FKT: Jacob Molinaro, Rio Moore - Ross Peak - 2024-06-21

Route
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
2h 2m 13s
Photos
Report

2:02:13 trailhead to trailhead for the unsupported FKT with Rio, to celebrate the summer solstice. (Apparently a day late on that though, I found out after the fact). We both carried soft flasks for water, but otherwise the route is short enough that extra food/water is unnecessary. I also carried an ice axe as we had no beta on how snowy/icy the upper couloirs would be, but we ended up not needing it. 

Uphill was fast moving, but we did get off course due to intense fog. There was a spot where we should have gone left, but went right instead and ended up having some class 5 down climbing to get back to the original route. I think we actually made our wrong turn in the same spot that the prior FKT holders did, haha. We summited in 1:18 and took a minute or two to sign the summit log and take a few photos. 

Downhill we stuck to the intended route and made really great time. Rio fell once and cut his hands open, while I fell once and bruised my butt. Otherwise, when we made it back down to the saddle, we were optimistic that sub-2 hours was possible. Unfortunately, a lot of water and some snow on the trail slowed us down (I'd rather not fly off the side of the trail sliding on mud!) and we finished in 2:02:13.

This is a super fun route, that would be made even better by the sun being out and the rock being less wet/icy. Sub-2 hours is definitely possible.