This summer Kilian Jornet takes on the challenge of climbing Mount Everest, the final peak in his Summits of My Life project. Kilian will try to establish a record for the ascent and descent by a little-used route on the north face of the world’s highest mountain. To be ready for the challenge, he has spent a lot of time high in the Alps. Here are two of his training days on the Mont Blanc massif.
Physical training in the Alps: 6500 meters of climbing. (10.7.)
Kilian Jornet is taking on Everest with the purist and minimalist philosophy that is the trademark of the Alpine style. This means that, as with other challenges in the Summits of My Life project, he intends to complete the ascent in one go, without stopping at high-altitude camps. This is different from the classical Alpine approach but he has also acclimatizing himself in a different way. Kilian Jornet and his team intend to spend the last few weeks before they go to the Himalayas at a high altitude in the Alps.
Kilian’s training day high up on Mont Blanc Massif with over 3500 meters of climbing. (25.7.)
"It’s a new approach to acclimatization. Before we set off for the Himalayas we will have partly acclimatized having spent some days at altitude. This means we won’t have to wait so long to start when we arrive at the Everest base camp,” explains Jordi Tosas, Kilian’s teammate on Everest.
"This means we’ll be stronger when we begin the ascent. It can make you weaker if you spend several days acclimatizing yourself on the mountain. With this type of acclimatization we can begin the challenge with more energy and a better chance of success,” Kilian adds.
Main image: © Lymbus