Without ropes, it may be the most dangerous trail run in the Rocky Mountains.
Twenty-five kilometres atop the 11-headed crest of Rundle, 3,100 metres of elevation gain full of talus and crinodial grindstone, Rundle Ridge is the stuff of legends.
Bookended by popular trails frequented by weekend nature lovers, the middle section is pure mystery. Tempting, yet inaccessible. Its slopes are reserved for those rough beasts willing to tempt death, as only a scant few have ventured high across its grey back.
Last spring, its rotten rock defeated celebrated trail runner Adam Campbell, who turned around on the final peak in a brutal storm. Out of water and food, he needed 17 hours to get off the mountain. The fastest recorded time across the entire ridge was 13 hours by Dow Williams, but none of Banff and Canmore’s famed trail runners have dared followed his tracks.
Scientist/TV personality/adventurer Simon Donato and Spartan racecourse slayer Ryan Atkins changed that on Thursday (July 30) when they finished the route in 10 hours, 25 minutes – by accident.
“It’s been a white whale. Everybody talks about the need for a rope on it, and that scared me off. There was a big question mark on it,” Donato said.
Even though he first started thinking about the trip four years ago, the Boundless star swears he’ll never attempt the route again without ropes, and stresses no one should tackle the long ridge without climbing gear and a wealth of experience.
“We took a big risk. I wouldn’t ever do it again without a rope,” Donato said. “You need the technical skill and you need the legs for climbing mountains.”
Atkins arrived in Canmore with an eye on beating William’s time. The Ontario native and future brother in law of Olympic skier Brittany Webster broke the famed Four Peaks record (9:19:58) during his last visit, and was on the hunt for another fastest known time (FKT) in the Canadian Rockies.
Starting at noon, the plan was to run up the East End of Rundle (EEOR), scout the route and return three days later for a well-stocked, full assault on the ridge. They had completed their research, discussed Campbell’s attempt, and wanted a ramble on the trail.
Departing from the EEOR trailhead, Donato had planned a four- to five-hour easy day hike, but instead, they led each other farther and farther into the wilderness. Good weather and a surprisingly excellent trail tempted them farther down the ridge and away from home.
“We took a good look at the trail and we were moving pretty well. The weather was incredible,” Donato said. “The trail is pretty good for the first five or six peaks, and it got better after the second. On all of the trails, you can tell where people had gone before, and you’re on the ridge for most of it. You get a killer view of Mount Assiniboine. You’re climbing the entire time.”
They both had three litres of water and about 1,500 calories of Honeystinger and energy gels each in their pack and moved quickly over the first six peaks. They were on top of EEOR in an hour, and were on Peak 4 in two hours, preserving their elevation gain and energy as much as possible.
Their data told them Peaks 7, 10 and 11 would be the toughest section of the day. Peak 7 represented the high mark in elevation. Measuring 3,011m in elevation, the duo was feeling pretty good about reaching the apex of the trail with little trouble, hitting it in four hours, 27 minutes. They were on schedule to beat the FKT across the ridge, but they knew trouble was ahead.
“Once you’re off Peak 7, that’s where the big limestone bluffs are. It was a challenging route, but if you get freaked out, you can walk down to a goat trail. You are gaining and losing a lot of elevation that way. We were still not sure if it would be a full day. The goal was to make sure Ryan had all the info to really push it later that week. We were always oscillating on our decisions,” Donato said.
They jogged the flat sections, but didn’t push the pace on the climb. They knew tough sections were ahead, and mentally that took a toll. The duo hadn’t done much adventuring together, but they communicated for much of the day, with Atkins taking the lead and showing the most confidence. Two and a half hours later, they were on Peak 10 and in trouble.
“On Peak 10, there is a big rappel. If you don’t have a rope, you have to descend a couple of hundred metres and work your way back to Peak 11. There was no obvious route. There were some possibilities to down climb 25 to 50 feet,” Donato said.
The duo ended up dropping 200m through gullies, traversing talus slopes and challenging several technical down climbs. The slopes measured between 5.5 and 5.7 in difficulty – easy enough for climbers, but, without ropes, the death drop below meant they were one mistake away from a perilous end.
“The adrenalin is coursing through your veins the entire time. When you’re on the trail, you’re so focused on what you’re doing. The adrenalin pushes everything else out. You realize there is a risk, and you focus on finding the next placement, continuing to move. That got me through the gnarly sections,” Donato said.
They knew this was the section that had turned Campbell around, and they took their time looking for the rotten rock that ended his day a month prior.
“Adam tried it in late June and he had a hell of a day. He was out for 17 hours, lost his phone and ran out of water. Between Peaks 10 and 11 the rock is poor quality. It broke away and sketched him out. It can turn fast up there,” Donato said.
With Peak 10 conquered, they had to push on. Turning back before peak 11 would have been devastating. Donato had run out of food, water, and his cellphone was dead. It would be at least eight hours back to Canmore, and the final ascent, Peak 11, was the most dangerous.
The mental stress mounted and Donato realized they were one mistake away from tragedy. Loose, slabby rocks covered the slope, which threatened to take them off the ridge.
“The fossil ridge literally crumbled in your hands. It was a sketchy ascent up Peak 11. Campbell got into some rotten rock at this point, and my uncertainty started mounting,” Donato said. “We got to the uppermost band, that’s the crux of 11, and that saved down-climbing a lot. We were close to edge of ridge. We found a crack in the rock and followed that up, a 45-foot climb on final cliff face, fully exposed. A fall was guaranteed death. After the cliff bands, you’re looking up and it’s a holy sh*t moment. We’d come that far after eight or nine hours, 17 kilometres.”
Donato and Atkins have challenged some of the worst trails in the world, journeying into deepest jungles and up soaring peaks. But they were still worried by the rubble-filled holds across the limestone peak. Atkins led the final pitch, and Donato said he was thankful he wasn’t alone.
“Guys like Will Gadd wouldn’t blink. The scary part wasn’t the difficulty of it. We had to put our full faith in the slope. If the rock broke away, if those rocks pivot or shift, you’d find yourself free falling a long ways,” Donato said. “You realize you’re hanging in the breeze.”
Darkness loomed as they finally crested the summit of the West End of Rundle, and Atkins took a few photos. There was no cairn, but the duo realized they had the FKT in the bag, and cruised down to the horse trail leading to the Banff Springs Hotel, bought a Gatorade and went home by 11:30 p.m.
“On Peak 11, you top out on a talus slope, which was a quick jaunt to the final ridge. My dog was at home on her own and I had to get back to her,” said Donato.
He believes the run can be finished in eight hours, but Donato has no desire on breaking that record, and he stresses absolutely no one should tackle the journey without ropes.
“It definitely pushed me to my mental limit, and there were some incredibly exposed sections where we relied on dubious rock we knew nothing about, but somehow survived,” Donato said. “Please go with a friend and consider a rope. It’s not worth the risk to fee solo this stuff and the rock is sketchy in many spots.”
The duo have uploaded the data from their run on Movescount.com and would love to create a more formalized website for FKTs around the globe.
He and Aktins are now off to Ontario. Atkins plans to get married and Donato will film the next episode of Boundless, which airs on the Travel and Escape channel in Canada, and the Esquire Network in the USA.
“I’ll leave the next attempt to the younger generation to hunt this down. I have a few buddies who will want to take a crack,” Donato said.
