Kilian Jornet designated by National Geographic as Adventurer of the Year.

Posted by mayayo oxigeno on February 12, 2014 in kilian jornet, kilian jornet aconcagua, kilian jornet adventurer of the year, kilian jornet elbrus, kilian jornet everest, kilian jornet matterhorn, kilian jornet mont blanc, kilian jornet summit, kilian jornet summits, kilian jornet summits of my life, national geogrpahic, salomon running, seb montaz, skyrunning, skyrunning videos, SMOL, summits of my life, trail running, trail running spain, trail running spain 2012 | 4 Comments

Kilian Jornet has been designated as “Adventurer of the Year 2014” by the famous American magazine National Geographic. In an open voting procedure which recorded the highest number of votes in the history of the award, Jornet was awarded the prize for the milestones achieved within the scope of the Summits of My Life project.

Kilian Jornet: Adventurer of the year National Geographic. Image: National Geographic.

“Being designated adventurer of the year by National Geographic is important to me. It is an acknowledgement from the publication I have read since I was very young which shares the same values that I hold dear: nature, adventure… The most exciting aspect of this prize is that it is awarded by the general public. Feeling that what I do can inspire others and drive them to go out and fulfil their dreams is truly motivating and important,” said Kilian Jornet.

The famous American magazine National Geographic has designated Kilian Jornet as “Adventurer of the Year 2014” for the records he set during the Summits of My Life project and for popularizing skyrunning and mountain sports. Jornet competed against thirteen candidates for the votes of the magazine readers, all of them nominated for their work as explorers and disseminators of adventure culture. During this edition, more than 75,000 votes were recorded, the highest number reached during the nine years of existence of this trophy.

“I’m very happy about winning this prize. It’s a great honour. I don’t run or set these records to win recognition or prizes, but I must say, it’s really good to know there is a prize in which people have voted for me, and even more when they are readers of a publication such as National Geographic.” stated Jornet.

National Geographic designated Jornet as an example of the adventurous spirit in the purest sense of the word, by demonstrating on each occasion that obstacles are meant to be overcome. According to the magazine, the most evident example is the records he set during the Summits of My Life project. In 2013, Jornet beat the Mont Blanc record with a time of 04h57 and the Matterhorn with 2h52, improving the previous records by 15 and 30 minutes respectively. National Geographic also highlighted the popularization and visibility that Kilian Jornet has brought to skyrunning and mountain sports.

During the open voting process along with thirteen other candidates, Jornet obtained the highest number of endorsements. Many adventurers have received this prestigious prize, such as the skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who won the prize in 2013 as the first man to break the sound barrier and the freefall record by jumping from the stratosphere.

Jornet travelled to New York this morning to collect the prize, which was awarded during the Morning programme broadcast by the American channel CBS. Before collecting the prize, Jornet said: “Being designated adventurer of the year by National Geographic is very important to me. It is an acknowledgement from the publication I have read since I was very young which shares the same values that I hold dear: nature, adventure… The most exciting aspect of this prize is that it is awarded by the general public. For this reason I would like to thank all those who voted for me and all those who have supported me since I became involved in this sport. Feeling that what I do can inspire others and drive them to go out and fulfil their dreams is truly motivating and important”.

Kilian Jornet Summits of my life project

In 2014, the athlete wants to continue with the Summits of My Life project, by trying to establish records on Mt. McKinley (6186m), Mt. Aconcagua (6959m) and Mt. Elbrus (5642m). The project is scheduled to end in 2015 with an attempt to climb and descend Mt. Everest (8848m). Jornet will try to beat the unassisted and shortest time records, taking his inspiration as always from the values of life and the mountain, the same values that have also allowed him to be designated as “Adventurer of the Year”.

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KILIAN JORNET, A  LONG AND VERY PERSONAL INTERVIEW.

Having shared quite some time with Kilian over the years, we have enjoyed watching him grow to set new personal challenges day by day, eventually becoming a global adventure icon along the way. As recently as this autumn we had the rare luxury nowadays of sharing a long personal interview with Kilian out at La Pedriza Natural Park, just 50k from Madrid. Kilian had just finished a solo fun run and scrambling around the area, noted for its beauty and climbing routes.

We shared views on the personal beliefs and philosophoy of such great icons of running or mountaneering, such as Zatopek or Bonatti. We discussed the beauty and the ugliness that comes, we debated on trail running as a future olympic sport and much more. See it all below in two parts (in spanish, sorry, mates)

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FURTHER INFO ABOUT TRAIL RUNNING IN SPAIN. 

• Carrerasdemontana.com: Leading trail running online in Spain, since 2007
• Our articles on Spain´s  trail races & trail runners in Spain for 2013 
• See the news on spain´s mountain races for 2014
• Results key Trail Races Spain & others

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Info written by Mayayo Oxígeno for Trailrunningspain.com