Climbing
Kilian Jornet, widely considered one of the greatest mountain endurance athletes of all time, will return to the United States this fall for his most ambitious undertaking yet. He will attempt to summit each of the roughly 67 14,000-foot peaks in the contiguous U.S. in a single, continuous push.
Announced August 6, the “States of Elevation” project will take him across California, Colorado, and Washington, linking all accessible summits exclusively under his own power. Jornet plans to run up each peak and travel between ranges by bike, supported by a small crew.
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He is scheduled to start in early September on Colorado’s Longs Peak with the demanding “LA Freeway,” a 35-mile, largely technical, off-trail traverse between Longs and Arapahoe Peak, writes Outside Online. From there, he will work his way through Colorado’s 14ers before riding west to California’s Sierra Nevada and finishing atop Washington’s Mount Rainier.
The 37-year-old Spaniard, now based in Åndalsnes, Norway, has spent the last two years redefining the scale of human-powered mountain projects. In 2023, he summited 177 3,000-meter peaks in the Pyrenees in just over eight days. Last year, he linked all 82 4,000-meter peaks in the Alps in 19 days, 43 days faster than the previous best set by Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck.
This U.S. challenge will likely exceed both in distance and complexity. Jornet estimates more than 2,000 miles of travel by bike alone, nearly triple the mileage of his “Alpine Connections” project, with unpredictable autumn conditions, potential wildfire smoke, and long stretches of remote terrain.
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At Western States 100 in June, where he placed third in one of the fastest races on record, Jornet hinted that his racing career now shares space with more self-directed, creative challenges. Despite the scale of “States of Elevation,” he confirmed that his wife and three daughters will join him on the road, framing the project as both an endurance feat and a family trip across America.
If successful, the journey would mark another historic benchmark in a career already stacked with victories at Western States, UTMB, Hardrock, Zegama, and Sierre-Zinal, and record ascents of Everest (without oxygen), Denali, Mont Blanc, and the Matterhorn.
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