I think as athletes we need to change our relationship with FKTs and FKT.com. To me, FKT.com and FKTs are analogous to MtnProject and climbing routes. MP lays out the routes and some basic parameters, but has little say on route naming, bolting, ethics, etc. The staff at FKT.com are not race directors. As athletes we need to own the FKTs we set and the routes we run. That being said, I think an over the snow effort on this route, to break the overall record and set the FKT, is extremely inappropriate, poor style, unfair, etc. I have nothing against over the snow efforts, it’s just an entirely different effort than running in the dry. Right now, FKT.com is where we keep our records. FKT.com doesn’t want to break out snow records. I can’t speak for the women, but I don’t think it’s right to run this effort over snow, post it on the site, and claim the FKT. If someone wants me to I’m more than happy to elaborate on why I feel that way.
Speaking on style, I ran this basically with siege tactics. I met my crew at Jimmy Dolan, Mink Hollow, Devil’s Tombstone, and Diamond Falls. I think this was the first supported effort on the route. I didn’t want to worry about food and water and I needed someone to shuttle me from the finish, so supported seemed obvious, especially given FKT.com’s new rules regarding support. It went decently, some GI issues, but great conditions overall. I am so impressed by Reid’s unsupported effort, that shit is stout. It’s interesting, based on the segment times, that we may have attained the downhill speed limit over this terrain. It’s crazy how consistently close our times are. To anyone looking to break this in the future, all the gains are on the up, IMO. Big thanks to Andrew Jones for keeping me company while scouting, Grant Russell for driving up from Virginia with me, and my parents for helping Grant crew.
If anyone wants to talk over the snow FKTs or is looking to break this effort and wants beta, feel free to comment or email me at jkuenzle95@gmail.com.