After the fjords of Norway and Nepal, Ruben Chiajese is now preparing to climb the Corsican mountains for the GR20. For this new adventure, the athlete, videographer, photographer, and content creator from Nice is going alone, accompanied by his camera, his drone, and his best hiking shoes to face what he describes as “180 km of rocks, sweat, silence.”
It all begins when Ruben falls into a depression. To get out of this unfortunate situation, he takes up running and quickly sets goals for himself. Surfing, running, trail running—Ruben strings together sports outings and documents his progress on social media. Thanks to this, the routine gradually fades away.
The GR20 was one of the first goals set, yet Norway and Nepal presented themselves much earlier. Today, these projects have allowed him to travel and discover new cultures but above all to approach the GR20 with more ease. Indeed, once perched at over 4,600 meters altitude to surf on e-foil on a frozen lake in Nepal or even at night to do the same under the northern lights in Norway, these 180 km will be another step.
Corsica, the GR20 his new playground
After his challenges in all corners of the globe, Ruben has now chosen to stay within the mainland. Initially, the Mercantour was supposed to be his playground only, he found that “it was seen and seen again, I wanted something a little more out of the ordinary.” The project was born nine months ago, nine months of organization, sponsorship hunting, team building. Yet, despite this preparation, the athlete finds himself going alone. An additional challenge that does not scare him; on the contrary, he thinks “this will allow me to detach from what I have done before like e-foil.”
Self-taught, the athlete runs two to three times a week alternating basic running and trail. He plans his training according to his desires without following a program or a coach’s instructions. Sport now occupies a major part of his daily life, he notices that “before I used to train depending on my free time, now it’s the other way around.”
The GR20 represents an adventure of ten days, sixteen stages: “sure it will be very physical, some stages will have to be doubled but for this project to come to light, I had no other choice.” The Nice native, however, reveals that this ambitious journey will still require ten kilometers of walking per day and no less than 1,500 meters of positive elevation gain.
At the end of this journey, Ruben Chiajese does not plan to stop there. He plans to release a documentary on all platforms and perhaps even at sports festivals. He wants this documentary to be human, immersive, a true travel narrative to experience the project as he lived it. The young man also plans to write a book recounting his story but especially that of the GR20, the project set when he was at his lowest and which allowed him to get there.
The athlete will head to Corsica this Wednesday to complete the GR20. During this ten-day period, to be fully immersed, Ruben plans to cut off his social media. Unlike his trips to Norway and Nepal, he will only update his social accounts once back. To follow his previous projects and the realization of this one, visit Instagram @ruben_chiajese
