On Saturday, April 25, 2026, the margin between history and almost-history on Mont Blanc came down to just two minutes. French ski mountaineers Mathéo Jacquemoud, 35, and Samuel Equy, 29, completed the round trip from the church of Chamonix to the summit of Mont Blanc and back in 4 hours, 41 minutes and 24 seconds, setting a new ski and overall fastest known time for the iconic route. Their performance lowered the previous mark, set by Italy’s William Boffelli on May 31, 2025, by exactly 120 seconds.
The numbers are almost absurd: roughly 31 kilometers round trip, 3,800 meters of vertical gain, a start in running shoes with skis strapped to their backs, a summit at 4,806 meters, then a full-speed ski descent and trail run back through Chamonix. What takes many strong mountaineers two days, Jacquemoud and Equy compressed into a single morning.
They left the church shortly