On August 6, 2025, Kilian Jornet, widely respected trail running G.O.A.T (greatest of all-time), announced plans for his next grand mountain adventure—this time in the United States. Jornet has completed superhuman adventure projects in his home mountains of the Pyrenees, as well as the Alps, Himalayas and all across the world. But Jornet has spent little time adventuring in the mountains of the United States, until now.
States of Elevation
Beginning in early September, Jornet plans to climb all of the “14ers” (14,000 foot peaks) in the contiguous United States, a project he’s calling the “States of Elevation.” In line with Jornet’s attitudes of minimalism and environmental consciousness, he plans to complete the project completely by foot and bike.
States of Elevation will involve traveling to Washington, California and Colorado, which have two, twelve and fifty-eight 14ers respectively (read more about the Colorado 14er records in our articles about Justin Simoni and Erin Ton). Jornet writes that his project is about more than simply running, “It’s not merely an athletic feat but also a powerful statement on discovery of the American wilderness, commitment and community connection.”
Aside from his impressive race performances throughout his career at iconic US trail races including the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, Hardrock 100 and the Speedgoat 50K, Jornet has spent little time adventuring in the US.
No stranger to mountain challenge
Completing one American 14er is considered no small feat, let alone all of them in the United States. But Jornet is not afraid to push the boundaries of what endurance athletes think is humanely possible.
In 2023, Jornet completed what many called his most impressive mountain challenge, the Pyrenees Project. This involved summiting all one hundred and seventy-seven 3,000 meter peaks in the French/Spanish Pyrenees in a single push. The run was completely human powered and lasted eight days. Jornet covered 485 kilometers (302 miles) and over 43,000 meters (131,200 feet) of elevation gain.
The following year in 2024, Jornet completed what was considered an even more spectacular feat—Alpine Connections. Similar to the Pyrenees project, Jornet tackled some of the most iconic peaks in the Alps, connecting all eighty-two 4,000 meter peaks in 19 days without using motorized vehicles. Averaging only five hours of sleep, Jornet covered over 1200 kilometers (650 miles) and accumulated 75,344 meters (nearly 250,000 feet) of elevation gain.
Jornet explains how his 2025 States of Elevation project will continue his previous two projects in the Alps and Pyrenees the years prior, “There are two things that led me to choose this project: what I experienced in the Pyrenees and the Alps motivated me to keep exploring this dimension of long traverses with a strong physical, cognitive, and creative component. It’s definitely a continuation in that sense.”
In the States of Elevation, Jornet will be covering over a marathon per day of running on technical high altitude terrain, as well as a Tour de France stage of biking. But more than physical challenge, Jornet looks forward most to the possibility for exploration, “With the excuse of linking 14ers, it’s also about exploring the American West — the vastness of the terrain and the cultures that have lived and continue to live there, as well as a nature that is often wild and incredibly diverse, ranging from alpine areas to dense forests and deserts.”
Jornet will begin his project in early September on Colorado’s iconic Longs Peak. Stay tuned for more updates from Jornet’s project on NNormal’s blog, as well as a WhatsApp broadcast channel. The blog will feature stories, stage recaps and other content from the project. The broadcast channel will share live updates, exclusive content and alerts. Follow Jornet on his Instagram here.
Editor’s Note: Ready more articles featuring Jornet, here.
