Oregon-based elementary college trainer Jason Hardrath has turned the third individual ever to finish a Rocky Mountain Grand Slam, sneaking in beneath the 40-day mark in 39 days, 23 hours and 44 minutes (and smashing the earlier report of greater than 60 days). Traversing 1,030 miles (1,657 kilometres) and 432,500 ft (131,826 metres), the slam consists of all the foremost peaks within the American Rockies.
Hardrath, who accomplished the trouble final week, described it on social media: “We fought. We climbed by way of the nights. We grimaced by way of uncooked ft. We raced the storms and the clock over unforgiving terrain…A dream that after appeared far out of attain progressively grew tantalizingly nearer, and eventually got here to achievement.”
Mega props to @JasonHardrath for completely smashing the “Rocky Mountain Grand Slam,” consisting of summiting all the foremost peaks of the American Rockies (58 CO 14ers, 36 WY 13ers + 27 MT 12ers) for a complete of 121 peaks – accomplished in 39d23h44m!
Thoughts boggling 🤯 @FastestKnown
— Liam (@aidstationfireb) August 7, 2023
The Rocky Mountain Grand Slam entails finishing 122 peaks and consists of 58 in Colorado over 14,000 ft, 36 in Wyoming over 13,000 ft, and 27 in Montana over 12,000 ft (over 4,267 metres, 3,962 metres, and three,657 metres respectively). The mountains vary from hikes and scrambles to “very distant peaks involving glacier journey and alpine mountaineering in Wyoming” as per the FKT web site. “Of the 120 peaks, 4 are technical by way of their best routes (Spearhead, Wilson, Koven, Grand Teton), all in Wyoming.”
The slam has been accomplished twice earlier than, with the earlier report of 60 days, 9 hours and 20 seconds set in 2020 by Eric Gilbertson. “The dream, the lure, the muse driving the legs ahead: the potential of finishing the 122 peak Rocky Mountain Grand Slam in beneath 40 days, exceeding a 3 peak per day common,” shared Hardrath, who is thought for an extended checklist of FKTs that embrace scaling Washington’s highest 100 peaks quicker than anybody else.
Hardrath shared his route throughout the FKT by way of dwell monitoring and Strava, and was supported all through by Joshua Perry, an ultrarunner who notably set a brand new report of 55d 16h 54m 0n the 4,172 kilometre Pacific Crest Path final August (beforehand 65d 9h 58m).
Hardrath was in a debilitating automotive accident in 2015, after which he was informed he could by no means run once more. He shared what motivates him in an interview in Forbes journal “Typically, when it seems like one thing won’t be potential, but it surely excites us and scares us, then that’s the course we have to go. I really feel like I have to be residing that with the intention to be genuine.”
Watch Hardrath’s journey to the 100 highest peaks in Washington:
