Grand Teton National Park charges runner after Grand speed record attempt

JACKSON (WNE) — Grand Teton National Park has officially charged the athlete who ran afoul of park officials and irked endurance athletes while attempting to set the speed record for ascending and descending the Grand Teton.

Park law enforcement charged Michelino Sunseri, 32, with cutting a switchback, a seemingly innocuous charge that carries significant weight in the Tetons. Doing so is illegal in national parks, where rangers try to prevent erosion and confine visitors’ impacts to designated trails in most areas.

The pro mountain runner, an athlete for The North Face, must now appear in court on Nov. 19.

“It was a very public violation of NPS regulations, shared in such a public way by this influencer and sponsored athlete in association with his effort to achieve the fastest known time goal,” public information officer Emily Davis said, when asked why Sunseri was charged.

Cutting a switchback is a misdemeanor that comes with a fine of up to $5,000 or six months in jail. The judge who oversees the case will determine the penalty if Sunseri is found guilty, Davis said.

Sunseri did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

On Sept. 2, Labor Day, Sunseri tore up and down the 13,775-foot Grand in 2 hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds, technically, the fastest time ever recorded. But in the days and weeks that followed, Sunseri’s effort was heavily scrutinized.

Digital maps of the mountain runner’s feat, published and downloadable on his Strava account — a social media site for athletes — showed that he cut the largest switchback on the descent from Garnet Canyon to Lupine Meadows.

His narrative of his descent, also posted on Strava, confirmed that he actively made the choice to cut the switchbacks. In doing so, he waded into a decades-long debate about the appropriateness of leaving a trail in search of speed.

This story was published on October 18, 2024.