Michelino Sunseri’s FKT isn’t any extra, or technically, by no means was. Final week, GearJunkie reported on Sunseri’s FKT try, through which he summited the Grand Teton in 2 hours, 50 minutes, and 50 seconds. The report was not licensed.
No one doubts Sunseri climbed and descended the Grand Teton in report time. However the official report was disqualified after park rangers and arbiters at fastestknowntime.com realized that he disregarded a signed closure by short-cutting a switchback on his descent.
“It was reported to us by a number of sources, together with the Nationwide Park Providers and park rangers in addition to his Strava,” Allison Mercer, the director of fastestknowntime.com advised GearJunkie.
The report keepers at fastestknowntime.com didn’t select to disqualify Sunseri’s report frivolously. Mercer advised the native publication WyoFile that they mentioned it extensively earlier than making the decision.
Sunseri described descending from the height in a wild rush. When GearJunkie interviewed him, he stated, “I’ve by no means thrown myself down the rock so arduous, touchdown on my heels, giving zero [bleeps] about my very own well-being.”
WyoFile reported that on Strava, Sunseri stated of the ascent, “I made the choice to chop the final switchback and keep away from the Congo line [sic] of hikers that may be heading up Lupine Meadows Trailhead. If I needed to make this alternative once more, I might 100% make the very same alternative.” And that, as he was descending, he shouted to a member of his path crew, “We’re chopping the switchbacks!’”
His Strava route appeared to verify that he had, certainly, taken a shortcut — one that’s expressly prohibited inside Grand Teton Nationwide Park. Park Rangers caught wind of the truth that Sunseri may need damaged that rule. They contacted fastestknowntime.com to boost their considerations.
“We very hardly ever reject routes, solely when the submitter doesn’t notice it isn’t a sooner time by mistake,” Mercer stated. “We haven’t needed to cope with legal guidelines being damaged like this.”
Grand Teton FKT: Rejected Over a Switchback
It isn’t unusual for fastestknowntime.com to take a number of days to verify a brand new report. However within the days following Sunseri’s Grand Teton FKT, the web site’s silence was notable. Then, when the web site posted the next message to the Grand Teton FKT webpage, questions began circulating.
“The Nationwide Park Service has emphasised that chopping switchbacks on this route is a violation of the park service regulation 36 CFR 2.1(b) … Any future makes an attempt to chop switchbacks will lead to full rejection, and the NPS intends to pursue felony costs in opposition to athletes who interact on this habits.”
It wasn’t till September 18, 2024, 16 days after he thought he’d claimed the report, that his FKT try was formally rejected.
GearJunkie has reached out to Sunseri for touch upon this story. We now have but to listen to again from him.
FKTs have turn into a extremely sought-after goal for endurance athletes lately. Fastestknowntime.com is the official report keeper and arbiter for FKTs on totally different routes all over the world. Athletes have profiles, and report makes an attempt are tracked because the athletes are making them. Photographs and GPS monitoring knowledge are submitted as proof to the web site, which then confirms (or denies) each FKT.
With Sunseri’s report being dismissed, the Grand Teton FKT goes again to its long-time holder, Andy Anderson. In 2012, Anderson ran the route in simply 2 hours, 53 minutes, and a pair of seconds.
