possibilities… It’s inspiring,” Kilian Jornet said afterward.
Jornet rewarded himself with a good night’s sleep in Bishop: a shower, a hot meal, and a hotel bed. By morning, he was riding again, this time toward White Mountain Peak, his 70th fourteener of the project. Shasta and Rainier now wait further north, the following landmarks in a campaign that continues to unfold across the summits of the American West.
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