Grand Teton Rangers receive a ticket for an ultrarunner for an off-track shortcut during the record attempt

Michelino Sunseri made a switchback while completing the fastest known climb of the Grand Teton on September 2nd. He now faces a possible $5,000 fine.

By Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile

In the latest controversy over Michelino Sunseri’s decision to cut a switchback on his fastest out-and-back climb of the Grand Teton, national park rangers have issued him a citation.

The Rangers issued Sunseri a ticket for violating 36CFR2.1(b) – which prohibits “leaving a trail or walkway to create a shortcut between portions of the same trail or adjacent trail within the national park.” According to Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Emily Davis, the citation carries a $5,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail. Sunseri is due in court on November 19 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick.

The citation is not the only consequence of lane violations. Although the 32-year-old Driggs ultrarunner beat the record set since 2012 by more than two minutes, Fastest Known Time – the organization that adjudicates and tracks official speed attempts – rejected his submission due to the offense.

The decision stripped the North Face-sponsored athlete of an official record for which he had trained for years. He defended his efforts but promised to return to the summit next summer for a new attempt on the officially recognized route.

The high-altitude incident has sparked a new debate about appropriate behavior for trail users, including elite mountain athletes who attempt superhuman feats — and the companies that sponsor them.

The North Face “clearly does not support the misuse of public lands,” it said in a statement to WyoFile on Tuesday.

“Although The North Face was not involved in any aspect of permitting, content creation or route development related to the FKT Grand Teton Trial, we expect our athletes to adhere to public signage and local and national rules and regulations hold,” the company said. “Our athlete is currently taking the necessary steps to seek redress with local authorities and organizations.”

Route choice

On September 2, Sunseri ran and climbed from the Lupine Meadows parking lot to the summit of the 13,775-foot Grand Teton and back in two hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds. The performance is amazing in every way. Many climbers spend several days completing the challenge using ropes, which requires a journey of 13 miles with 7,064 feet of elevation gain and technical climbing sections.

Sunseri first saw the iconic peak in 2020 and soon after began training for an attempt to break a record set by ultrarunner Andy Anderson in 2012. Sunseri, who has achieved several “fastest known times” in the Teton region, had climbed the Grand Teton more than 40 times leading up to his speed attempt.

Snowfall in late August complicated his weather window, and Sunseri set out on Labor Day, a federal holiday that can cause crowded trails in the park. After leaving the parking lot at 7:45 a.m., he raced up to the summit. However, he fell behind Anderson’s pace and made a switchback on the way down.

“I made the decision to shorten the last switchback and avoid the Congo Line [sic] of hikers who would go up the Lupine Meadows Trailhead,” he wrote on the personal speed-tracking website Strava immediately after his climb. “If I had to make that choice again, I would 100% make the exact same choice.”

However, Grand Teton National Park rangers didn’t react favorably to Sunseri’s decision.

“Taking a switchback shortcut along a trail is prohibited in the park because of resource impacts such as trampling vegetation, creating erosion and deteriorating trail conditions,” Davis said.

Out of concern, rangers contacted FKT, said Davis of Grand Teton Park. The subsequent discussions led to FTK’s decision to reject Sunseri’s submission.

Renny Jackson, a former park climbing ranger, said proper use of trails is a never-ending task for park employees. “The Park Service has its hands full trying to keep people on the official trails where they are designated,” he told WyoFile in September.

Although FKT didn’t add Sunseri’s name to the top of its Grand Teton page, it did update the page after his climb with a new bolded note: “The National Park Service has emphasized that cutting switchbacks on this route is a violation. “ the Park Service Regulation 36 CFR 2.1(b) … Any future attempts to shorten switchbacks will result in outright rejection, and the NPS intends to file criminal charges against athletes who engage in this conduct.”

precedent

Sunseri did not respond to a request for comment on the quote. But in a September 13 statement emailed to WyoFile, Sunseri pointed to the routes of previous record holders Kilian Jornet and Jen Day Denton, both of which were recognized by FKT. “My route followed their exact steps on what I knew was an accepted course to achieve a new speed record,” he said.

The current record holder Anderson, on the other hand, did not forego serpentines according to his route map.

Sunseri accepted the FKT’s decision, he said. “I look forward to next summer when I hope to attempt the Grand Teton FKT again on the officially recognized section of this trail.”

Shortly after Sunseri’s climb on September 2nd, the North Face celebrated the occasion with an Instagram post praising his “impossible dream – come true.” As of September 12, it had almost 9,000 likes.

The company said this post has since been eliminated in light of revelations about land abuse. This move also came amid calls for its removal; Critics said Sunseri set a bad example for the company’s 5.4 million followers.

“The North Face has chosen to remove the social media post endorsing our athlete’s performance as it was created before any missteps by our athlete were made aware of,” the statement said.

Photographers were also on the mountain to film the attempt without permission, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reported, but they were not cited.

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