FKT: Travis Soares - Right On, Joshua Tree (CA) - 2021-03-06

Athletes
Route variation
car-to-car
Multi-sport
Yes
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
23m 4s
Report

Twas the morning of March 6th. Ryan mountain stood across the valley of joshua trees. Saddleback rock sat below it. I had heard of the Right On FKT set by Jason Hardwrath two days before. I had climbed the route many times, and after seeing Jason had accomplished it in 38 minutes, I was fairly certain it could be done faster. At approximately 7:40am I drove to the Hall of Horrors parking area jamming to Underdog by Alicia Keys. The song was fitting for the adventure because Jason is an idol of mine. 

I began the run at 7:58am. I opted to solo the climb as I had done many times before. I threw on my La Sportiva Mythos at the base and climbed to the top. I downclimbed, put my Altras on, and then ran back. I finished the FKT in 23 minutes and 4 seconds delighted in my effort! And I made it back to Hidden Valley Campground just in time for climbers coffee.

Comments

User Picture
Profile picture for user Jason Hardrath @jasonhardrath

Travis!

So stoked to see someone give this route a pure, clean rip! 

You cleaned up every single minute of "soft time" that I wrote about and even went 2 minutes faster than that:

"For future attempters, I think ? just on technique and elimination of mistakes, if one goes “self-supported” with the Rappel already set cleanly, that this route has 10-13 minutes of “soft time” to be improved, I could see it going in around 25 minutes or just under by someone who isn’t dramatically stronger than me (and I am pretty slow)."

Psyched that this has a real time now! This is awesome.

Your inclusion of me in your write up (and comparison to Alicia Key's "Underdog") gave me a smile for sure!

With Stoke,
Jason Hardrath