The Route
St. Michel Church in Chamonix marks the start and end point of the Mont-Blanc summit attempts. The Church Summit to Church Route has been first attempted in 1990 by Swiss, Pierre-André Gobet. His time 5h10m14s was a long lasting record.
Since then, many alpinist, trail runers and ski-mountaineers have trained on this route, that became a popular challenge, in an attempt to beat Gobet's record but without success.
Some have attempted both the ascent and descent while others have chosen a one-way route. The descent is much more dangerous than the ascent in any summit attempt and Mont-Blanc makes no exception.
Speed records have been set on foot, bikes and paraglider, though the skis and paraglider records include a bike component. However, some records may include a combination of climbing and running in any of the discipline one choses.
History of Speed Records
On Foot
11 July 2013 - Kilian Jornet: 4h57m (ascent and descent)
21 July 1990 - Pierre-André Gobet: 5h10m14s (ascent and descent)
On Skis
25 April 2013 - Antoine Montegani, Nicolas Anthonioz: 32mins (descent only)
30 May 2003 - Stephane Brosse, Pierre Gignoux: 5h15m (ascent and descent)
14 May 2003 - Matheo Jacquemoud: 5h05m (ascent and descent)
Paragliding
4 Sept 2013 - Nicolas Blanchard, David Bozon: 15mins (descent only)
