{"id":36555,"date":"2018-07-20T09:29:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T16:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=36555"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:10:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T05:10:55","slug":"rei-presents-fkt-fastest-known-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-presents-fkt-fastest-known-time","title":{"rendered":"REI Presents: FKT (Fastest Known Time)"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have heard of an FKT\u2014\u201dfastest known time.\u201d Like, the fastest known time climbing Everest. Or, the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail. But did you ever think about trying to set an FKT for yourself? It might seem daunting at first; maybe you\u2019re not a very fast runner or hiker. Or, maybe you don\u2019t climb very hard. But here\u2019s the thing: If you\u2019re the first person to do something, you\u2019re automatically setting an FKT. Of course, that could feel intimidating, too. After all, it\u2019s tough to find a mountain that\u2019s never been climbed, or a place nobody\u2019s explored before. The secret lies in having a little imagination.<\/p>\n

My friend Elizabeth is full of creative plans for how to spend her days off outdoors\u2014I\u2019ve even written about her here before because she\u2019s so great at motivating her friends to do fun stuff<\/a>. So when she said she had an idea for a day out that would combine six of our favorite sports, I knew it would be a good time. The day would include skiing, mountain biking, road biking, rock climbing, trail running and paddling\u2014or, floating, really. Our friend Kelsey\u2019s birthday was coming up, and it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate. Plus\u2014since it was a fairly zany idea, we were pretty sure nobody had done it before. Which meant\u2014you guessed it!\u2014we\u2019d be automatically setting an FKT.\"climbing\"<\/p>\n

We plotted our route and filled a spreadsheet with all the different gear we\u2019d need at the transitions between each sport. We needed to make sure everything was organized, from helmets to bike locks to belay devices, at the proper locations. We packed the gear up the night before and set our alarms for an early morning.<\/p>\n

Since we were planning to ski, mountain bike and float on a creek, we needed the perfect combination of snow in the mountains with dry trails lower down and the right amount of runoff to safely float the creek. Those conditions only align for a couple of weeks each spring in Colorado, and we were stoked to wake up to a bluebird day with perfect conditions. When our friends showed up with donuts and donut holes to fuel us along the way, I was pretty sure we\u2019d be golden.\"\"<\/p>\n

Not everyone in the group that day had the same strengths. Some of us were stronger skiers, while others were stronger runners or climbers. But the fun came in putting it all together and knowing that, since we were doing a brand-new mashup of sports, it didn\u2019t really matter how fast we went or how hard we climbed. In the end, when everyone climbed out of the creek sun-soaked and tired after floating the chilly water in inner tubes, we felt the satisfaction of setting a goal and accomplishing it.\"\"<\/p>\n

Sure, we could have entered an obstacle race or an ultra marathon put on by someone else, but we decided to think outside that box and design our own adventure. We don\u2019t know if anyone will ever attempt to repeat our \u201cFKT,\u201d but to us it\u2019s less about following in someone else\u2019s footsteps\u2014only faster\u2014and more about getting creative and doing something altogether new. Just make sure to remember the donuts!<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may have heard of an FKT\u2014\u201dfastest known time.\u201d Like, the fastest known time climbing Everest. Or, the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail. But did you ever think about trying to set an FKT for yourself? It might seem daunting at first; maybe you\u2019re not a very fast runner or hiker. Or, maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":36557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[717],"tags":[725],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-36555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","tag-video","post_format-post-format-video"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-presents-fkt-fastest-known-time","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"REI Presents: FKT (Fastest Known Time)","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-presents-fkt-fastest-known-time","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-presents-fkt-fastest-known-time"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/07\/FKT-promo-image-5.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/07\/FKT-promo-image-5.jpg?fit=3828%2C2152"},"articleSection":"Video","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["video"],"dateCreated":"2018-07-20T16:29:55Z","datePublished":"2018-07-20T16:29:55Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T05:10:55Z"},"rendered":"