I wasn’t really pushing for an FKT, but I did check beforehand and saw there wasn’t a women’s record listed. Based on Strava, the fastest time I could find was 4:44.
I had been considering adding Copper Lookout, so I packed quite a bit of extra food and clothing, but ultimately decided against it given the weather conditions.
I started in full waterproofs because it was cold and raining. Near the pass, the weather turned almost Christmas-like, with large snowflakes falling slowly. The trail from the meadows to Ruth Arm was saturated and extremely slippery.
No glacier travel is required right now, and it’s possible to stay entirely on rock. However, the fresh snow made many sections icy and slow-going. At some point I realized microspikes were significantly faster on the icy terrain. I briefly used the glacier to bypass one icy rock section and again higher up near the summit where it provided the fastest route. I didn’t see any open cracks.
I reached the summit ahead of the time I’d set for myself and decided to drop the rest of my plans and go for the FKT. After a careful descent back to the trail, I jogged back to the trailhead. No real pushing, just staying in Zone 1-2 the entire time. I also stopped several times to chat with people about the snow conditions up high.
Overall, it’s a pretty soft FKT and can definitely be beaten.