Killian Jornet's Everest summit might not have happened

Moral: never trust an ultra dude who doesn't have a beard and a trucker hat.

Gravy wrote:

Are those topographic lines correct? Looks like both reach the summit, but Ballinger hikes a little further.

The topographic lines are missing above a certain point. Only Balling errors reached the summit, Jornet did not. The real summit is quite a small place as can be seen in Everest photos but Jornet is several hundred feet away horizontally and over 700 feet below it. Jornet wasn't close.

scam_watcheroo wrote:

Gravy wrote:

Are those topographic lines correct? Looks like both reach the summit, but Ballinger hikes a little further.

The topographic lines are missing above a certain point. Only Balling errors reached the summit, Jornet did not. The real summit is quite a small place as can be seen in Everest photos but Jornet is several hundred feet away horizontally and over 700 feet below it. Jornet wasn't close.

Does his GPS data show him turning around and going back before the summit, or is there a time gap between his high points and when he went back?

Basically I'm just wondering if his watch shut off at a high point but if it's still possible that he could have kept on going up without his watch recording him doing so?

some questions wrote:

Does his GPS data show him turning around and going back before the summit, or is there a time gap between his high points and when he went back?

Basically I'm just wondering if his watch shut off at a high point but if it's still possible that he could have kept on going up without his watch recording him doing so?

If you look at my Google Drive folder in the Excel result file, you will see that there are no time gaps in Jornet's watch data. The watch was set to record every 10 seconds and the maximum time gap in the data was 11 seconds. The entire recording is intact and shows he did not reach the real summit at all.

scam_watcheroo wrote:

some questions wrote:

Does his GPS data show him turning around and going back before the summit, or is there a time gap between his high points and when he went back?

Basically I'm just wondering if his watch shut off at a high point but if it's still possible that he could have kept on going up without his watch recording him doing so?

If you look at my Google Drive folder in the Excel result file, you will see that there are no time gaps in Jornet's watch data. The watch was set to record every 10 seconds and the maximum time gap in the data was 11 seconds. The entire recording is intact and shows he did not reach the real summit at all.

You are either going to be vindicated and people are going to praise you for your expert sleuthing... Or you're going to look like a total schmuck if he produces a picture of himself on the summit.

Which makes sense because Mt Everest summit is in a Plateau, so probably Kilian reached the perimeter of such plateau and didn't go to the midpoint of it.

God watches and altimeters can go hay wire at altitude. I remember doing pikes peak ascent only reading 12.8 miles when supposed to be 13.3... Lots of slow zigzags

Wow this is a great thread. Didn't realize he claimed nighttime ascents.

Let's see what extra proof he can provide.

San Diego hobby jogger wrote:

God watches and altimeters can go hay wire at altitude. I remember doing pikes peak ascent only reading 12.8 miles when supposed to be 13.3... Lots of slow zigzags

700 vertical feet is not anywhere in the realm of "watch error"

I'm on the suspicious side for the time being.

scam_watcheroo wrote:

The topographic lines are missing above a certain point. Only Balling errors reached the summit

Give him a break, sex can't be that easy at that altitude.

I don't think it's that unlikely although I'm not saying that's the case here. If I haven't calibrated my watch (Fenix 3) I can see a difference of 300+ feet just on a local peak that's only 12,500ish high.

climbingtothetop wrote:

I don't think it's that unlikely although I'm not saying that's the case here. If I haven't calibrated my watch (Fenix 3) I can see a difference of 300+ feet just on a local peak that's only 12,500ish high.

Be interesting how Suunto wants to play it. So the argument would be that Jornet made it to the top but Suunto is just not accurate ? The point then being that you shouldn't buy their stuff unless you really don't care about accuracy. Oh, here's a good slogan " If you care about accuracy, you'd better with equipment made in 1953 ".

I don't know. Maybe they shouldn't sponsor people who do outdoor activities anymore if it's not what their watches are designed for.

Let me see if I can summarize the counter-claims:

1) He didn't document his attempts because he was setting speed records.

2) He has won many ultras over many years.

3) He makes really cool videos.

4) He has an unquestionable reputation.

5) Tons of people saw it happen.

6) He thought he was at the summit, but really wasn't (both times).

7) The author of the article questioning whether he summitted Everest is anonymous.

8) The author of the article put too much time into writing it.

9) All of the evidence exists, but it is a secret.

10) The Everest summit is on a huge plateau.

summarizer bot wrote:

Let me see if I can summarize the counter-claims:

1) He didn't document his attempts because he was setting speed records.

2) He has won many ultras over many years.

3) He makes really cool videos.

4) He has an unquestionable reputation.

5) Tons of people saw it happen.

6) He thought he was at the summit, but really wasn't (both times).

7) The author of the article questioning whether he summitted Everest is anonymous.

8) The author of the article put too much time into writing it.

9) All of the evidence exists, but it is a secret.

10) The Everest summit is on a huge plateau.

11) His GPS data showing a maximum elevation of 28,198' clearly proves he summited a 29,029' peak.

Yeah, but the blue dot on where Jornet stopped looks geographically closer to the summit. The point where Adrian Ballinger stopped (blue X with circle) looks to be on the other side of the summit. Maybe the GPS reading for height is just off?

angryjohnny wrote:

summarizer bot wrote:

Let me see if I can summarize the counter-claims:

1) He didn't document his attempts because he was setting speed records.

2) He has won many ultras over many years.

3) He makes really cool videos.

4) He has an unquestionable reputation.

5) Tons of people saw it happen.

6) He thought he was at the summit, but really wasn't (both times).

7) The author of the article questioning whether he summitted Everest is anonymous.

8) The author of the article put too much time into writing it.

9) All of the evidence exists, but it is a secret.

10) The Everest summit is on a huge plateau.

11) His GPS data showing a maximum elevation of 28,198' clearly proves he summited a 29,029' peak.

12) He traveled to Tibet with a SAT phone, but elected to leave it down in camp for "style" purposes.

Chomolungma wrote:

angryjohnny wrote:

11) His GPS data showing a maximum elevation of 28,198' clearly proves he summited a 29,029' peak.

12) He traveled to Tibet with a SAT phone, but elected to leave it down in camp for "style" purposes.

13) Who needs pictures or GPS data when everyone saw his fresh tracks on the snow?

His first attempt includes a Strava segment crossed by two others taking the route to the summit. Setting aside the fact that Killian is way slower than the other guys, all three seem to have stopped around the same place, which does appear to be inside the highest topo line.

— Mt. Everest North Ridge

Andy, I respect some of your work but you are a headstrong fool who makes accusations without doing much research. Adam Ballinger went to the South Summit, which is the second highest peak on earth.

Guess where Killian went to. I'll give you a clue, it's the summit of the highest peak on earth.