A French Alps native broke the fastest known time to summit Mont Blanc.
In just five hours and two minutes – 10 minutes faster than the previous record – endurance athlete Iris Pessey climbed from base to summit at Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps. Her summit of the 4,806-meter peak set a new speed record, outpacing any woman who had climbed Mont Blanc before her.
Immediately after reaching the summit, the 34-year-old paraglided from the summit back to Chamonix. The ascent and flight took a combined five hours and 34 minutes, setting another fastest time among women.
Pessey’s journey began at 3:30 in the morning at the Chamonix Church. Her route took her over the Grand Mulets and the Bosses Ridge on her way to the summit. After climbing more than 3,800 meters of elevation gain, her five-hour and two-minute climb surpassed the previous record held by American climber Hillary Gerardi, who completed the ascent in five hours and 12 minutes in 2023.
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“At the time of arrival, it’s not the timing I was thinking of,” Pessey explained in an Instagram post. “I’m mostly feeling relief and gratitude for everyone who helped me build this project. Because at the end, this adventure was never an individual story: it was always a shared adventure.”
The French mountaineer’s extraordinary performance came after over two years of planning and preparation. She had spent a great deal of time analyzing the route and assessing its dangers. She had even carried out weather analyses of the mountain every three hours for multiple months, according to her post.
French Alps, Born and Raised
Mont Blanc was a familiar face for Pessey, who grew up in the French Alps. At a young age, she became serious about biathlon, but switched to skiing after she found she “really sucked at shooting,” according to an interview with her sponsor, Scott Sports. At 23, Pessey moved to the U.S.A., where she skied at the University of Vermont.
Today, Pessey lives “mainly on the road.” She balances traveling to races with coaching the Great Britain biathlon team in the winter. Alongside her passion for skiing, mountaineering, and setting fastest known time records, Pessey enjoys surfing, running, and paragliding.
“And I always like going back to my home mountains,” Pessey explained in the interview with Scott Sports. After returning to her home in the French Alps to conquer Mont Blanc, she will leave with a new world record.
