When planning a family vacation to southern Utah I took a look to see if there were any interesting FKT's to try. The two that caught my eye were Aries Butte and Angel's Landing. I tried a couple times to get the early morning permit for Angel's Landing (the only time of day when a fast effort would be feasible) but failed both times. No worries, Aries Butte is a better route and far from the crowds of the canyon.
Here are some details for those who, like me, enjoy thinking about the finer details of a speed attempt...
When planning the run, I concluded that equipment choice and strategy would be critical to a fast time.
Equipment:
Blue Ice Choucas Light harness, worn the whole time
Petzl Pur'line 65m rope
Beal Escaper
2 x Petzl Attche biner
BD Alpine Guide belay device
120cm sling and locking biner (to use as a tether at rap stations)
Old 30L backpack
Strategy
I had planned to carry the rope using a backpack coil but I realized on my recon lap that tossing it down on the first rap it would tangle badly and would take forever to sort out. To solve this problem I stacked the rope into a relatively large top-loading pack, the way you would a throw-bag. The bottom end already had a stopper knot and the top end was pre-rigged to the Escaper.
Arriving at the base of the route, I dropped the pack, opened the lid, and clipped the Escaper to my harness. As I climbed the rope fed nicely out of the pack and I trailed the rope up the route. Arriving at the top, I clipped the rope to the anchor and ran up to tag the true summit. Returning to the first rap, I threaded the Escaper through the anchor and rapped down a nice, tangle-free rope. The Escaper and 6mm rope combo works really well on a route like this. There is little risk of cutting the rope or having the Escaper get caught when retrieving. If it did get stuck, it would be easy to climb back up.
After the four raps, rather than coil the rope I just picked up the tangled mess and shoved it all into the pack. This kept the transition from rappelling to running really quick, under a minute. Running with a regular pack is not ideal but the approach and descent are so fast that it was not a big deal.
My approx splits:
Approach 10min
Climb 6min
Tag summit and back: 4min
Rap: 12min
Run back down: 6min