The word superhuman is probably overused in the world of sport. However, where Kilian Jornet is concerned, it’s very much merited. He’s won the (UTMB) four times.
This is a race very much considered to be the world championships of trail running. Yet, to label him simply as a runner does him a disservice. His exploits in the mountains surely make him one of the of the 21st century.
However, calling him a mountaineer doesn’t quite cut it either. He seemingly defies categorization. And we haven’t even mentioned his skiing yet.
.. Jornet defines himself as a ‘lover of mountains’.
He’s an individual who takes his incredible physical ability and applies it to whatever project he likes, whether that’s setting speed records on some of the world’s iconic peaks or pulling off an astonishing . We asked one of our and trail running experts to take a look at Jornet’s life and his varied accomplishments to date. Mountains played a huge role in Jornet’s upbringing.
He was born in 1987 in an alpine hut, Refugi Cap del Rec in the Pyrenees, where his father was a warden and mountain guide. By the age of five, he’d been up Aneto, the highest peak in the Pyrenees, and at the age of six, he summited his first alpine 4,000er, the Breithorn above Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. He grew to be an accomplished skier, joining the Mountain Ski Technique Centre when he was 13 and going on to compete in Spanish, European and World Championships.
This introduction to competition also spa.