What happens when the world’s greatest mountain athlete pushes beyond human limits?
(A team of physiologists led by Dr. Jesús Alvarez followed him during part of the adventure to collect data and physiological samples. )
Enter Dr. Jesús Álvarez-Herms. This guy is Kilian’s personal detective, uncovering all the secrets of how his body works. Blood tests, muscle tone checks, pupil reaction—yeah, they’re even checking his eyeballs. And this isn’t just for fun; they’re tracking every tiny bit of Kilian’s physiological response to see how a human body can keep performing at this level for so long.”
Alpine Connection: https://youtu.be/auTMrbOBWLM
6,000 Calories a Day!: https://youtu.be/gMEFElqoNwE
Now, here’s where things get interesting. Most people, if they tried to do what Kilian does, would probably collapse after, like, an hour, right? But not Kilian. This man’s body adapts like you wouldn’t believe. Dr. Álvarez-Herms found that even after pushing his body to the absolute max—think levels of fatigue that would give most of us a major ‘nope’ moment—Kilian’s still able to pull off these super technical climbing moves. *While exhausted.
Project summary: ALPINE CONNECTIONS
Stages 1-4Kilian began his challenge in Switzerland, climbing iconic peaks such as Piz Bernina (4,049 m) and Weissmies (4,017 m), facing difficult weather conditions from the start.
Stages 5-9In the heart of the Alps, in the Valais region, Kilian connected numerous peaks, including the Weisshorn (4,506 m) and the Dom des Mischabels (4,545 m), in a series of highly technical stages, including the legendary Spaghetti Tour.
Stages 10-14The last stages took him to the Mont Blanc area, where Kilian crowned some of the highest and most iconic peaks of the massif, such as Mont Blanc (4,808 m) and Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m). These final stages were the longest and most technically demanding.
Stages 15 and 16The last part of the project was in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), connecting in a long cycling stage with the Parc National des Écrins, where the last two summits of the project are located, the Dôme de Neige des Écrins (4,015 m) and the Barre des Écrins (4,102 m).
2 peaks over 4,000 metres in 3 countries (Switzerland, France and Italy).
18 days of activity and 1 day of rest: Kilian rested for one day due to fatigue and bad conditions in the mountains.
16 stages with an average of 17 hours of activity per stage.
1,207 kilometres with 75,344 m ascent in 267:45:16 hours of activity.
5h 17 minutes of sleep on average