I used the variant route of Jason B. https://www.openrunner.com/r/9495592
His route was interesting because he did it light and fast in 15 days and didn't require to go down in villages very often to get food or rest. This is why this route is mainly shorter. Underway I took 24h to climb Pico Aneto. This means I did somehow 3 world first records:
a) First crossing of the Pyrenees unsupported and via the HRP.
b) First unsupported ascent of Pico Aneto from sea level
c) First Sea-to-Summit-to-Sea of the Pyrenees unsupported.
Report from my blog: https://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2020/09/hrp-2020-crossing-pyrenee…. Pasted.
· Start : Hendaye (France) – 26/07/2020 – 13h00
· End : Banyuls-sur-Mer – 06/09/2020 – 18h00
· Summit Pyrenees / - Pico Aneto (3404m) – 19/08/2020 (25th day of the expedition)
· Duration: 43 calendar days (42 days and 5 hours)
· D+ : + and - 44.000m (to be adjusted when getting deeper into each single day, but a minimum)
· Total Distance: +700 km (to be adjusted when getting deeper into each single day, Mariano says at least 720km)
Daily Distance and Daily Cummulative ascent will come as the equipment list and detailed food.
· Prestigious summits: Mount Aneto (3404m), Mount Carlit (2921m), Mount Canigou (2784m)
· Nights in a tent: 42, Night in a refuge/hut/cabana : 0
· Weight start LP Loncke : 76,3kgs
· Weight end LP Loncke : 65,2kgs (-11,1 kgs)
· Weight backpack start : 49kgs (32kgs food, 15kgs gas + equipment, 2L water)
· Weight backpack at Gavarnie : 33kgs (13/08/2020)
· Weight backpack end : 14kgs
· Weight backpack median : 31,5 kgs
· Consumed Calories 120.000 Cal (food) 85.000 Cal (body mass loss) = 205.000 Cal of energy used during the expedition
Remarks:
Garmin was hacked so I had no Inreach until Elizondo where I met a Brit who had unlimited 4G so I could log and setup my account.
I've photos and videos + some parts of the tracks on Mapy.cz app to prove I've been there. Also a friend who dropped me at the start and many people who saw me suffering my the heavy pack. The pandemic had the advantage of having many people in the Pyrenees in 2020. I crossed people every single day.
Film will be done in the near future.
RULES for my unsupported:
* Never resupply in food or gas
* Never buy, ask or receive anything. So when I broke a trekking pole I had to cut a tree to make one. Only accept smiles.
* Always sleep in the tent, never a hut. Just hide when not allowed to camp.
* Avoid roads on the route, well the Jason B. route is great for it.
* I charged 3 times I think my battery pack when doing a break, loosing hours but the battery pack is necessary to charge the Inreach+GoPro.
WARNING:
You must be ready to die. Walking with a heavy pack is extremely dangerous in the mountains. If you fall frontward in the rocks, you will not be able to stop yourself.
Press(TV, media...)
https://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2004/07/everest-bueren-challenge-…
Also thanking Guillaume Arthus for his chat and videos to make me understand how the terrain can be difficult at times.
Comments
Please note that Louis-Philippe LONCKE recharged his device's battery sometimes during his awesome adventure. This wouldn't officially classify his FKT as unsupported. However, given the extreme effort he did and the extraordinary duration of it, we have made the decision of doing an exception here.
Congratulations!
Thank you Carlo.
I'd like to add few info for the curious.
- I hope to edit the film by end 2021. We currently work on the film of the "training" while I did +9050m and -9050m on the sleepest stairs of Belgium with a 15kgs pack. It took me 65h30 min including 5h and 4h sleep on respectively night 1 and 2. That ended on 21/07/2020. I knew I was ready to prepare my pack and move to the start of the HRP.
- Why I charged the battery a few times? Well because on such a long duration, you need juice to power the Garmin Inreach+Gopro+My phone. My phone was used for the first few days until Elizando. I've tracked a bit with it in the app MAPY.cz. Carlo has reviewed that data as well. We can really see I'm slow. Everyone was passing me on the HRP at the start and until 2/3 of the distance or so. I had a solar panel but charging the GOAL ZERO Venture 70 is slow, needs good sun and even then it would take 6-7 hours I think or more. To the the attempt without recharging would be possible: no solar panel, many batteries and take no Gopro, straps and you can save weight here.
- In Andorra I was stranded for 36 hours due to non stop thunderstorms. I stayed low in the Valley.
- I lost many hours cutting 2 trees to make a wooden trekking pole as I broke a new carbon one at the very beginning.
All in all, I think faster is possible. Aim 35 days and luck and long walking hours. No chatting with people on the trail. Also lighter equipment. I finished my food rationing it in the last 2 weeks and got zero food left around midday on the last day. Eating blueberries is great but it takes time to collect. Take 25kgs of food try to have a pack of max 40 kgs at the start and you will be way faster than me in the ascents and also faster and safer in the descents.
But you need to have experience and know how much food you need over a long duration.