{"id":13551,"date":"2026-05-21T21:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=13551"},"modified":"2026-05-21T21:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:03:26","slug":"simon-kearns-smashes-mount-rainier-fkt-by-over-30-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=13551","title":{"rendered":"Simon Kearns Smashes Mount Rainier FKT by Over 30 Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>After a broken race ski derailed his spring plans, the 25-year-old RMI guide pivoted to the trail\u2014shattering the unsupported, on-foot round-trip record by a massive 31 minutes. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">Simon Kearns, 25, has been training as a mountaineer and guide since he was 12<!-- --> (Photo: Simon Kearn)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published May 21, 2026 02:44PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At just 25 years old, mountaineer Simon Kearns has already built an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9, including speed records on Mount Hood and Mount Massive. On May 9, the professional guide added another milestone:\u00a0shattering the previous unsupported, on-foot record of Mount Rainier by more than 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Kearns completed the 14.5-mile round-trip fastest known time (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/fastestknowntime.com\/\">FKT<\/a>) to the mountain\u2019s 14,411-foot summit and back\u00a0in 3 hours, 43 minutes, and 52 seconds. He covered roughly 9,000 feet of vertical gain along the way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI put a lot into this record training for it, and failed a couple of times. Getting down and knowing that I was finally done, I was really happy, and realized I could finally rest,\u201d Kearns told <em>Outside<\/em>. \u201cI was definitely crying\u2014disbelief that it had gone so well. I didn\u2019t think I would beat the record by so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The previous round-trip record, set by Alex King in June 2021, was 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 13 seconds. And setting the running record wasn\u2019t even Kearns initial plan: he originally wanted to set a ski record on America\u2019s fourth-highest mountain. But a year of lean snow and a broken ski derailed his initial goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m more of a skier than a runner, and I really wanted to break the ski record. But the week leading up to my attempt, I snapped my ski in half\u2014it was the only pair of skis I had at the time,\u201d Kearns said. \u201cBecause it was a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drought.gov\/topics\/snow-drought\">super dry winter<\/a> on the mountain, it made more sense to pivot to running.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As an unsupported on-foot attempt, Kearns was only allowed to bring whatever supplies he could carry. He wasn\u2019t allowed any outside assistance, crew, or resupply. His kit consisted of lightweight running shoes, microspikes, thermal layers, a crevasse rescue kit, emergency items, a helmet, and ski poles.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>According to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/fastestknowntime.com\/fkt\/simon-kearns-mt-rainier-wa-2026-05-09\">Fastest Known Time,<\/a> the website that tracks FKT records,\u00a0the most common line starts at the Paradise parking lot. The route then climbs the Muir Snowfield, a permanent patch of snow, to Camp Muir, and then ascends the snowy Cathedral Gap to the Ingraham Direct, Camp Comfort, and on toward the summit crater. This time of year, the route is mostly snow-covered and requires glacier travel.<\/p>\n<p>Kearns started guiding for <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rmiguides.com\/rmi-knowledge-hub\/mount-rainier-fkt-broken-rmi-guide-simon-kearns-runs-summit-in-3-43\/\">Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI)<\/a>, a mountain guide company based in Ashford, Washington, in 2025. According to the outfitter, the San Juan, Colorado, native already has 15 Rainier summits under his belt, including the new car-to-car best time of 4 hours, 18 minutes. He also holds FKTs on Mount Hood and Mount Massive, summits of Mont Blanc, the Grand Teton, and 33 of Colorado\u2019s 58 14ers. In early May, Kearns also set an FKT on Mailbox Peak outside of Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>Kearns said accomplishing an FKT is a testament to his 13 years of training and working in the mountains. His new record is one in\u00a0a long history of those set by mountaineers at the mountaineering company he guides for, RMI.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpeed records on Rainier go back decades, usually done by mountain guides on their days off. The guides know the route and conditions intimately, and know when conditions are ripe for a speed attempt,\u201d FKT wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Lou and Jim Whittacker, along with fellow mountaineer John Day, set the first documented Mount Rainier record in 1959. They clocked the route at 7 hours, 20 minutes. According to RMI, records are almost always set by guides, climbers, and athletes.<\/p>\n<p>Kearns said he\u2019s super tired, stoked, and ready for the next challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m primarily focused now on guiding, but I\u2019ll race on the side,\u201d Kearns said. After that, he hopes to get his FKT on Long\u2019s Peak, a 14,259-foot mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/climbing\/climbing-simon-kearns-mount-rainier-fkt-speed-record\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a broken race ski derailed his spring plans, the 25-year-old RMI guide pivoted to the trail\u2014shattering the unsupported, on-foot round-trip record by a massive 31 minutes. Simon Kearns, 25, has been training as a mountaineer and guide since he was 12 (Photo: Simon Kearn) Published May 21, 2026 02:44PM At just 25 years old,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}