Three Summits Project

1 PUSH

3 COUNTRIES

3 HIGHEST SUMMITS

103 KILOMETRES

9700 METERS ELEVATION

29 HOURS CLIMBING

5,5 HOURS DRIVING

34,5 HOURS IN TOTAL

Three highest mountains of Switzerland, France and Italy all in one push. The idea to do this linkup in the quickest pace possible came about in Summer 2018. After a failed attempt in September 2018 I dedicated the whole year to prepare for this massive combo.

Spring 2019 was very snowy in the Alps so the idea to use the quickest routes possible and make it sub 24 hours went out of the window. Normal routes are very long in terms of distance. I focused on making it in one go as quick as posible. So I kept training all summer and waited for cooler temperatures and more stable weather.

On September 18th 11am I started from the church in Zermatt. Monte Rosa and its highest summit of Dufourspitze (4634m) has a long approach and slightly technical west ridge, which makes it the crux of the whole project. The total distance from Zermatt is 46km and it took me less than 7 hours for the way up and 5 hours back down.

After driving back to Chamonix I started from Les Houches church up the Gouter route to Mont Blanc. This route is not technically difficult but the elevation gain of 3800m and distance of 36km makes it a challenge nonetheless. 6h30 later I stood on top. After 4h30 of descent I was on 82 kilometers total distance.

Quick transfer to Italian Valsavaranche and I set off for the last mountain Gran Paradiso. With accumulated fatigue I managed the last 19km and 2100m elevation in 3h45, and way back in 2h15.

More details about the project in my blog HERE