SAMAYA X KILIAN JORNET
KILIAN JORNET JOINS THE SAMAYA FAMILY
On the occasion of him joining the Samaya Family, Kilian Jornet tells us about his latest expedition in Nepal, his future projects in the Himalayas, France, and Norway, as well as what goes on behind the scenes to balance his foundation, training, trail running equipment brand, and family life.
You are just back from a long expedition in Nepal. What was your motivation for carrying out your project there?
Kilian Jornet: The idea for the expedition was to attempt the West Ridge of Everest in a single push in alpine style. What I like about these projects is finding myself facing great peaks, with the complexity and difficulty that altitude brings, in a style like we can do in the Alps—with light ascents starting from the last village, often in a single push or otherwise carrying all my equipment on my back, to climb the mountain without any external help, relying only on my physical and technical abilities, in the purest form possible to face a climb.
How did your ascent of the West Ridge go?
KJ: I had a fairly quick acclimatization. We settled in Namche Bazaar as a family and I was able to touch 6,700m in a day trip from Namche. Then we moved to Pheriche, at 4,300m, from where I was able to do 3 more rotations, the last one reaching almost 8,000m at the Geneva Spur. For these rotations, I would leave from Pheriche and carry my Samaya ASSAUT2 ULTRA, which I would set up at Camp 2 on the normal route. I did all my acclimatization on the normal route to head to the West Ridge on sight, which adds more emotion to the climb since you discover the path during the push. Apart from a nasty virus that kept me flat on my back for a week during acclimatization, the rest went very well and finally, on May 20, I started my attempt. Leaving from Pheriche, I went up to base camp where I spent one night. On the morning of the 21st, I left after breakfast to arrive at Camp 2 where I rested during the day in the ASSAUT2 tent. This allowed me to wait for the sun to disappear to face the climb to the West Shoulder in the night, while avoiding a major risk of avalanches and rockfall. When I was climbing at night, I avoided carrying extra gear and went as light as possible. I left Camp 2 at 5 p.m. to reach the 1,000m couloir that leads to the West Ridge. It was laborious, with hard ice and very fresh snow; it took me 10 hours! Once at the ridge, the wind was blowing hard, so I took shelter under a cornice to wait for daybreak and for the wind to drop. The ridge was in perfect condition, with hard snow. It is a very, very beautiful and varied route. It was also very nice to be all alone, when we saw the queues on the normal routes in Nepal and Tibet. Arriving at the foot of the Hornbein at 8,000m, I took a small 30-minute nap while enjoying the heat of the sun, then I started climbing the couloir. After 200m, when the couloir widened again, there were quite a few pockets of snow. I broke through one and fell about fifty meters before stopping. Seeing the conditions in that area, I finally decided to turn back. Even though I felt very good, the avalanche risk was too high for me. The descent was not simple; it started snowing heavily, wiping out my tracks. With visibility of only a few meters, I had to do the whole descent by following my GPS track from the ascent, then downclimb the long couloir in hard ice to reach my tent at Camp 2 again, after a 30-hour push. I spent the night there, then packed up all the gear and went down the following morning to base camp.
What are your criteria for choosing your gear for your various bivy projects?
KJ: I had gear for acclimatization and for Camp 2, where I wanted to be comfortable while being able to carry everything on my back, so weight and volume are very important. That's why I chose the ASSAUT2 ULTRA tent. I took a light inflatable mattress and a fairly thin sleeping bag (-15°C), so I slept with my down jackets on, which allowed me to have less weight while staying warm.
For your next expeditions, you are planning to leave with a RADICAL1 for even more minimalism and its wide opening. Do you already know where you want to take it?
KJ: Yes, during a single push in alpine style, weight is fundamental. Even if the difference between the ASSAUT2 ULTRA and the RADICAL1 is only 400g, it makes a big difference! Plus, it can allow for comfortable bivouacs in case of bad weather or wind during long link-ups.
Your bivy practice is very versatile. You practice it during both demanding expeditions and family outings. Can you tell us more about how you are passing on the bivy practice to your daughters?
KJ: We love going to the mountains with the girls, walking a bit and spending a night in a tent, listening to the sounds of the forest, the animals singing at night... It’s a great experience for everyone. We have some projects here in Norway this summer, with the Samaya2.5, which we use a lot as a family and love!
What do you have planned next?
KJ: I have a list of projects I want to carry out, but I don't yet know exactly in what order I will do them. In any case, there will be projects involving nights in the mountains, in which I will integrate the bivy, but also one-push expedition projects. I would like to attempt link-ups at very high altitude, which I imagine doing by sleeping for one or two short nights to rest. I don't know yet if I will go alone or if I will find someone who is motivated and who accepts such an enormous commitment. I also plan to return to France in August for Sierre-Zinal and the UTMB.
In parallel with these projects and the launch of NNormal, how do you manage to reconcile your training and the time you dedicate to your foundation?
KJ: I try to compartmentalize everything well. For the foundation, there is an employee who works on it every day, and then there are projects on which I am more involved and for which I also spend time each day. My mother also helps a lot and takes care of the whole education part, especially in Spain. As for NNormal, I am not alone in managing all this. We are two partners and a team of about fifteen very involved people.
