{"id":9463,"date":"2022-08-13T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T19:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/?p=9463"},"modified":"2022-09-02T11:32:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T18:32:38","slug":"news-180mi-unsupported-solo-single-and-out-back-arctic-circle-trail-fkt-attempts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/news-180mi-unsupported-solo-single-and-out-back-arctic-circle-trail-fkt-attempts\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS: 180mi unsupported, solo, one-way and out & back Arctic Circle Trail FKT attempts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n
\r\n UPDATE 2<\/strong>: The report is now available<\/a>.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n
\r\n
\r\n UPDATE 1<\/strong>: I was able to set two new unsupported FKTs (verification pending). One-way (90mi): 1d 23h 30m. Out & back (180mi): 4d 10h 15m. The one-way time came out to be 4h 47m faster than Torsten Niecke’s 2019 self-supported FKT (2d 4h 17m)<\/a>. To the best of my knowledge, nobody had completed an out & back of the ACT previously (I think I now know why not). Report, pics, and movie will follow. In the meantime, I will do some imagery rehearsal therapy with my therapist to process nightmares about the never-ending swamps and bogs of the arctic tundra.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n

O<\/span>n Tue, Aug 16, 2022, (travel permitting) I will attempt both an unsupported<\/a> one-way (90mi) and out & back (180mi) Fastest Known Time<\/a> (FKT) of the Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)<\/a> in Greenland.<\/p>\n

Unsupported<\/a> means I will carry all my food and supplies (except water) from the beginning to the end and will not receive any form of external support.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)<\/h3>\n

The Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)<\/a> in Greenland stretches over a total of about ~200km\/124mi from the ice cap to the ocean, between Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut. The trail traverses the UNESCO Aasivissuit \u2013 Nipisat World Heritage Site<\/a> and undulates through the arctic tundra just above the arctic circle (66.6\u00b0 N). The actual trails starts in Kellyville, ~15km\/10mi outside of Kangerlussuaq. Most hikers will start in Kangerlussuaq and get a ride on the gravel road to the actual ACT start (first cairn) in Kellyville, then do the ~145km\/90mi main trail section to Sisimiut. That section is an actual and pure trail. A ~50km gravel road extension of the ACT leads from Kangerlussuaq to the ice cap.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)<\/a> overview map. The actual trail starts with the first cairn in Kellyville and ends with the last cairn in Sisimiut. There is a gravel road section between the ice cap and Kellyville. Illustration based on figure borrowed from the Cicerone ACT guidebook<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Logo of the official ACT website<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Current FKT<\/h3>\n

Torsten Niecke<\/a> holds the current self-supported<\/a> one-way FKT in 2d 4h 17m<\/a>\u00a0on the ACT trail section. According to his FKT report<\/a>, he started at the old heliport in Sisimiut at the Mittarfimmut road (~ 66.937932, -53.633986<\/a>) and finished at the Sonderstrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility<\/a> (~ 66.987235, -50.941402<\/a>). He logged 147km\/91.3mi. Both his start and finish locations are past the first\/last cairns of the ACT. I attempted to contact Torsten to get clarification on the exact locations where he started\/stopped his watch, but have not heard back from him. I will go with the coordinates above.<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n Most hikers complete the 90mi Arctic Circle Trail (ACT) from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut in 9-11 days.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n

The opinions diverge where exactly the “official” trail start and end points are located. Some folks argue the West terminus is at the Hotel Sisimiut (perhaps because they hand out trail completion certificates), others argue it’s the Sisimiut harbor, or simply the last cairn of the trail. Similar discussions happen for the East terminus: the actual trail begins (with the first cairn) just past Kellyville, about 10mi\/16km outside of Kangerlussuaq. Yet, some folks argue the trail starts in Kangerlussuaq itself, or even at the ice cap, however, most hikers will try to skip the road walks and organize a ride to Kellyville.<\/p>\n

Without going into further discussion, to complete this FKT, I will use Thorsten’s start and finish locations (66.987235, -50.941402<\/a> and 66.937932, -53.633986<\/a>) so that our times can be compared. He submitted the route and set a first FKT, so his start\/finish choice must be respected.<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n Ultra runners\u00a0Kris Brown<\/a>, Ruth Croft<\/a>, and Andy Cochrane<\/a> recently completed the ACT. See pics on their Instagrams. Thanks for sharing additional intelligence about the trail!\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>

The weather forecast does not look great.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dot watching<\/h3>\n

Tracking will be available in the embedded map below or at https:\/\/maps.findmespot.com\/s\/V6QT<\/a>. If travel goes well and my luggage makes it, I plan to start in the early morning hours (GMT-2<\/a>) of Tue, Aug 16, 2022.<\/p>\n