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Mountaineering & Expeditions

Spanish Climber Kilian Jornet Summits Everest Twice in Five Days Without Extra Oxygen

...what have you done this week?

The incredibly talented Kilian Jornet. Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Spanish climber Kilian Jornet has just made adventurers everywhere spit coffee over their loved ones after racing up Mount Everest twice in one week without using supplemental oxygen or fixed ropes.

Jornet first scaled the mountain in 26 hours, before returning to the summit five days later to take nine hours off his time and clock a 17 hour trip.

So who is this mad man?

Kilian Jornet is a six-time champion of the long-distance running Skyrunner World Series, something which is exactly as gruelling as it sounds.

He’s also won some of the most prestigious ultra-marathons, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, Grand Raid and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run.

Everest. Apparently not that hard? Photo: Getty Images.

He’s also the holder of the fastest known times for ascending the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Denali.

So, yeah. He’s kind of a big deal. And he says that his achievement has opened up “a new realm of possibilities in alpinism.”

Jornet says he reached the 8,848m summit of Mount Everest at 9pm local time after a 17-hour ascent. This would be just 15 minutes slower than the record set by Italian climber Hans Kammerlander, who completed the trip in 16 hours and 45 minutes in 1996, if it is confirmed.

Just five days before this, Jornet claims to have scaled Everest in 26 hours. His initial goal was a round-trip record, but stomach cramps and vomiting slowed him down, as they tend to do.

“It was cool to summit Everest twice in one season [without oxygen]”, said Jornet, in the biggest understatement of the century.

Let’s not forget that this is a mountain where people regularly die. Numerous bodies remain on Everest from climbs gone wrong, 10 people have died on the mountain this season alone and one of the most dangerous rescue missions ever launched is about to take place on the mountain.

Jornet seems fairly blasé about the whole situation though.

“Today I felt good, although it was really windy so it was hard to move fast,” he said.

“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.”

He’s really happy to have done it. It was quite cool.

YOU JUST WENT UP EVEREST WITHOUT OXYGEN OR ROPES TWICE IN A WEEK SHOW SOME EMOTION.

I’m really happy that my milk was only one day out of date this morning.

Throwing a scrunched-up Kit-Kat wrapper into a bin from more than two-metres away is quite cool.

Climbing Everest twice in one week without supplementary oxygen is F****** CRAZY.

“Hey look I’m Kilian Jornet and I’m really talented but also too humble to admit it” Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Seriously. Imagine being this guy’s cousin on Christmas Day – the whole family gathered around the dinner table while you tell everyone that you’re really stoked on getting promoted in your 9-5 office job.

Your family say congratulations then Kilian pipes in with: “yeah that’s great. I climbed Everest twice in a week without oxygen in May so I guess that’s quite cool too. And I bought presents for all the poor local children of the world because I thought that’d be quite cool too. I feel quite good about that.”

YOU’RE MAKING US ALL LOOK BAD KILIAN.

Sorry. Sorry. Focus.

This article isn’t about Kilian Jornet’s unfortunate cousin. This is about one hell of an achievement from the Spanish trail-running king, who also happens to write like a poet.

Jornet says that he climbs competitively to better himself, and that: “above all, I conceive sport as a way to discover landscapes both inside and outside you.

“I love silence and solitude, but communication, listening, reading, writing and travelling also appeal to me. My life is spent pursuing and fighting for my dreams.”

God. That man must be a terrific lover.

Stay crazy Kilian, and congratulations.

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