Kílian Jornet Burgada (Catalan pronunciation: [‘kjliən ʒur’nɛt]; born 27 October 1987 in Sabadell, Spain) is a professional ski mountaineer and long-distance runner.

He is a six-time champion of the long-distance running Skyrunner World Series and has won some of the most prestigious ultramarathons, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, Grand Raid, the Western States Endurance Run and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run.

Jornet holds the fastest known time for the ascent and descent of Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Denali.

Biography

Jornet was born in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain near Barcelona. He grew up in Refugi de Cap de Rec, a mountain hut at 2000 meters in the Pyrenees at the cross-country Lles ski resort in Lles de Cerdanya, where his father was a hut keeper and mountain guide. At the age of three he climbed Tuc de Molières, a three-thousander in the Pyrenees. By the age of five he climbed Aneto 3,404 m (11,168 ft), the highest mountain in the Pyrenees, and a year later he climbed his first four-thousander, the Breithorn (4,164 m (13,661 ft)) in Switzerland.

He started ski mountaineering in 1999, and competed for the first time at the La Molina race of the Spanish Cup in 2000. In 2003, he became a junior member of the Spanish national ski mountaineering team, and has raced as a senior since 2007. Jornet studied at the University of Perpignan Via Domitia.

Jornet has been recognised as an elite athlete since 2004 by the Catalan and Spanish sports councils (Consell Català de l’Esport and Consejo Superior de Deportes). For his achievements in the “junior” class ski mountaineering team, he won the Catalan sports award (Premi d’honor d’esport català) in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

In 2005 he set a course record of 2:30:57 for the race to the 4,015-metre (13,173 ft) summit of the Dôme de Neige des Écrins. He was World Champion in the Buff SkyRunner World Series in 2007, 2008 and 2009 becoming the youngest athlete to win this honour.

“Summits of My Life” Project

“Summits of My Life” is Kilian Jornet’s personal project, in which he is trying to set ascent and descent records for some of the most important mountains on the planet, and is planned to culminate with the record attempt on Mount Everest.This project includes:

• Mont Blanc traverse, 4,810 m (15,780 ft). In September 2012, Jornet completed the Innominata, a route linking Courmayeur and Chamonix, in 8 hours and 42 minutes. A previous attempt at ski crossing the Mont Blanc massif from Les Contamines to Champex in June 2012 resulted in the death of the French mountaineer Stéphane Brosse when a snow cornice collapsed under him.^[16][17][18]
• Mont Blanc. In July 2013, Jornet achieved the fastest known time for the ascent and descent from Chamonix in 4 hours and 57 minutes.
• Matterhorn, 4,478 m (14,692 ft). In August 2013, Jornet achieved the fastest known time for the ascent and descent from Breuil-Cervinia in 2 hours and 52 minutes. He improved the previous fastest known time set by Bruno Brunod in 1995 by more than 20 minutes. He started climbing up the 14,962 ft peak during mid-afternoon local time, reaching the summit in 1 hour 56 minutes via the Lion Ridge from the Italian side.
• Denali, 6,168 m (20,236 ft). In June 2014 Jornet completed the fastest known time for the ascent and descent with a time of 11 hours and 48 minutes using both skis and crampons, breaking the previous record by 5 hours and 6 minutes.
• Aconcagua, 6,960 m (22,830 ft). In December 2014 Jornet set a record for climbing and descending Aconcagua from Horcones (the nearest road, at Puente del Inca) and back, in 12 hours and 49 minutes.^{[25][better source needed]} Jornet’s record was broken in February 2015 by Karl Egloff, who completed the route in 11 hours and 52 minutes.
• Elbrus, 5,642 m (18,510 ft). Jornet made an attempt in 2013 to set the fastest known time for the ascent and descent from Azau but was forced to turn back by bad weather. The fastest known time for the ascent is 3:23:37 set in 2010 by Andrzej Bargiel, while fastest known time for the ascent and descent is 4 hours and 39 minutes, set in 2014 by Vitaliy Shkel.
• Mount Everest, 8,848 m (29,029 ft). He had planned an attempt for September 2016.After 3 weeks of acclimatizating well in the base camp on the north side of Mt Everest at 6.000m the weather started to change and snow acumulations increased the risk for avalanches so that the team returned home.
  • In 2017 he successfully summited Mount Everest. At midnight (local time) on 22nd May, climbing without fixed ropes or oxygen, he reached the top via the customary northern route in just 26 hours, which sets a record.

https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/videos/3221334577913710/

Selected results

Mountain Running / skyrunning

• 2005:
  • 1st, and 2nd in the combined ranking at the “Cuita al Sol” race (in Spain)
  • 1st, and course record, Dôme de Neige des Écrins (in France)
  • 2nd, “Cross Vertical”, in Andorra
  • 2nd, Prueba de Copa de España“ race, Buff-Salomon Vallnord
• 2006:
  • 1st International Championship team race, SkyGames (FSA)
  • 1st, French Championships of Mountainrunning, “junior” class race, FFA
  • 6th, World Championship of Skyrunning
• 2007:
  • Champion of the year and four times 1st, Skyrunner World Series
  • 1st, Mount Ontake Skyrace (in Japan)
  • 2nd, Orobie Skyrace team race (in Italy) together with Jordi Martin Pascual and Xavier Zapater Bargue
• 2008:
  • Champion of the year and three times 1st, Skyrunner World Series
  • 1st, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
• 2009:
  • Champion, Skyrunner World Series
  • 1st, 23rd Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon (in Borneo – Malaysia)
  • 1st, Ultra Trail Andorra
  • 1st, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
• 2010:
  • 3rd, Western States Endurance Run, California, USA
  • 1st, Sierre-Zinal “La course des cinq 4000” 31 km (in Switzerland)
  • 1st, Grand Raid de la Réunion
• 2011:
  • 1st, The North Face 100, Blue Mountains, Australia. Course Record
  • 1st, Western States Endurance Run, California, USA
  • 1st, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
• 2012:
  • 1st, 26th Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon in Borneo, Malaysia(2:11:45)
  • 1st, Pikes Peak Marathon, Colorado, USA.
  • 1st, Grand Raid de la Réunion
• 2013:
  • 1st, Transvulcania, Spain
  • 1st, Zegama-Aizkorri, Spain
  • 1st, Marathon du Mont Blanc, France
  • 1st, Ice Trail Tarantaise, France
  • 1st, Dolomites Vertical Kilometer, Italy
  • 1st, Dolomites SkyRace, Italy
  • 1st, Trans D’Havet, Italy
  • 1st, Matterhorn Ultraks, Switzerland
  • 1st, Limone SkyRace Extreme, Italy
  • Then World Record, Mount Kilimanjaro Ascent and combined Ascent/Descent (5:23:50, 7:14:00)
• 2014:
  • 2nd, Transvulcania, Spain
  • 1st, Zegama-Aizkorri, Spain
  • 1st, Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run, Colorado, USA. Course Record clockwise
  • 1st, Marathon du Mont Blanc, Skyrunner World Championship, France
  • 1st, Vertical Kilometer race, Skyrunner World Championship, France
  • 1st, Sierre-Zinal, Switzerland
  • 1st, Trofeo Kima, Italy
• 2015
  • 1st, Mount Marathon Race, Alaska, USA. Then Course Record
  • 1st, Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run, Colorado, USA. Course Record counter-clockwise
  • 1st, Ultra Pirineu, Bagà, Spain. Course Record
• 2016
  • 1st, Zegama-Aizkorri, Spain (8th victory)
  • 1st, Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run, Colorado, USA. Tie with Jason Schlarb (USA)

Climbing

• 2006: 2nd, International Championship SkySpeed Climb

Duathlon

• 2006:
  • 1st Llívia duathlon race
  • 1st Núria duathlon race
• 2007:
  • 1st Núria-Queralbs Salomon Compex, “senior” class

Ski mountaineering

• 2002:
  • 2nd, Spanish Championship team race together with Gil Erra, “cadet” class
  • 4th, Spanish Cup, “cadet” class
  • 5th, Spanish Championship single race, “cadet” class
• 2003:
  • 1st, Spanish Championship team race together with Jaume Guàrdia
• 2004:
  • 1st, World Championship vertical race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Championship single race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Championship vertical race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Championship vertical race together with Aleix Pubill Rodríguez, “cadet” class
  • 2nd, World Championship single race, “cadet” class
  • 3rd, European Cup single race, “cadet” class
• 2005:
  • 1st, European Championship vertical race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Championship single race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Cup (Spanish: Copa España) single race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, European Cup single race, “cadet” class
  • 1st, Spanish Championship team race together with Jordi Oliva
  • 3rd, Spanish Championship vertical race
  • 4th, Spanish Cup single race, “cadet” class
• 2007:
  • 1st, European Championship single race, “junior” class
  • 1st, European Championship vertical race, “junior” class
  • 1st, European Championship relay race together with Mireia Miró Varela and Marc Pinsach Rubirola, “junior” class
  • 1st, European Championship team race, “junior” class
  • 1st, 20th “Traça Catalana”
  • 2nd, Spanish Cup vertical race
• 2008:
  • 1st, World Cup race in Valerette
  • 1st, World Cup race in Massongex
  • 3rd, World Championship long distance race
  • 3rd, World Championship relay race together with Javier Martín de Villa, Manuel Pérez Brunicardi and Marc Solá Pastoret
  • 4th, World Championship vertical race
  • 4th, World Cup single race in the Aran Valley
• 2009:
  • 1st, European Championship vertical race
  • 2nd, European Championship relay race together with Javier Martín de Villa, Joan Maria Vendrell Martínez and Manuel Pérez Brunicardi
  • 5th, European Championship team race together with Javier Martín de Villa
• 2010:
  • 1st, World Championship vertical race
  • 2nd, World Championship single race
  • 3rd, World Championship combination ranking
  • 4th, World Championship relay race (together with Javier Martín de Villa, Manuel Pérez Brunicardi and Marc Pinsach Rubirola)
  • 8th, World Championship team race (together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola)
  • 1st (espoirs), Trophée des Gastlosen (ISMF World Cup), together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola
• 2011:
  • 1st, World Championship single race
  • 1st, World Championship vertical race
  • 1st, World Championship vertical, combined ranking
  • 4th, World Championship relay, together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola, Miguel Caballero Ortega, Javier Martín de Villa
  • 8th, World Championship team race (together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola)
  • 1st, Mountain Attack^[42]
• 2012:
  • 1st, European Championship vertical race
  • 1st, World Championship vertical, combined ranking
  • 2nd, European Championship single
  • 4th, European Championship relay, together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola, Marc Solà Pastoret and Miguel Caballero Ortega
  • 5th, European Championship team, together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola
  • 1st and course record, Mountain Attack
  • 1st, Patrouille de la Maya, together with Valentin Favre and Alexis Sévennec-Verdier

Pierra Menta

• 2008: 1st together with Florent Troillet
• 2010: 1st together with Florent Troillet
• 2011: 1st together with Didier Blanc
• 2012: 7th, together with Marc Pinsach Rubirola
• 2016: 1st together with Matheo Jacquemoud

Patrouille des Glaciers

• 2010: 4th, together with Marc Solà Pastoret and Marc Pinsach Rubirola

Trofeo Mezzalama

• 2011: 1st, together with William Bon Mardion and Didier Blanc
• 2013: 2nd, together with William Bon Mardion and Mathéo Jacquemoud