Hillary Gerardi’s Mont Blanc FKT Was About So Much More Than Speed

Zoë Rom
·3 min read

This article originally appeared on Trail Runner

The Mont Blanc massif looms large over the Chamonix valley. The summit, Western Europe's tallest, reaches 15,777 feet above sea level, and the mountain's shoulders sprawl into Switzerland, Italy and, France. Mont Blanc's snowcapped ridge dominates the skyline of its surrounding towns and villages, capturing the imaginations of many a mountain athlete.

"Living in Chamonix, you're looking at Mont Blanc all the time. It's such an emblematic summit," says Hillary Gerardi, a professional mountain runner for Black Diamond, who grew up in the U.S. but lives in Chamonix, France.

Gerardi, 35, has long been big in the skyrunning scene, with wins at the 2021 Marathon du Mont-Blanc 90K, 2018 Tromso Skyrace, and 2018 Skyrunner World Series. Her mountain movement isn't limited to running, though, and Gerardi set the first and Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Chamonix to Zermatt Haute Route Ski Traverse in 2021.

Hillary Gerardi in Chamonix Mont-blanc FKT
(Photo: Davina Montaz-Rosset)

Mountain Movement

Gerardi's love for exceptionally difficult mountain travel was forged in New Hampshire, where she worked in Appalachian Mountain Club huts and spent summers traversing the rocky and rooty Appalachian Trail (AT). After graduating from Middlebury College, she and her now husband Brad Carlson moved to the French Alps to fully flesh out her alpine skill set with technical climbing and ski mountaineering. At her European racing debut, she won a 12-pound leg of prosciutto. She was officially hooked on trail racing.

Gerardi has been competing internationally for years and found herself increasingly drawn to the legendarily fast times on her hometown peak. Trail legends Kilian Jornet and Emilie Forsberg (7:53:12, set in 2018) previously held the Mont Blanc FKTs, and the stout times and multidisciplinary skill set required made the challenge even more alluring for Gerardi.

Doug Mayer, author of The Race that Changed Running: The Inside Story of UTMB and a close friend of Gerardi's, who also fell in love with running on the AT before moving to explore new heights in Chamonix, says her achievement is extraordinary even in a community of athletes know for their outlier achievements.

"Mont Blanc is the highest summit in Western Europe, and it's technically challenging. It's about as iconic a peak as you can get. The FKT is one that also breaks down walls between mountaineering and trail running, so it's both creative and difficult to accomplish--you need a wide range of skill sets and to break Emilie Forsberg's record, Hillary needed to be damn fast and strong and technically at the top of her game. It's the purest definition of badass that I have seen in quite some time," says Mayer.

"For the trail running community, this route is one that merges all kinds of challenges. You shouldn't go near it without being a strong technical climber. It's an FKT that combines a wide range of skills and disciplines. This is a multidimensional FKT," he adds.

After ascending the peak with training partner Mimmi Kotka last season, the seed of the FKT was planted: Gerardi was determined to go for it. She was motivated by having a fast time to beat and challenged by the demanding and ever-changing conditions on the mountain.

RELATED: David Hedges Sets New Nolan's 14 Fastest Known Time

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