Belgian beats record for crossing the French Alps without assistance
31/08/2023
Louis-Philippe Loncke is the Belgian explorer who has just achieved a new feat by setting the new record for an expedition crossing the Alps from Nice to Thonon-les-Bains, 425 km, on foot and completely autonomously, in 24 days.
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Belgian extreme sportsman Louis-Philippe Loncke has broken a new record and achieved another world first by crossing the French Alps unassisted in 24 days.
The 46-year-old set off from Nice, in the south of France, to reach Thonon-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva.
To complete his expedition successfully and beat the official record for this unassisted route, he took with him a minimal amount of provisions, contained in a rucksack, the weight of which was limited to 34 kilos, compared with the usual 40 to 60 kilos.
This is not the first time this Mouscron native has achieved this feat. Louis-Philippe Loncke has already raced across the Pyrenees for 700 km, always without refuelling, before tackling the Grande Traversée des Alpes (GTA), 623 km without assistance.
In 2016, he also distinguished himself by becoming the first man to cross the great salt deserts of Salar de Coipasa and Salar d'Uyunile in Bolivia on foot, from one side to the other and always completely autonomously, walking for 14 hours a day at an average altitude of 3,700 m.
Congratulations to this industrial engineer by training, who holds a master's degree in industrial management from KULeuven, for this latest superhuman feat!