Triple Ultimate Ridge Linkup (TURL)
Descending Devil's Castle
The day began at the base of Ferguson Canyon at 4:00 AM sharp on Saturday, September 20th. When my girlfriend Sydney and I pulled up to the trailhead, we were greeted by big groups of other runners starting simultaneously. There must have been ten others at 4:00 AM, then six others passed on the Cottonwood Traverse. It was smooth through to Cardiff, which took me around 7 hours, and I first saw my crew!
Having not done the first half of the ART, it turned into a bit of an epic, and took twice as long in the dark as I had expected. It involved getting a bit lost at South-Willow peak and climbing some 5.10 to the top. Yikes. I continued down the ridge and eventually scree-surfed 3,000 feet of talus to descend into AF. I arrived exhausted and extremely dehydrated at the base of AF a little before 7:00 AM, and 27 hours in. Sydney had me chug 2 liters of Tailwind, scarf down a Clif Bar and some ramen, and take an hour-long nap.
I woke up to the sun and started making my way up Mahogeny at around 9:30 on Sunday, September 21st. Ascending the North Summit of Timp, my legs began to give out, and I couldn't move them. Eating all of my candy bars seemed to help, and I eventually continued up to my next stash. Once on the ridge, I was greeted by more lightning storms and frigid temperatures, and quickly realized I should have brought my pants. From this point to the end of the traverse, I was onsighting every section. Hayden was incredibly kind and psyched and ran up early to Timpooneke to meet me again.
Eventually, I continued up to Freedom Peak, and the weather eventually moved through after a couple of hours. At this point, my mind had had enough exposure, and the technical section heading from Freedom to East Provo was slow-moving and panicked. My brain felt like it was shutting down, and I couldn't move. Once I reached Provo, I felt another wave of rejuvenation and flew over to Corral. I was onsighting about 80% of the PURL section, and was thoroughly enjoying the new terrain. I quickly made my way down easier terrain until I crested Camelback Mountain. It was dark again, and I quickly got lost. I descended about 3,000 feet of Scrub Oak bushwacking, and eventually made my way down to Spring Canyon Trail, where I sprinted down to the road and met my crew at the finish, a little after 10:30 PM.
This route is incredible, and I believe it is one of the absolute best ways to experience the Wasatch. For those of you who are interested in making an attempt, please scout out each section and be knowledgeable about the cruxes. Expect with perfect route finding at least 65 miles and 45,000+ feet of ascent, with technical rocky exposure, painful and scary bushwacks, and difficult route finding. The stats alone are formidable, but the terrain is what truly makes this a challenge.
On the other hand, also expect incredible views, wonderful flowy ridge sections, beautiful wildlife, jaw-dropping water features, and the absolute full experience of the Wasatch. I’ll be out there in the next couple of years, with the goal of better weather and a faster time (48 hours feels in reach). I love you all, and this route is incredible. Get after it!
Stats:
Elevation Gain: 48,973 ft
Distance: 73.07 miles
Time: 66:35:19
Nutrition:
0.5 liters of water per hour
30-90g carbs per hour
Tailwind, Pizza, Clif Bars, Precision Gels, Rice Crispies, Cosmic Brownies, Coffee, Redbull, Baja Blast Mountain Dew, Bananas, Nuun Tablets, Applesauce Packets, Fig Bars, Snickers, Reeses Cups, Heath Bars, Ramen
Support:
Syd, Coeli, Hayden E., Kiki, Addie, Hayden K. Thank you guys so much, I couldn't have done it without you. You were all incredibly dialed and made so many sacrifices to support me in my mountain interests. A special thank you to Syd for being my crew chief, life partner, and running inspiration. I love you. Hayden, you were incredible, and I am so happy that we got to be such a huge part of each other's running goals this year. Thank you to my mom for the unconditional support and incredible psych.
Extended Support:
Matt, Eli, James M, Alec, Portia, Alex, Andy, Kaylee H., James H., Sarah, Munroe, Clayton, Nat, Henry, Kyler, Sean, Zack, Ozzy, The Gear Room, Skyrun, The Front, and everyone I spent time in the mountains with this year! I love you guys.
Meeting up with Hayden!
My friend and local Wasatch super-crusher Hayden surprised me there. He stayed with me until Hidden Peak, where my Mom, Sydney, my sister Addie, and her boyfriend Hayden met me at around 4:30 PM. I scarfed down a slice of pizza from the tram and went up to Twins. Hayden cruised down the Peruvian Gulch Trail. We planned to meet the next day in the evening at Provo Canyon.
The crew at Hidden.
I felt good as I cruised to White Baldy, where I had stashed food and warm clothes. I sure needed them as the night soon turned frigid and wet.
Looking toward Hidden Peak.
Having not done the first half of the ART, it turned into a bit of an epic, and took twice as long in the dark as I had expected. It involved getting a bit lost at South-Willow peak and climbing some 5.10 to the top. Yikes. I continued down the ridge and eventually scree-surfed 3,000 feet of talus to descend into AF. I arrived exhausted and extremely dehydrated at the base of AF a little before 7:00 AM, and 27 hours in. Sydney had me chug 2 liters of Tailwind, scarf down a Clif Bar and some ramen, and take an hour-long nap.
I woke up to the sun and started making my way up Mahogeny at around 9:30 on Sunday, September 21st. Ascending the North Summit of Timp, my legs began to give out, and I couldn't move them. Eating all of my candy bars seemed to help, and I eventually continued up to my next stash. Once on the ridge, I was greeted by more lightning storms and frigid temperatures, and quickly realized I should have brought my pants. From this point to the end of the traverse, I was onsighting every section. Hayden was incredibly kind and psyched and ran up early to Timpooneke to meet me again.
The Timp Ridge.
He planned to pace me through the rest of the PURL. I felt better running with Hayden and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the Timp Traverse, my favorite part of the course. Descending into Provo was technical and loose in the dark, having to skirt multiple waterfalls. They were beautiful, but Hayden and I were happy that we might never have to see them again.
Incredible!
The worst lightning storm so far and heavy rain at the bottom greeted us. We were glad to reach the car and be greeted by Syd, my mom, and my sister Kiki at around midnight. At the bottom, Hayden and I decided it would be best for me to carry on alone, as he had work in the afternoon the next day, and the Bridal Veil bushwack filled us with fear. My mom left to take Kiki back home, and Hayden back to his car at Timpooneke. I scarfed down 7 slices of pizza.
We had planned for me to take a nap, but after 15 minutes, the rain stopped, and I was too amped to sleep. Syd and I restocked my food and gear and said goodbye. As I walked away from the car, the storms returned even worse. We decided to wait, and I slept for 1-2 hours, waking up often to check the weather. The rain stayed heavy the whole time. Finally, the rain stopped, and I started up the Bridal Veil Falls at around 2:30 AM. The rain had drastically changed the landscape. Cold waterfalls plunged down the fixed lines that you ascend. The creek had doubled in size at the top of the falls, and the bushes were covered in cold water. I committed to getting wet and did a mix of crawling through the creek and bushwacking.
After a few hours, I emerged from the bushes, wet and shivering. The wind picked up, my breath fogged up, and I had fears of hypothermia. I took all my clothes off, and was happy to have brought spare socks, a shirt, and a down jacket that stayed dry in my backpack. I shot up to the ridge at a tempo pace to warm up, and by the time I was going up N. Cascade, the sun was coming up. I made decent time on the less technical Cascade traverse, but my wet shoes started to take their toll, and started ripping up my ankles and blistering my feet. I shoved my wet 2nd pair of socks into the heel of my shoes to lift them, which relieved my ankles from some rubbing. My phone was about to die, and my portable charger was not working. I asked Sydney to bring me a knife and a portable charger up towards the Cascade Saddle, and I ended up running down a couple of miles to meet her down the trail. Cutting out large chunks from the sides of my shoes seemed to help, and feeling rejuvenated, I sprinted back up to the ridge when I saw storm clouds gathering.
This was an angry storm. As I ascended to Shingle Mill, clouds came in, and I called all my friends for comfort as I ascended. When I reached the top of Shingle Mill, it was pouring freezing rain. The rain quickly turned into hail, and the hail eventually turned into snow. The air was electric, and lightning soon began striking the ridge. Descending off the ridge a bit and hiding under some trees provided some relief from the storm.
Looking south towards the finish.
Eventually, I continued up to Freedom Peak, and the weather eventually moved through after a couple of hours. At this point, my mind had had enough exposure, and the technical section heading from Freedom to East Provo was slow-moving and panicked. My brain felt like it was shutting down, and I couldn't move. Once I reached Provo, I felt another wave of rejuvenation and flew over to Corral. I was onsighting about 80% of the PURL section, and was thoroughly enjoying the new terrain. I quickly made my way down easier terrain until I crested Camelback Mountain. It was dark again, and I quickly got lost. I descended about 3,000 feet of Scrub Oak bushwacking, and eventually made my way down to Spring Canyon Trail, where I sprinted down to the road and met my crew at the finish, a little after 10:30 PM.
Sunset!
This route is incredible, and I believe it is one of the absolute best ways to experience the Wasatch. For those of you who are interested in making an attempt, please scout out each section and be knowledgeable about the cruxes. Expect with perfect route finding at least 65 miles and 45,000+ feet of ascent, with technical rocky exposure, painful and scary bushwacks, and difficult route finding. The stats alone are formidable, but the terrain is what truly makes this a challenge.
On the other hand, also expect incredible views, wonderful flowy ridge sections, beautiful wildlife, jaw-dropping water features, and the absolute full experience of the Wasatch. I’ll be out there in the next couple of years, with the goal of better weather and a faster time (48 hours feels in reach). I love you all, and this route is incredible. Get after it!
Elevation Gain: 48,973 ft
Distance: 73.07 miles
Time: 66:35:19
Nutrition:
0.5 liters of water per hour
30-90g carbs per hour
Tailwind, Pizza, Clif Bars, Precision Gels, Rice Crispies, Cosmic Brownies, Coffee, Redbull, Baja Blast Mountain Dew, Bananas, Nuun Tablets, Applesauce Packets, Fig Bars, Snickers, Reeses Cups, Heath Bars, Ramen
Support:
Syd, Coeli, Hayden E., Kiki, Addie, Hayden K. Thank you guys so much, I couldn't have done it without you. You were all incredibly dialed and made so many sacrifices to support me in my mountain interests. A special thank you to Syd for being my crew chief, life partner, and running inspiration. I love you. Hayden, you were incredible, and I am so happy that we got to be such a huge part of each other's running goals this year. Thank you to my mom for the unconditional support and incredible psych.
Extended Support:
Matt, Eli, James M, Alec, Portia, Alex, Andy, Kaylee H., James H., Sarah, Munroe, Clayton, Nat, Henry, Kyler, Sean, Zack, Ozzy, The Gear Room, Skyrun, The Front, and everyone I spent time in the mountains with this year! I love you guys.
Inspiration:
Jared Campbell, Jason Dorais, Andy Dorais, Stacey Dorais, Noah Howell, Courtney Pace, Danny Bryson, Jen Day Denton, Caleb Olson, Finn Melanson, and all the other Wasatch Athletes who have provided route finding and inspiration on these ridges.
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