Sir Donald NW Ridge, FKT

Sir Donald from the col

Technical Quad FKT with Leif

Morning Run

1:55 to the summit, 3:26 round-trip.  Unsupported.

Despite setting speed records previously on Sir Donald (2020, 2022), I felt like I hadn't given an effort that was truly worthy of its stature.  It is a magnificent peak that I would consider to be in the same league as the Grand Teton and the Matterhorn.  Both these mountains have a long history of speed ascents and the current records represent the cutting edge of mountain running.  In contrast, Sir Donald has seen very little in the way of speed climbs.  It also sees way fewer climbers in general... today it was just me and one other climber on the whole mountain.

I put a lot of work into this fkt over the summer and I'm really psyched with how it went.  I knew the route really well and everything felt really dialled.  Not sure if my time is in the realm of the truly elite but I think it's solid and hopefully is something others will aspire to surpass.

A note about the route... in my mind the essence of the route is the full ascent of the NW Ridge, one of the best ridge climbs in North America.  I think it would be a shame to skip the upper ridge by climbing up the bypass instead.  Luckily it would probably also be slower as it is quite loose and longer distance-wise.  Descending from the summit, I think any route is fair game (no fixed ropes obviously). I took the bypass and then downclimbed the ridge.


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Michael Burke

Sir Donald NW Ridge, FKT

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Sir Donald NW Ridge, FKT

Sir Donald from the col

Uto

Technical Quad FKT with Leif

Morning Run

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