Kilian Jornet Ends Season with Switzerland Win

Suunto athlete Kilian Jornet ended his ski mountaineering season with a victory in Switzerland at his second Patrouille Des Glaciers with team Bon Mardion and Matheo Jacquemot last weekend. The race starts in Zermat and concludes in Verbier, covering more than 4,000 meters altitude difference. Though the Swiss team started off in the lead, Jornet and his team launched their attack and pulled ahead halfway up through the first ascent. Jornet’s team was in the lead when the race had to be cut short due to avalanche danger. He has also won races Pierra Menta and Mezzalama, a feat only three other men have ever achieved.

Kilian Jornet hits the PierraMenta

Image from www.pierramenta.com

The Pierra Menta is one of the toughest and most important races of the winter season, and where the best skiers of the moment meet up. It is a team race which is run in four stages from March 15-18th in the French town of Arêches-Beaufort.

Suunto Athlete, Kilian Jornet and his close friend March Pinsach teamed up to cover a total of more than 10,000 meters of ascent during the four days of competition.

After a very good start to the season and a few days before the start of PierraMenta, Jornet told us that: “The start of the season was perfect. The results couldn’t have been better and I have felt really good in all the races. In the last two weeks I have been training to get ready for the second part of the season, in which races are longer and more technical. Good weather conditions have enabled me to do sound mountain training, on technical routes in Mont Blanc, Aguille Verte, the Tacul, Tour Ronde and Buet. Last week I trained really hard a total of 30h and 20.000m. Now it’s time for me to rest and arrive feeling fresh on Thursday. Besides this, last week Marc Pinsach came to my house in Chamonix so that we could prepare the race together, especially the technical stretches and the descents.”

Kilian himself says how delighted he is to race alongside his great friend Marc Pinsach: “After winning the race 3 times (together with Florent Troillet and Didier Blanc) it is a great pleasure to run with a close friend this year. It’s a boost to my motivation. The goal is not to win the race, since there are some very strong teams, but to try and finish as far ahead as possible. Marc will be a great champion in forthcoming years and it is always highly motivating to give a hand to those who are coming up behind you. Florent Troillet did the same for me four years ago”.

All the race details are here: www.pierramenta.com

If you would like to keep up on all of Kilian's adventures, you can follow him:

WEB: www.kilianjornet.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/kilianjornet
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/kilianj

What Kilian Jornet is up to in 2012

We're excited to see that Suunto Athlete Kilian Jornet is planning another big year of running in 2012. Here's his latest plan for hitting the trails (after the snow season ends, of course - Kilian is off to Mount Etna for the Ski Mountaineering Trophy World Cup in Sicily next week!)

"This year I wanted to do different things, after many years of doing the same races, and wanted to seek new goals, new discoveries."

Here's his schedule, with a few comments from Kilian on each:

May 12: TRANSVULCANIA 83km. (Canary Islands-Spain) A career run that I wanted to compete, on an island paradise (!)and this year with an exceptional level ... but it is only 1 week after the PDG run!

May 20: Zegama 42km. (Euskadi - Spain) / A Classic - this will be the 4th time I have participated. Without doubt one of the essential (in my opinion with di Mont Giir Sierre Zinal i) Great Environment!

June 23: Western States 100. 100M (California USA) The 3rd participation for me, despite being a career that suits my conditions I want to return for the environment and to stay after in the little known Californian mountains.

June 30: Kilian's Classic: (Font Romeu Pyrenees) more than a race, a party of Trail running, with running friends, and a chance to show you my country.

July 20 to 22: VK and SkyRace Dolomites. 2 km and 21km (Dolomites - Italy) I ran this 3 years ago and it left me a very good taste, a spectacular region and a beautiful career.

July 28: Speedgoat. 50 km. (Utah - USA) Off to the United States again to spend a month there to discover and run by its mountains in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada.

August 19: Pikes Peak Marathon, 42km (Colorado - USA) An American Classic, the 3rd oldest marathon in the USA and the 1st mountain race. It felt like a long race last time!

August 26: KIMA, 50km (Valtellina - Italy) One of the great, the first Skyraces and one of the more technical. Pure Skyrunning!

October 14: Kinabalu Climbathon 21km (Borneo - Malaysia) Short but the hardest, 2300m up and down technical trails. This year I return to Asia for this beautiful race.

Oct. 19: Grand Raid Reunion, 170km (Reunion Island) The 20th anniversary probably holds many surprises. How to describe this race? Impossible, people, environment, landscapes, nature, hardness ... a dream

Follow These Athletes On Movescount.com

Do you love keeping up with your favorite athlete? Then Movescount.com powered by Suunto is the thing. With Movescount.com you can follow some of the most interesting, accomplished athletes and see how they train. Movescount.com allows you to get tips and become part of growing online sports community. Want to know what makes two-time Leadville champ Rebecca Rusch tick? Or what the workouts are like for XTERRA Champion Conrad Stoltz? We have a list of some top athletes who are on Movescount.com and sharing their moves.

Rebecca Rusch: www.movescount.com/members/RebaRusch

Conrad Stoltz: www.movescount.com/members/Conrad_Stoltz

Kilian Jornet: www.movescount.com/members/kilianjornet

Daron Rahlves: www.movescount.com/members/Drahlves

Julian Carr: www.movescount.com/members/juliancarr

Kim Havell: www.movescount.com/members/kimhavell

So who are you going to start moving with?