If you’re reading this, you probably know who Kilian Jornet is. But for anyone shrugging at the back, he’s basically the Tom Cruise of the outdoor world – a superstar who does all his own stunts and is shorter than you'd expect.
Kilian is on a completely different level as an endurance athlete. He set a previous world record for ascent and descent of Mont Blanc (4hrs, 57mins 40secs) set back in July 2013.
He also demolished the speed record for linking all 82 of the Alps’ 4,000m peaks during his 'Alpine Connections' project. He did it in just 19 days, covering over 1,200km and 75,000m of ascent.
And now, the (arguably) greatest mountain runner of all time has announced his most ambitious project yet. In early September, Jornet will set out to climb every 14,000ft peak in the contiguous United States in one continuous, human-powered push.
That means no cars, no engines of any kind, just running or hiking up the mountains and cycling between them. In total, that’s around 67 summits, spread across Colorado, California and Washington.
Oh, and he plans to do it in just four weeks.
A mad amount of mountains in a month
The project is called 'States of Elevation', and it’s designed to push both body and mind to their limits. Jornet will be averaging the equivalent of a Tour de France stage on the bike – up to 155 miles a day –plus a marathon on foot over steep, technical terrain. All of it at high altitude. Every single day.
The journey will start at Longs Peak in Colorado (14,259ft/4,346m) and end at Mount Rainier in Washington (14,411ft/4,392m).
In between, Jornet will tick off the full Colorado 14er list (50+ peaks), cross the desert and tackle California’s dozen High Sierra giants including Mount Whitney (14,505ft/4,421m, the highest in the Lower 48), then head north to Washington for the final glaciated push on Rainier.
Along the way, he’ll fold in iconic link-ups like the LA Freeway in Rocky Mountain National Park and the infamous Nolan’s 14 in Colorado’s Sawatch Range. Those challenges are normally lifetime goals for ultrarunners, but here, they'll just be individual chapters in a bigger story.
Who is Kilian Jornet?
Kilian Jornet is, simply put, a once-in-a-generation athlete. The Spanish-born, Norway-based mountain runner has dominated the sport for nearly two decades. He’s a four-time UTMB champion, five-time Hardrock 100 winner, and has stood on top of podiums at the world’s toughest races from Western States to Zegama.
But racing is only half the story. Jornet is also a record-breaking mountaineer, previously setting fastest-known times on peaks like Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Denali. In 2017, he climbed Mount Everest twice in one week without bottled oxygen.
His 'Summits of My Life' project saw him travel the globe linking speed, endurance and high-altitude adventure. We also caught his new film, Into the (Un)known, recently, which told us a lot about his unique mentality. Worth a watch.
In recent years, he’s shifted focus from competitive racing towards creative, personal projects – huge mountain traverses done under his own power.
In 2023, he summited 177 peaks over 3,000m in the Pyrenees in just eight days. In 2024, he linked all 82 of the Alps' 4,000m peaks in 19 days, calling it “the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.”
The 14er challenge
A '14er' is mountaineering shorthand for a peak over 14,000ft (4,267m). The contiguous United States (meaning every state bar Hawaii and Alaska) has around 67 of them, depending on which list you follow.
Colorado has the most by far, California claims a dozen, and Washington has one – the towering volcano of Mount Rainier.
Even climbing all of Colorado’s 14ers in a single human-powered push is rare. In 2018, ultrarunner Joe Grant completed them in 31 days by bike and foot — still the fastest known time for that style. Jornet plans to add all of California’s and Washington’s to the same schedule.
That means two-to-three major summits a day, every day, plus long bike transfers in between.
It’s not just a physical gauntlet. Early autumn in the high country can bring intense heat, sudden snow, thunderstorms, or wildfire smoke. On the Sierra and Cascades peaks, there will be glaciers to cross, demanding ice axe and crampons as well as trail running shoes.
Why he’s doing it
For Jornet, it’s not just about the numbers. He describes these projects as a way to explore wild spaces, connect with landscapes and test his physical, cognitive, and creative limits. In his own words: “Combining exploration, endurance and wild spaces is where I feel at home.”
The idea partly came from the trail community. After racing Western States 100 in June, his first US race in years, Jornet asked his followers what he should do next. Suggestions poured in: Nolan’s 14, big Sierra link-ups, bike-and-climb tours. Jornet’s response? Do them all.
And there’s an environmental ethos here too. By going fully human-powered, he’s keeping the project’s footprint low. No crew shuttling him around in 4x4s, no helicopters, just legs and wheels.
How to follow
Jornet will start States of Elevation around 2 September 2025. He’ll share updates via his social media channels and NNORMAL’s blog. For safety and logistics, updates may be delayed by 24 hours.
We’ll be following along at LFTO, bringing you updates as they come in. So watch this space and follow our Instagram for coverage as the journey unfolds.
By the end of September, if all goes to plan, Kilian Jornet will have completed one of the most audacious mountain endurance challenges ever attempted. And we’ll have had front row seats to watch the sport’s biggest icon write another wild chapter in mountain running history.