Ultra Runner Kilian Jornet is Trying to Climb Mount Everest

Most of the people writing on this board had never walked over 10% grade on gravel.

Messner is arguably the best of the 8000 meter climbers ever. When he soloed Everest without oxygen he fell into a crevasse and was very fortunate not to die. Only his experience on these deadly mountains saved him.

I met him once and he stressed that the most important aspect in climbing is getting back to base camp alive, not reaching the summit.

There are two Everest climbing seasons, spring and fall. Nepal is in the northern hemisphere so the seasons match the rest of the northern hemisphere like the US and Europe. Monsoon season in Nepal is from June through August.

Increasing elevation produces a very high risk of acquiring HAPE or HACE. (High Altitude Pulmonary or Cerebral Edema). Both of these can be debilitating and fatal. The risk of acquiring either of these goes up substantially the quicker that one ascends the mountain. At high elevations mental facilities tend to degrade so there is a high probability of making really bad decisions.

Above 26,00 feet is the so called death zone where there isn't enough oxygen in the air for the human body to survive. The body tissues start dying above this height.

I don't know if this article has already been posted, but here it is:

http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/articles/kilian-jornet-details-2016-everest-speed-record-bid-w202933

Honestly he'll easily do it the mountain is not that technical ...the weather can be epic etc. but he's been in the mountains a ton....I think he knows what he's up for ....tons of normal pedestrians make it to the summit is definitely not impossible for that challenging if the weather is solid. The actual vertical gain... isn't that high... He's done some simlar efforts although not on Everest but I have a feeling he knows exactly what he's in for. Technically I think he's probably pretty reasonable climber if not excellent and obviously he's a pretty amazing endurance athlete again maybe not a sub to 2:10 marathoner but again that's not what he trains for... I'm pretty sure you'll absolutely destroy the record he just needs a weather window.

Love it or hate it he's a beast in the mountains which is what he does. Again if you took all the best sub to 2:10 marathon runners and ask them to run up Everest not one of them could do it and keep up with KJ.

So yes he can't run a marathon with them and yes they can't run up Everest with him ...different sports different athletes.

A 2:10 Marathoner is lighter and can get carried up the mountain faster by a Sherpa.

[quote]runnharwell wrote:

Let's get this out of the way with - I understand that on the roads, Jornet isn't even a sub-elite marathoner, but this is an interesting story nonetheless.

Ultra runner Kilian Jornet is attempting to summit Mount Everest in record time.

A quick ascent does not provide the required time for acclimatization. Acclimatization is the key to high altitude climbing. If he makes it to the top ( which is doubtful ), he will not make it down alive. Anyone climbing Everest in Sept. has more balls than brains and those types of people are now corpses that litter the trail. Prediction : If he is serious and gos for the summit, Everest will be his permanent resting place.

Amen. That anyone on this board is trying to correlate world class marathoning to Everest is farcical. That said, I've met Killian and watched him race in person - I'd estimate him at 2:15-2:20ish if he ever actually trained for it, which he won't, moot point.

Anyone who's watched clips of his "casual" training in the Alps - ripping extreme ski lines, running/climbing technical routes, and etc... knows he's more than prepared for mountain terrain. First week of July this year he "doubled" Mt Blanc in a single day (12 hours ish?). That's nearly 12,400' elevation gain for a single trip (similar or more than Everest depending which base camp), and nearly 25,000 for the double. Staggering! It is somewhat difficult to imagine anyone has ever shown up at Everest with a higher level of physical conditioning.

Many brain dead moronic posts next to some very good ones in this thread.

Kilian is currently #1 in the world in what he's doing. Google if you don't believe it.

Light and fast marathoner in the mountains? It's like trying to drive Ferrari on 4WD road.

How limited you are to reduce everything and everybody to running marathon. You must be quite boring to speak to.

Everyone who is say he hasn't acclimated, he has been up there training for a month? He also was up there last year or the year before.

Also he had no issues on Denali, which isnt that high, but still relatively high.

Also he has speed climbed more technical routes in winter in the alps. He is not just a runner. He was a skimo athlete before he ever raced an ultra.

Kjeasydoesit wrote:

Honestly he'll easily do it the mountain is not that technical ..

....tons of normal pedestrians make it to the summit

The actual vertical gain... isn't that high...

Do have Everest experience or know someone who has summitted Everest in order to judge how technical it is?

In a typical year a couple hundred physically fit people with very little mountain climbing experience attempt the summit by signing on with various guides. Only about 50-75 of the inexperienced climbers make it to the top and back. The majority give up on the way to the top and turn around. 15-20 or more get helicoptered off at some point due to severe medical problems. 5-7 die.

10,000 feet of gain from EBS to summit is substantial considering that the effects of oxygen deprivation are exponential as elevation increases.

An 11% slope above 25,000 feet is not comparable to a 11% slope at 18,000 feet.

Can't wait for the IMAX Everest 2 sequel thanks to this.. Wonder who will play Jornet...

Kjeasydoesit wrote:

Honestly he'll easily do it the mountain is not that technical ..

....tons of normal pedestrians make it to the summit

The actual vertical gain... isn't that high...

Flounder wrote:

An 11% slope above 25,000 feet is not comparable to a 11% slope at 18,000 feet.

Technically 11% is still 11%.

Anyone who keeps saying Jornet has the technical skill is totally missing the point.

He is not acclimatized for 8000+ m and he has no experience at those altitudes. Going above that is not the same as going above other elevations. Your body begins to die and you lose a lot of ability to think clearly and frostbite and hypothermia are a lot easier to get because your body can't generate enough heat due to lack of oxygen. He is just another white privileged tourist that think they are bigger than Jesus.

Flounder wrote:

the effects of oxygen deprivation are exponential as elevation increases..

Uhhh, that's not how exponentials work buddy.

Spotter of Dumb Dumb wrote:

Flounder wrote:

the effects of oxygen deprivation are exponential as elevation increases..

Uhhh, that's not how exponentials work buddy.

The effects of oxygen deprivation become exponentially worse given a linear amount of elevation gain. That's how nature works.

But you can continue calling people names if you disagree with them. It illustrated your level of intelligence.

Just from perusing his youtube videos, any reasonable person would conclude that this guy is o.k. with dying at any moment. Very risky stuff.

Flounder wrote:

The effects of oxygen deprivation become exponentially worse given a linear amount of elevation gain. That's how nature works.

But you can continue calling people names if you disagree with them. It illustrated your level of intelligence.

It's pretty obvious that you heard the words "linear" and "exponential" at one time, perhaps in school, and tried to apply it blindly to this case. You can disagree with science all you want, it doesn't make you correct. I'm not the one that made up physics.