The Spanish ultra-runner climbed the north face, twice – without additional oxygen. – By Kit Fox

Forgoing oxygen aid and fixed ropes, Spanish ultra-marathoner Kilian Jornet summited Mount Everest early Monday, 22 May around midnight. His roughly 3780-metre ascent from Everest Base Camp (elevation 5365 metres) took just 26 hours. Most hikers – supported with additional oxygen and ropes – take up to four days to cover the same distance.

The 29-year-old intended to achieve the fastest known time for both the ascent and descent from Base Camp but was forced to stop on the way down at the Advanced Base Camp (elevation 6340 metres) due to a stomach virus. He was on the trail for 36 hours.

Jornet is claiming the FKT for summiting the mountain up the north face in a post on his website, although records of this type are not officially sanctioned and difficult to track.

“Up to 7,700 metres, I felt really good and was making progress as planned but then I started to feel unwell,” Jornet said in the post. “From then on I made slow progress and had to keep stopping to recover. I finally reached the summit at midnight.”

Jornet is one of the best ultra-distance and mountain runners in the world, with winning performances at some of the toughest races, including the Western States Endurance Run, Hardrock 100, and Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. His latest ascent on Everest was part of a four-year challenge called “Summits of My Life,” in which he aimed to set the ascent and descent speed records on several of the most famous or harrowing mountains in the world.

Since 2012, he’s achieved FKTs on mountains including Matterhorn, McKinley, and Aconcagua.

The Everest expedition (first round) was meant to be the last in the project, however Kilian Jornet climbed in a single push the north face of Mount Everest (8.848m) for the second time in a week. For this he did not use oxygen nor fixed ropes. Jornet had already reached the summit on 22nd May but stomach cramps had prevented him from completing the route as planned. He said: “I’m so happy to have made the summit again! Today I felt good although it was really windy so it was hard to move fast. I think summiting Everest twice in one week without oxygen opens up a new realm of possibilities in alpinism and I’m really happy to have done it”.

According to his blog Jornet reached the summit via the North Face of Everest on 27th May at 9pm. He left Advanced Base Camp at 6500m and climbed to the summit on the ‘normal’ route passing the three high altitude camps used by climbers attempting the world’s highest mountain, a climb which takes on average four days.

The climb to the summit was slow with the wind being the main obstacle Jornet had to overcome. Weather conditions improved throughout the night and he returned to Advanced Base Camp 29 hours 30 minutes after leaving.

The two ascents are part of the ‘Summits of My Life’ project, in which Jornet has travelled to some of the most emblematic mountains across the globe setting records for fastest known ascents. He began in the Mont Blanc range in 2012 and has since climbed in Europe (Mont Blanc & Matterhorn), in North America (Denali) and in South America (Aconcagua).

Accumulated route times

Everest Advanced Base Camp (6.500m)-Summit (8.848m): 17h

Summit (8.848m) – Everest Advanced Base Camp (6.500m): 28h30

Information adapted from https://www.kilianjornet.cat/en.