THE NIGHT WAS SHORT, AND I WENT OUT EARLY TO RUN IN THE MOUNTAINS again. Right by our house, I took a narrow, steep path among wet rocks and fallen branches, that led me away from the fjords and into the mountains, to the ground where tall grasses and insects don’t bother you, where only the rocks and a few plants dare to live. A fine rain hung in the sky, and the ridge I wanted to climb was playing hide-and-seek with the fog.
It was an easy ridge. According to the book of reviews I had at home, it was a Norwegian grade IV, which meant it was terrain I could normally move over with ease and skill. It was one of the few simple ridges near home that I still hadn’t done, and since I had to relax a little before the next race, I made the most of that stupid day by exploring it. My feet slipped on wet rocks, but I kept going since I could hold on well with my hands. The ridge narrowed until it became a sharp blade like a knife, and the stone, not terribly stable, didn’t seem like it wanted to be my friend. I continued along the edge. The wind and rain buffeted me back and forth, and after a while I asked myself what the hell I was doing up there. I had just gotten back from Everest, but a mountain just over 1,000 meters was reminding me that every mountain, large or small, decides whether or not to offer us the dance we want.
THAT SATURDAY, I PINNED A NUMBER ON MYSELF AGAIN AND RAN MY first paved half marathon. It was an uphill race along a road.
On our way home in the car, Emelie took out a piece of paper and started writing down all the races we wanted to run that summer. Since we realized we had a free weekend, we considered the peaks we wanted to climb and the journeys we’d like to take. When we went to bed, there was no blank space left on the paper on either side—the margins were full of tiny handwritten notes, with names of peaks, routes, and races, and so many ideas that maybe we’d never have time for them all.
We agreed that it was possible that one summer or year, or maybe our entire lives, wouldn’t be long enough. But we decided it was worth giving it a try.
Unless an avalanche, a rock, or old age comes for me first, I’ll keep climbing mountains, in love with that naked feeling of lightness. I’ll keep on moving until my body’s resources are spent and it can’t keep up with my mind anymore. I’m convinced that the best time is always now, and the best memory is always tomorrow.
A SUNBEAM CAME INTO THE BEDROOM, NOT KNOCKING TO ASK PERMISSION, and a gentle gust of wind moved the curtains. I turned over to try to keep sleeping, but it was already too late. I stretched out my arm and, disappointed, found only a wrinkled sheet. I lazed in bed for a while, shaking off sleep by gradually stretching.
On the nightstand, the clock said six in the morning, and through the window I glimpsed a bright, blue sky. The wind tried to stir the curtains again and filtered in, bringing a gust of fresh air and the scent of spring forests. When I got up, I felt my joints creak a little and noticed my legs felt dry and heavy.
The sun took over the room completely, and outside the grass, moistened by the overnight frost, gave off a youthful breath. The shirt and pants I’d worn for yesterday’s race still lay on a chair by the window. I gave them a sniff and decided I hadn’t sweated too much. I put on the pants, and as I pulled the T-shirt over my head, I heard the door open and a sprightly voice say:
“What’s up? Shall we go for a run?”
About the Author
KILIAN JORNET is the best mountain athlete in the world. For the past fifteen years he has dominated the ski-mountaineering and trail-running scene, winning all major championships and races.
He grew up in a mountain hut in the Spanish Pyrenees, and the mountains have always been his playground—whether he is running, climbing, or skiing. As a multidisciplinary athlete, he also holds speed records in mountains around the world, including a double ascent to Mount Everest.
Nowadays, Kilian lives in Norway, where he keeps exploring his limits in mountain sports and inspiring a large community with movies, books, and digital content.
Kilian has also become a climate advocate who is working to raise awareness about the need to protect our environment.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Kilian Jornet
Run or Die
Summits of My Life
Copyright
Title-page photograph: Sébastien Montaz-Rosset
Mountain icon: pne | Adobe Stock
ABOVE THE CLOUDS. Copyright © 2020 by Kilian Jornet. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Translation by Charlotte Whittle
Cover design © Faceout Studio
Cover image © Lymbus Life; additional imagery: © Stocksy and Shutterstock
Originally published as Res és impossible in Spain in 2018 by Ara Llibres.
First HarperOne hardcover published 2020
FIRST EDITION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jornet, Kilian, 1989– author.
Title: Above the clouds : how I carved my own path to the top of the world / Kilian Jornet ; translation by Charlotte Whittle.
Other titles: Res és impossible. English
Description: First edition. | San Francisco : HarperOne, 2020 | Originally published in Spain under the title: Res és impossible. | Translated from Spanish.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020008219 (print) | LCCN 2020008220 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062965035 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780062965042 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780062965059 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Jornet, Kilian, 1989– | Mountaineers–Spain–Biography. | Athletes–Spain–Biography.
Classification: LCC GV199.92.J67 A313 2020 (print) | LCC GV199.92.J67 (ebook) | DDC 796.522092 [B]–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008219
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008220
* * *
Digital Edition AUGUST 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-296505-9
Version 07082020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-296503-5
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