On Oct 18, 2024, I will start for a 3rd self-supported sextuple (6x) double Grand Canyon crossing Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt: 6x R2R2R = R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R2R. Neither the 1st (2022) nor the 2nd (2023) attempt did go well.
Brandon Worthington still holds the self-supported FKT for 5 double crossing in 3d 21h 51m 9s. No one seems to have completed 6 double crossings thus far. I’m thinking there may be a reason for that.
3rd time is a charm. Right…
I will start at the north rim, leisurely head over to the south rim on the North and South Kaibab trails, and then head back. Then repeat until I’m tired. Or perhaps done.
It seems I picked the wrong weekend: the weather forecast looks terrible. There’s a significant winter storm approaching right when I was planning to start. Up to 8″ of snow expected on the North Rim. It is possible that I may have to cancel and/or modify my plans.
A winter storm is in the forecast…ughs.
North and South Kaibab trails. Source: NPS.
If my math is correct, 6 double crossings will add up to 252 miles (406km) and 66,000ft (20’117m) of elevation pain. So it’s practically a piece of cake compared to Tor des Glaciers and the Swiss Peaks 660km race.
How hard will this be? Well, it’s all relative.
As always, I learned a couple of lessons during my 2022 and 2023 attempts and have updated my spreadsheets accordingly. We shall find out if my predictions are more realistic this time.
Elapsed time as a function of the number of double crossings. Legend: SS = self-supported, S = supported.
Doing some homework: Grand Canyon – Rim to Rim History by Davy Crockett.
Dot watching
Dot watching will likely be excessively boring, but also confusing because you won’t quite be able to tell what crossing I’m on. If you still want to follow, you can do so in the embedded map below or at https://maps.findmespot.com/s/RM55.