An amazingly beautiful and tough day out in the mountains. I was blessed with the weather which was clear and sunny most of the day, even though it was a little hot for a few hours, I only had one shower of rain all day.
I ran an anti-clockwise direction parking at the Charlotte Pass carpark and running out and back to the CP ski fields to get this out of the way early. (Thanks Ben Plunkett for your report which helped me decide to do this bit first!)
I got water from rivers and streams along the route using a 600ml 'Be Free' water filter, and carried food, first aid and warm clothing with me in a Salomon pack. I was lucky due to there being a lot of rain in the previous few days which filled the rivers, but cleared up for this day which allowed me to have a crack at bettering Ben's excellent and hard fought time from this time last year (read Ben's report for some excellent info).
Next time I would take walking poles, as the accumulation of the climbing takes its toll as the day goes on.
I want to send a huge thanks to Josh, Ed, Scott and Philip for creating this route and sharing it here on the FKT website. You guys allowed me to experience so much of the Main Range in putting this course together. Your navigation was excellent - and I marvelled throughout the day how well you followed the land - the spurs, the ridge lines and the contours around in your choice of route. I learned a lot from following your course on Strava. And I want to say to you guys that it is so much easier to chase down a time than it is to set the course - so a huge amount of respect to you 4 for your vision and inspiration in coming up with, completing, and sharing this route. And also to Anthony Alston for inspiring you all to modify his course to start and finish from Charlotte Pass.
This is a truly memorable day, and I highly recommend it. My time is very beatable, so get out there and enjoy this amazing route.