Benjamin Védrines and Èlise Poncet set new Mont Blanc ski speed records

Mont Blanc has seen its fastest known times tumble not just once, but twice in the last 10 days, with both the female and male records to and from the church in Chamonix broken with blistering records.

France's Èlise Poncet set the ball rolling on Friday 16 May when she required just 6 hours and 54 minutes to race up the classic Grand Mulets route, via the Glacier des Bossons and Arête des Bosses to tag the 4807m summit. From here she descended to the church in just 1:20. In doing so 29-year-old improved the previous FKT, set in 2025 by America's Anna DeMonte in 7 hours 29 minutes.

Fittingly, the men's fastest known time is now also French, as of yesterday thanks to Benjamin Védrines who sprinted up and down the roof of Europe in a nigh incomprehensible time of 4 hours and 54 minutes. The 32-year-old set off from the church at 8:41 am and skinned up the mountain via Col de la Brenva which, although longer, was in condition.

Védrines battled hard against the cold and high winds, a twisted ankle and an injured eye which resulted in impaired vision and him falling on numerous occasions. Despite these difficulties, he managed to beat the previous fastest known ski time, set on 5 June 2024 by Jack Kuenzle in 4 hours 59 minutes and, above all, the FKT set by Kilian Jornet Burgada on 11 July 2013. The Catalan had set the Mont Blanc speed record on foot, stopping the clock after 4 hours 57 minutes.

It is worth noting that the times cannot and should not be compared to the letter: different dates, different routes, different conditions. As with all FKT though, these are unofficial "records" that serve as an indication as to what is humanly possibile. Speaking briefly to planetmountain after his round-trip, Védrines, who after climbing K2 in a mere 11 hours in 2024 and enchaining the Eiger, Matterhorn and Grandes Jorasses in 6 days a month ago, indicated what might be in store in the future: "I believe it’s possible to do it in less than 4 hours 30 minutes. But it’s super hard. For now, my body needs to rest!"