It has been a rollercoaster couple of months for Michelino Sunseri. On September 2, the 32-year-old athlete set the fastest known time (FKT) on Grand Teton, sprinting from the trailhead to the summit and back in just 2 hours, 50 minutes, and 50 seconds. Sixteen days later, that record was revoked when Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) notified fastestknowntime.com that Sunseri had cut a marked switchback in his attempt.
Now, GTNP rangers have confirmed that they are formally filing charges against him. As a result, The North Face (TNF) athlete will have to appear in court to respond to the accusations.
“It was a very public violation of NPS regulations, shared in such a public way by this influencer and sponsored athlete in association with his effort to achieve the fastest known time goal,” public information officer Emily Davis told National Parks Traveler.
GearJunkie contacted Sunseri about this developing story, but he declined to comment. Davis and NPS have not responded to repeated outreach as of this writing.
Cutting Corners on an FKT: Why So Serious?
The switchback that Sunseri cut as he descended Grand Teton is the largest one on the trail. It’s where Garnet Canyon connects to Lupine Meadow, and there is a posted sign warning hikers not to cut switchbacks.
According to Davis, part of the reason the NPS is taking such harsh action in this case is because of the publicity. If Sunseri, a sponsored athlete, can cut switchbacks while pursuing a high-profile FKT, Davis reasoned, others could easily do the same.
However, Sunseri isn’t the only athlete who has cut corners in their pursuit of an FKT — and he’s not even the only one to have done so on Grand Teton. In 2012, Kilian Jornet also cut switchbacks during his Grand Teton FKT attempt. The Wyoming climbing community responded angrily, and the Park Service issued a warning that any park visitor caught cutting trails would be cited, National Parks Traveler reported.
Jornet was not cited, though, nor were charges filed against him by NPS. And while fastestknowntime.com “flagged” his record, it did not revoke the FKT, as happened in Sunseri’s case.
“There was some controversy around Kilian’s climb as he apparently cut switchbacks on the trail section, which is not allowed by the National Park (but is common practice in Europe),” fastestknowntime.com reported.
Blowback, Consequences to Sunseri’s Record
Sunseri’s case is sure to set a precedent for athletes pursuing FKTs. With tracking apps like Strava, which are commonly used now for time and route confirmations, there is no wiggle room.
No matter the outdoor objective you’re pursuing, if you break NPS rules and get caught, there will be consequences. As FKTs grow in popularity, Sunseri’s actions gave NPS an opportunity to set its expectations publicly.
A citation for cutting a switchback in GTNP is $5,000. Sunseri is scheduled to appear in court to discuss his charges on November 19.
Following the revocation of Sunseri’s FKT, TNF removed all imagery of the Grand Teton FKT attempt from its website. His FKT was removed from fastestknowntime.com and returned to Andy Anderson, who set the record in 2012. Anderson ran the same trailhead-to-trailhead route in 2 hours and 53 minutes.
