On October 4, 2025, trail running G.O.A.T (greatest of all-time), Kilian Jornet, completed arguably his most ambitious mountain project to date—The States of Elevation. This project involved connecting seventy-two 14ers (14,000-foot peaks) in the US lower forty-eight states (read background about the project here) by solely human power. After thirty-one days, Jornet biked and ran a total of 3,197 miles (5,145 kilometers) and accumulated 403,690 feet (123,045 meters) of elevation gain. Jornet summited 14ers in Colorado, Washington and California. Featured photo courtesy: Nick Danielson.
Community first
“Community is strongest when it’s built naturally, through shared experiences in nature.”
At its core, Jornet’s project was about engaging with and inspiring local trail running communities across the US. Over the course of Jornet’s journey, he was joined by many of the top trail runners in the US. “My plan was to keep things informal and organic—sharing trails with other athletes or just chatting with people I met along the way,” said Jornet.
Photo: Andy Cochrane
Sage Canaday, professional trail runner and coach, had to say about his experiences competing with Jornet over the years and joining him for a section of his States of Elevation project, “I’ve had the honor of being in some of the same races with Kilian and finishing a distant 2nd to him! Most notably The Rut 50km, 2014 SkyRunning World Series final and the 2019 Pikes Peak Marathon. His downhill technical speed and savvy is like that of a mountain goat. He truly seems to find his element in the most rugged mountains and can seemingly flow with nature. While pacing with him during States of Elevation we completed the last three summits of the Nolans 14 line in the middle of the night. It was blowing wind, rain and snow and near freezing in the dark! He pushed through some major sleep deprivation, but despite that he still chatted with me about the landscape and what it was like to live in the local area.”
Canaday spoke more broadly on how Jornet’s States of Elevation has inspired the trail running community in the US and increased awareness of environmental stewardship, “I think this project showcases and highlights how our sport of ultra-trail-mountain running can be such a powerful connection to nature and environmental stewardship. Each community (local geographically, but also within the sport) that he travels through can be empowered and inspired to cherish and protect their natural areas more through such awareness and documentation. It’s inspiring to follow that sense of adventure and exploration, but it also hopefully gets people thinking about environmental responsibility for future trail running generations to come.”
Hans Troyer, professional trail runner, shared his experience of running Pikes Peak, a.k.a. America’s Mountain with Jornet during the States of elevation, “It was an incredible experience. I read Kilian’s book just a few years ago and he made my obsession with running make sense to me. He talks about how much value he finds in big projects and training and I feel the same way. Being able to help in a project like this was a dream come true. Kilian is such a talented athlete, and it was epic to see him at work.”
Watch Troyer’s video documenting his run up Pikes Peak with Jornet here.
Photo: Andy Cochrane
Chasing discovery
While Jornet has climbed mountains across the world, including peaks in the Himalayas, Alps, Pyrenees, and many others, he had limited exposure to the US’s most tallest peaks prior to this project, “I’ve had the chance to run on some of the 14ers in the past, mostly in Colorado and California, but I wouldn’t say I got to know them deeply—this project was partly about that discovery.”
In 2023 and 2024, Jornet completed large mountain projects (the first in his home mountains of the Pyrenees and next in the Alps). Jornet compares how the States of Elevation fits into his current three-year streak of major mountain projects, “Each project has its own soul. The U.S. challenge brought the wilderness, different terrain, higher altitudes, and longer distances between ranges. In the Pyrenees it was more rediscovering the summits I climbed as a child. The Alps was more about finding a logical line of the mountains that saw me grow as a mountaineer. But the philosophy is similar to what I’ve done in the past: moving through the mountains in a fast and light style, with deep respect and curiosity.”
In addition to Jornet’s mountain projects, he’s regarded as one of the greatest trail racers of his era. He’s won many of the most respected trail races in the world at a variety of distances, including UTMB, Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run, Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, Pikes Peak Marathon, Sierre Zinal, Zegama Aizkorri, among many others.
Jornet speaks on balancing his draw to competition with his passion for mountain adventure projects, “I think it’s something I’ve been doing throughout my career as I’ve always liked this side of exploration besides competition. To me, these personal projects are a part of growth in my journey as an athlete. Racing still has a place—it pushes performance and connects me with the community—but projects like this allow for more exploration, freedom, and impact. The balance between racing and projects will shift year to year depending on where my energy and curiosity are.”
Photo: Nick Danielson
Lasting impacts
“I’m really happy to have made it this far. When I started this project, it was just an idea on a map — something I thought could be great, but I didn’t know if it would be possible. Now I see that it was, and beyond the numbers, it’s been a true adventure —a way to discover places that have become very special to me.” —Kilian Jornet on finishing The States of Elevation
Jornet’s States of Elevation will be remembered as not only one of the most exceptional feats of endurance in his career, but one of the most extreme to have ever been recorded on US soil. Jornet averaged fifteen hours of movement per day (including five days with zero sleep), spending 60% of his time on foot and completing the equivalent of several Tour de France’s worth of biking—the majority of which at high altitudes.
There were many highlights for Jornet throughout the project. Jornet had to say about his time in Colorado, which encompassed the vast majority of his time and peaks (56 of the 72 peaks), “One of the things that has struck me most about Colorado isn’t just the altitude or the terrain, it’s the sheer wilderness. Summits rise from ranges sometimes so remote that hour after hour, valley after valley, you see nothing but untouched forests and wild ridgelines, with not a road or building in sight. This kind of vast, unconstructed landscape is humbling and makes the States of Elevation project feel truly special.”
Photo: Nick Danielson
Jornet also battled extreme winds on California’s Mount Shasta, “These were in my top three craziest winds on a mountain summit,” said Jornet, as well as fresh snow on his final peak, Mount Rainier. Additionally, Jornet set a Fastest Known Time (FKT) record on Norman’s 13 Traverse in the Sierra Nevada, which he admits was one of his favorite sections of the entire project.
In addition to Jornet’s incredible physical feat, the Kilian Jornet Foundation hosted several events for local communities across the US with themes of restoration and reconnection to the land during the course of the project. These events included two trail restoration days and four Running Minds community run events that promoted land-stewardship, boosting curiosity on sustainability and building community (learn more about running minds events here). Over 500 people participated in Jornet’s events during The States of Elevation project.
