Kilian Jornet is one of the most renowned mountain athletes on the planet, so when he presented his most challenging project, what you could read between the lines was that it was something almost impossible. At least for the remaining 8.2 billion inhabitants of the planet. The project, Alpine Connections, consisted of joining all peaks over 4,000 meters in the Alps in 19 days without using motorized vehicles.
“This project has been incredible – explains Jornet -, I think it is one of the most complicated things I’ve ever doneboth for the physical and technical part and the mental part. Having to spend 20 days in a state of total concentration requires a lot of energy, but it has been incredible.”
Starting at the Piz Bernina (4,049 m) in Switzerland and ending at the Barre des Écrins (4,102 m) in France, Kilian Jornet has tested his physical and mental limits in a demonstration of technique, planning, precision and adaptation that is difficult to understand for those who have never faced the alpine colossi. In between, Kilian has climbed some of the most iconic mountains in the Alpssuch as Monte Rosa (4,634 m), the Matterhorn (4,478 m) or the highest of all, Mont Blanc (4,808 m).
The tour was divided into 16 stages and totaled 1,207 km with a cumulative difference of 75,344 mwhich is equivalent to climbing Everest eight times in less than three weeks. If we take into account that the world record for ascending the 14 peaks over 8,000 meters is almost two years old, overcoming this gap in less than 20 days is amazing.
Beyond physical and mental preparation, Jornet also “took advantage” of technology. Let’s start with the basics, with the feet. To travel the more than 1,200 kilometers (many of them of highly abrasive rock), Jornet used 4 pairs of shoes: two Tomir 2.0 and some Tomir 2.0 Waterproof (for now a prototype). All of them developed by the NNormal house, a venture that brought together Kilian Jornet and the Camper house.
These shoes, at least a previous model, are the older sisters that the athlete himself had tested: when in 2022 he won the UTMB (a race that surrounds Mont Blanc), the Hard Rock 100 and Zegama did so by breaking the record for the test and with some sneakers (model Kjerag) who already had more than 1,000 kilometers “on board”. Part of this is possible thanks to the use of Kevlar threads (bulletproof material) in the construction of the upper part of the shoe.
Added to this are clothing (from socks, tights and t-shirts) that use merino wool, a type of antibacterial and breathable material, capable of regulating temperature and acting as a natural insulator. Added to that is a Normal Rain Jacket, with a capacity of resist a water column of 20,000 mm and a breathability of 20,000 g (the highest standards) largely thanks to a Pertex membrane.
When it comes to devices, there are two that stand out. The first is the Coros Vertix 2S. Body with sapphire crystal and titanium bezel, it is obvious that it was designed to withstand extreme conditions. In fact, It works between -30ºC and 50ºC and its blood oxygen evaluation is triggered automatically when we exceed 2,500 meters above sea level. Perfect for facing a 1,200 km route with 82 peaks above 4,000 meters. To that we must add the battery: up to 60 days of daily use, 50 hours with all GPS systems and music included and 140 hours with GPS mode active, that is, 5 days. And it charges in less than 2 hours (Jornet also had an external battery).
The Coros Vertix 2S has a huge screen (1.4 inches, very well lit and touch-sensitive). And, the most important thing to keep in mind for this challenge is your GPS. It has almost all the navigation systems: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and Beidou even with double frequency. All of them are at our disposal. This gives it a very high and very fast geopositioning capacity in almost the entire globe thanks to the dual or double frequency system that confirms, through two of the satellite systems, where we are. To all this we must add a battery with a capacity of 32 GB, enough for all the music you want and to download maps when there is no signal.
Finally, we must add a Moonlight 2000 headlamp, a device that delivers a brightness of 2000 lumens. How much is this? We could say that its equivalent is a light bulb of between 100 and 150 watts of incandescent light. But that doesn’t give much information. The Moonlight 2000 weighs, with the battery (which can last up to 20 hours), about 350 grams, is compatible with the GoPro camera system and its brightness (which has 4 different intensities) reaches its maximum potential about 70 meters.
This is not a random number. Lumens are, basically, the potential energy of a light source. The more lumens, the more potential energy it has to illuminate and see further.
The candela, on the other hand, is the intensity of light in a given direction, while Lux is the measure of how many lumens are distributed over a given area at a given distance. Using a formula (Lux = candela/ (distance (m)^2) It is possible to measure the distance and know that those 2000 lumens allow us to see objects at the aforementioned distance.
That is, at full power you can clearly see what is 70 meters ahead. This, in mountainous terrain and at such a low weight, it is essential. As far as compact headlamps go, it’s the best there is. Important detail: the manufacturer is Norwegian and Kilian has one of its bases there, which has undoubtedly also given the manufacturer keys for the new fronts that will come next year.