Meet the Skier Who Set a New Record on Mont Blanc

Partway through her June ascent of Mont Blanc , Anna DeMonte slipped. She was attempting to set a fastest known time (FKT) with skis via the grueling Grand Mulets route, which winds from a church in Chamonix to the summit, covering about 20 miles and over 12,000 feet of elevation gain.

Completing the route requires a deep aerobic base—and plenty of grit. For DeMonte, the latter was helpful when she lost her footing and plunged downhill. This wasn't her first setback.

Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, DeMonte has a long history of aerobic training—she swam in college and picked up competitive cycling after graduation. All the while, DeMonte experienced recurring, deep back pain, and as her interest in cycling grew, this discomfort reached a boiling point.

"One day on a training ride before a pretty big race, I just had that lightning bolt sciatic nerve pain go down my right leg," DeMonte said. "Within maybe a couple hours, my right calf and foot were numb, and I couldn't move my lower leg at all."

She had a bulging lower back disc that ruptured. DeMonte underwent surgery to free up the involved nerve and was left lying flat on her back for several weeks. Eventually, she started walking again but doubted she would pursue athletics at a competitive level after the injury. She lived in North Carolina then and figured she was ready to try something new, so she moved to Utah. There, DeMonte found skiing.

A love affair ensued. DeMonte, who skied a bit during her childhood, remembers being frustrated that she wasn't very good at first after returning to the sport as an adult in 2020, but she quickly picked up the ropes. Before long, DeMonte had developed into a full-blown mountain athlete capable of tackling objectives that blend skiing and mountaineering, like the Grand Mulets route.

"I mean, I grew up looking at a black line on the bottom of a pool every day," she said. "Skiing is so fun compared to that, and I just fell in love with it."

DeMonte and her partner, Jack Kuenzle, arrived in Chamonix this past February. In Chamonix, there are lifts skiers use to access imposing backcountry lines, but DeMonte and Kuenzle didn't feel like paying for tickets. Instead, they climbed to ski the steeps—a lot. They averaged about 20,000 uphill vertical feet a week, and when June approached, DeMonte decided she was ready to pursue a record.

The fall on the Grand Mulets route could have derailed her FKT attempt. Around the time she lost her footing, DeMonte had already considered turning back. The snow was icy and difficult to hold an edge on, particularly with narrow mountaineering skis. "I was thinking, 'This is an FKT, right?' It's supposed to be fast, and the skinning was just so slow," she said. Thankfully, DeMonte's eventual slip proved harmless despite costing her valuable time. She doubled back to grab the ski pole she dropped and kept moving.

For much of that day, it was overcast, and DeMonte thought the ski descent would also be unpleasant without heat from the sun, but as she neared the summit a few hours after falling, the sky turned blue. When DeMonte dropped in, she discovered a mix of slightly powdery conditions and, lower down, sun-warmed snow.

DeMonte didn't glance at her watch too much as she skied downhill. "I was more just like, 'Oh, I love skiing.' This is so worth it. It was worth the terrible way up," she said. When she returned to the church in Chamonix, she set a new women's ski FKT, having completed Mont Blanc's Grand Mulets route in seven hours and 29 minutes, just a few minutes shy of Hillary Gerardi's overall women's FKT.

When I spoke with DeMonte, she was still in Europe, living out of a van and considering a speed push on the Matterhorn, which, given the time of year, wouldn't involve skiing. For DeMonte, that’s fine, but she's excited for the snow to start falling again. "The Matterhorn seems like a fun option for now," she said. "As far as skiing goes, I definitely have my sights on going to Denali next year.

Related: Timberline Lodge Announces Closing Day for Longest Ski Season in U.S.

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