In the summertime of 2023, Kilian Jornet set off on an eight-day romp throughout the Pyrenees, his house mountain vary alongside the border of Spain and France, climbing 177 peaks over 3,000 meters. He principally self-filmed the trouble, and throughout the resultant movie, “Into the (Un)Recognized,” viewers get to observe Jornet by way of the figurative and literal ups and downs of his journey alongside the peaks, and get a glimpse into the headspace of somebody who can solely be thought of one of many biggest mountain athletes of all time.
The movie may be accessed on the NNormal web site by signing as much as obtain an electronic mail.
Planning the Route
What does it take to plan and execute a visit of this magnitude? What’s his motivation?
To cross the Pyrenees, Jornet adopted an aesthetic line alongside ridges put along with beta from pals, dropping down into the valleys for meals, sleep, resupplying his meals and water, and driving a borrowed bike between foot traverses. In hindsight, it may be seen as a prologue, or a take a look at run, for his newer and larger Alpine Connections route, the place he set the quickest identified time for climbing all 82 of the 4,000-meter peaks within the Alps in 19 days throughout the summer time of 2024.
Kilian Jornet throughout his 177-peak traverse of the Pyrenees in Spain and France. All pictures: NNormal/David Ariño
Along with listening to Jornet describe the trouble and his objectives for the journey, the breathtaking surroundings and self-taken video of Jornet scrambling on terrain far out of attain of the typical mountain runner offers a feast for the eyes.
Returning to the Pyrenees
Jornet taking over this mission looks like a pure development in his life. He was born within the Pyrenees and spent his first 12 years residing in a mountain hut along with his household. At age 11, his total household accomplished a trek throughout the vary — from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean — in 42 days. However it had been a very long time since Jornet had returned to his childhood mountain vary, saying within the movie, “I noticed I couldn’t recall the smells or texture of the rock.”
So, he known as up pals from the realm and began planning a route connecting main peaks, with “the great thing about the route being a very powerful.” Jornet goes on to say that planning a visit like this “awakens the creativity; it awakens the search.”
Jornet notes that we stay “in a world the place every part is thought, the place you could find info … to only go and discover options on the way in which is simply magical.”
Within the movie, after explaining that he did little or no analysis on the precise technicality of the route, he says, “I needed to be shocked, to search out the flowing tempo, and uncover the mountains, step-by-step.” And that’s exactly what he did, emphasizing that he needed to really feel like he was exploring as a substitute of performing.
Kilian Jornet following a technical ridgeline by way of the Pyrenees.
Early on within the journey, he contemplates how it might be sooner to drop off one ridge, down into the valley to climb the following peak, however decides to remain excessive as a substitute, saying afterward, “It was sort of an journey itself; getting misplaced, getting pissed off, and following chamois tracks to remain on the ridge.” All through all of it, you get a way that Jornet, age 35 when he undertook this journey, has returned to a seemingly childlike state, with variations of the phrase “Look how cool that is!” uttered often throughout a lot of the self-filmed footage.
Viewers additionally get a glimpse of Jornet when issues don’t go fairly as deliberate. On his fourth time out, on an extended ridge between the peaks of Lustou and Culfreda, which he didn’t count on to be technical and located a rocky ridge as a substitute of what he known as simple “cow summits,” he admits, “I didn’t take a look at the topo[graphic map] for this part, and I believed it was simply going to be simple.” That is adopted by a resigned, “Oh Kilian,” sigh, after which, “Both I’m getting previous, or I began this too drained, or I’m silly. I believe the third one.”
And there are the moments of pure pleasure, the place the 10-time winner of Sierre-Zinal, five-time winner of the Hardrock 100, 11-time winner of the Zegama Marathon, and champion of numerous different races appears totally in his aspect — excessive within the mountains, shifting deftly over technical terrain.
All through the movie, Jornet takes the time to replicate on returning to his house mountain vary and the adjustments he’s seen over his lifetime, returning to locations the place there was snow and ice when he was younger. “I bear in mind these glaciers; I bear in mind these options that don’t exist anymore.”
Núria Burgada, Jornet’s mom, waits for him on his closing summit at dawn, cementing the sense that Jornet, who has traveled the world to run in numerous mountain ranges, has come house for this journey. And as we now know, this was, on some stage, only a costume rehearsal in his house mountains to arrange for one thing even larger and extra bold.
Kilian Jornet rests on the summit of Pico Posets, throughout his 177-peak traverse of the Pyrenees.
