Alpine Connections
82 peaks in 19 days | Biggest waves | Strava strives
Welcome to the Intel series by FAW Journal. Informative roundups of the outdoor stories worth knowing.
Picks
Hands together for Deo Kao, who completed a 8,230 mile run from Cape Town, South Africa to London, UK. The gruelling plod took him 518 days and included a short stint in a slammer in South Sudan. He’s the first person to run this route, doing so to highlight the story of human migration.
You may have noticed an unusual animal making headlines this month. 4 lynxes were illegally released - and eventually re-captured - in Scotland, reigniting a national debate on re-wilding. The Last of the Wild wrote a quality piece examining what this really means for re-introducing the lost species. Check it out below:
The North Sea is returning to its glory days. Thanks to marine conservation rules, humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins and minke whales are all thriving. Grey seals, a species once at risk of disappearing from UK waters, gave birth to a record-breaking 4,000 pups last breeding season.
Spotlight
Alpine Connections
There are some projects that make you re-consider where the line is for what is physically, mentally and technically achievable in endurance sports.
Alpine Connections is one such feat. In August 2024, Kilian Jornet - the legendary Spanish trail runner and mountaineer - linked all 82 of the Alps’ +4,000m peaks in just 19 days, entirely under the steam of human-power.
Combining his expertise in trail running, mountaineering, climbing, and cycling, he linked a series of ridge lines into one continuous 1,207km route, clocking a staggering 75,344m in elevation.
87% of the time was on foot, only swapping to two wheels when needing to cover the distance between peaks.
Kilian is no stranger to pushing the boundaries. If there’s a famous ultra, odds on he’s won it. He’s taken part in almost every prestigious race there is, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, Grand Raid, Western States and Hardrock.
He spent the first 20 years of his life living in a mountain hut in the Pyrenees, where his dad was a hut keeper and mountain guide. At just five-years old, when most of us were still learning our arses from our elbows, Kilian had already climbed Aneto (3,404m), Spain’s third-highest mountain.
In 2023, Kilian was back in his childhood home to test himself with a 480km linkup of 177 +3,000m peaks, which he finished in only 8 days. Aptly named Rediscovering the Pyrenees, this was just a warm up for what was to come…
The following year, he stood at the foot of Switzerland’s Piz Bernina, the easternmost +4,000m peak in the Alps. From here, Alpine Connections would take him west across some of the most iconic mountains in Europe, including Monte Rosa (4,634m), the Matterhorn (4,478m), and Mont Blanc (4,808m), before concluding at France’s Barre des Écrins.
Spectacular though Kilian’s route was, his connection to the mountains goes beyond the summits and trails.
The effects of climate change were impossible to ignore. The Alps, renowned for their stunning glacial scenery, are experiencing rapid transformations due to rising temperatures. Global warming accelerates glacial melt and destabilises permafrost, leading to more frequent rockfalls and landslides.
“As we explore the limits of human potential, we must also recognise the limits of nature, especially in the face of climate change.”
One of the starkest examples Kilian witnessed during this project was in the Gran Paradiso Massif, which he first visited 20 years ago. Since 1990, the glaciers here have retreated up to rates of 10-12m per year.
These changes not only threaten the natural beauty and biodiversity of the region (it’s home to some 30,000 animal and 13,000 plant species), but also pose risks to the local communities that depend on them.
Kilian has always been one for thinking outside the box, from his career as a mountain athlete to launching the Kilian Jornet Foundation (KJF): a charity that campaigns to preserve fragile alpine ecosystems through research and education.
In his latest venture, he co-founded NNormal - a sustainable, technical apparel company focused on inspiring people to protect and enjoy nature.
Athletes around the world are increasingly using their platforms to play an important role in climate activism, and Kilian is leading by example. Stories like his help us to connect to places we don’t always see.
Noted
The biggest wave ever surfed?
Alessandro “Alo” Slebir may have set a new world record for riding the biggest wave ever surfed. At 108ft tall, this could top Sebastian Steudtner’s previous world record of 86ft at Nazaré, Portugal back in 2022.
The record attempt was made at Mavericks, California, but confirming whether it is in fact the tallest ever will take some time for the officials to work out. As you can imagine, Steudtner will not want to give up the bragging rights easily.
“For me, I’m happy to have ridden the biggest wave of my life,” said a modest Alo. “I’ll let other people decide what size it was.”
Sport
“If it’s not on Strava, it never happened”
Now obviously we don’t abide by this. But with 125 million users across 195 countries, Strava - “the largest sports community in the world” - is in a prime spot to tell us what is happening when it comes to global exercise habits.
Did you know that ‘Strava’ is Swedish for ‘Strive’? Here’s 3 more insights from Strava’s 2024 Year in Sport: The Trend Report…
1. Run club is the new nightclub
Findings show a huge rise in run clubs and group activities with ‘making social connections’ revealed as the top motivator for people to exercise.
There was a 59% increase in running club participation globally. Gen Z’ers were particularly keen, reporting they were 4x more likely to swap pints for pace and meet people through working out, instead of the pub.
2. Balance is replacing burnout
Perceptions of what it means to live an ‘active’ lifestyle seemed to shift. ‘Micro-movements’ were on the rise, with over 20% of all workouts being sub 20 minutes.
Interestingly, this focus on balance didn’t hold back progress. Strava still saw a 9% increase in the number of marathons, ultramarathons and century rides being logged last year.
3. Barriers are for breaking down
Boomers and Gen X set the bar, outdoing Millennials and Gen Z in mileage.
Weight training was the fastest-growing sport type among women in 2024, with a 25% growth in uploads. There was also an 11% increase in women cycling, while the share of men uploading yoga or pilates was up 15%.
Living
“Most surfers don’t know who Taro Tamai is.” says Matt Titone in Surf Shacks 079. “And despite his iconic status within the snow and outdoor community, most snowboarders don’t know who he is either.”
Taro has always taken a more humble and soulful approach to riding a board down the mountain, where the rider aspires to be in harmony with nature.
This philosophy runs deep in his surf-style snowboard brand, Gentemstick, which is a reflection of his unwillingness to choose surf or snow over the other. “It is a perfect balance of both activities and aesthetics.”
Moving from Tokyo to Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido in 1990, “Taro resides in the same building as his Gentemstick showroom and cafe, which has become a mecca for the ‘snowsurf’ movement.”
World Windows
19th century alpine art
Carl Milner was a 19th century German artist, who was best known for meticulously painting alpine landscapes. The attention to light and shadow give his work an almost photographic quality. Source: HIDDEN
I need a gentemstick now 😂😂