16 Peaks, 110km, 11,830m Vertical in Two Days » Explorersweb – GWC Mag

Benjamin Vedrines continues with his extreme training for the Karakoram. On March 21-22, the mountain athlete completed a long-standing project. Climbing and alpine skiing, he did a complete circuit of the Serre-Chevalier Valley in the French Alps. In two days, he scaled 16 peaks, skied 109km, and did 11,830m of elevation gain.

On day one, he summited Cretes de Peyrolle, La Gardiole, Le Grand Area, Tete Noire, Le Benoite, Crete du Chardonnet, Le Grand Galibier, and Pointe de la Mandette. He completed 47km and 5,756m elevation gain in just under 10 hours.

After what was presumably a good night’s sleep at the Galibier refuge, he climbed Pic Blanc du Galibier, Pic des Trois Eveches, Pic Ouest de Combeynot, Pic du Lac de Combeynot, Calotte des Agneaux, Pic du Rif, La Condamine and Le Prorel. That day featured 62km skiing and 6,072m of elevation gain in about 12.5 hours.

Vedrines plans to climb K2 in a day without supplementary oxygen, then paraglide down.

Vedrines on one of the 16 peaks. Photo: Benjamin Vedrines