Talus surfer extraordinaire! Happy to piece together this classic and set a new FKT of 10:11 unsupported. It’s unclear if the original FKT (11:55) set by Bill Briggs started at the Quandary trail split from McCullough Gulch or included Mt. Royal, however considering the year and provided splits I would assume Bill started at the trail split and bypassed Royal. Under these conditions my FKT time would be 9:59.
For my route I dropped off the ridge crest between Fletcher and Atlantic to skirt the class 5 towers; the basin was more solid than expected and made routefinding relatively straightforward. Otherwise I traversed the ridge pacing well on the numerous ascents. I found that I made the best time on the more technical portions (Quandary to Atlantic and Peak 4 to Tenmile Peak), otherwise I tried to minimize idle time and run the limited tundra that was available. Logistically I used a running vest with assorted snacks and two liters of water which proved just enough.