12/22/2023
Suzzanne “Sunny” Stroeer did not just complete the R2R2R-alt FKT but twice, besting her previous by 2 hours and completed the route in 20 hours, 10 minutes and 15 seconds. The "Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim" (R2R2R) is a world-class route, starting on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, running 5,000′ down to the Colorado River, across a bridge, then 6,000” up to the North Rim. Then back again. However, this isn’t challenging enough for Sunny, who added swimming In the Colorado ! shares: “ The challenging part of this FKT is not the physical aspect - if you can run a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, you can run this route a lot faster than I did it. What makes the R2R2R-alt FKT a wild and very consequential adventure is the remoteness, the (in spots) bush wacky and route-findy nature of the “trail” and, of course, the fact that you have to swim the Colorado River at the bottom.
The swim is a big deal for three reasons:
1. You are swimming the Colorado in between two major rapids, Bass (4) and Shinumo (4)
2. The water is extremely cold and bound to trigger a cold shock response - I experienced that during my first R2R2R-alt in 2020 and it was extremely unsettling
3. You can’t just get in and out of the river anywhere - most of this section of the Colorado is guarded by steep cliffs, so you have to get it right
As Buzz (who pioneered the route) commented on the FKT page after I posted my trip report: “Jumping into that water alone at night would be a huge emotional hurdle. It's 55d, a strong current, and you have to hit the correct take-out spots which are flanked by cliffs. A courageous FKT!”
We agree completely, Sunny! This is an amazing adventure and you sharing your takeaways with us! Sunny leaves us with this advice :
Words of advice: If you are considering this route, look up my strategy for the river crossing on the FKT site. I think I nailed the gear choices on this go around and feel a lot better about the river crossing with that setup than I did after the 2020 adventure.