Sean Ranney JMT

Well, I guess since I can’t be out there, I might as well be scrutinizing someone who is… Tables and typical stuff below:

Table:

Profile:

Added the table and profile above…

Sean is looking great through Forrester! He had some splits above 4 mph on his way down Whitney, and was atop Forrester in 9h 55m. That’s right where he wants to be, I should think.

Because I have a few minutes: Other notable recent attempts, and their times to the top of Forrester:

Kurt Achtenhagen (2016): 10h 55m
Amber Monforte (2016): 11h 42
Gavin Woody (2015): 11h 39m
Ralph Burgess (2015): 10h 14m
Allen Currano (2015): 10h 16m
Leor Pantilat (2014): 8h 17m

A long ways to go still!

I wish I had some of Andy Bentz’ splits. I know he posted a video in this subforum, and that might elucidate some of his splits–I just haven’t gotten around to watching it. But after all, it’s his time that’s of the most interest!

Thanks again, Adam.

These things are gruesome and I can’t imagine the level of fitness and mental toughness required to do them, but I enjoy following them. Your graphs and comments are much appreciated.

Leor is so damn fast. 8:17? That’s otherworldly.

Andrews didn’t know his exact time to Forrester.

Plus, yes Leor was fast but Andy still has the fastest time on the trail all the way to Donahue Pass. He only did it by surpassing Leor through Reds Meadow while Leor was asleep.

Once Leor woke up, he turned on the afterburners to the finish.

Andy’s hiking speed was pretty much dead even with Leor’s through Donahue and only vary while each one slept. Other than that they were identical.

Identical, except Andy was carrying between 12-20 pounds on his back the entire time.  It’s crazy to try to rationalize.

Dang. Going over Forester in under 10 hours is amazing.

Updated the table and profile through Baxter Pass Trail. Awaiting another ping–Sean should be at or near Woods Creek Crossing.

I did a little bit of homework since the last post, so that I’d know what I was talking about.

First of all, for those that don’t know, Sean set the FKT on the Tahoe Rim Trail last year. Trip Report here: https://www.scribd.com/document/272681637/Tahoe-Rim-Trail-FKT-Trip-Report

Second, I spent some time doing some (enjoyable) reading of Andy Bentz’ TR to see what I could glean from his splits.

Now, back to Sean’s attempt: Looking great so far. He was atop Glen in 13h 58m. Andy Bentz reporting taking a one hour break at 13h elapsed. Andy was one mile from Glen Pass when he took the break.

So, it’s safe to say that Andy didn’t summit Glen Pass until 14h 20m or so, and therefore atop Glen, Sean was ahead of Andy (caveating it with the fact that at that point, Andy had taken a one-hour break, of course, and Sean had not).

Andy’s hiking speed was pretty much dead even with Leor’s through Donahue and only vary while each one slept. Other than that they were identical.

After looking over Andy’s splits, I tend to agree, more or less. The two are quite different in background and experience; Andy just came off 2,660 miles on the PCT, while the JMT was the longest outing Leor had ever done, to date.

One might conclude that Leor is nearly mortal for multi-day efforts, but I think his recent Sierra High Route clearly shows that to be an absolutely foolish notion. I suspect Leor could shave quite a few hours off his JMT time if he was interested in doing it again.

Andy’s time is phenomenal, as evidenced by the fact that it’s stood up to multiple challenges over the last couple years. Perhaps more so than Leor’s, when you consider the pack weight and the lack of support.

Thanks for the thanks, Bob!

He was at Pinchot Pass this morning at 2:42 am. Looks like he got a couple hours of sleep and continued on towards Mather Pass but turned around at about 7:30am and is likely headed out at Taboose Pass. :(

Yeah, I was just going to post the same thing. I logged in to spotwalla and only to see his ship sailing north…

Bummer. Strong start.

Adam,

You are correct on both cases. Leon thinks there are a few hours that can be shaved, but I believe if he was to go back to attempt it again would be only if he believes he can go sub 72.

He was iffy we he said that.

Also Leor agrees that Andy’s time in relation was better than his time.  So Leor didn’t think he could have done Andy’s time while carrying that weight. Said not having the weight is the reason he was able to move that fast in the first place.