Grand Teton speed runner appeals guilty conviction for shortcutting

When it all began last year in a dirt parking lot at the foot of the Tetons, it was nothing but good vibes. 

Driggs, Idaho runner Michelino Sunseri set off running toward the summit of the Grand Teton, where he had been training for months to climb and descend faster than anyone in history.

When he returned 2 hours and 50 minutes later, the spirit was triumphant. Sunseri had shaved more than two minutes from the record that had stood for 12 years. 

But Sunseri cut a switchback, opting to take what is known as the “old climber’s trail” down the mountain. And that choice proved hugely consequential. It ignited a major legal battle and high-profile debate about alpine-sport ethics and what constitutes overcriminalization in national parks. 

Following a May trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick found Sunseri guilty of the shortcutting offense in a Sept. 2 decision. On Monday, Sunseri’s legal team filed a notice of appeal, signaling that there will be at least one more chapter to the saga over the now-notorious switchback.

“We respectfully disagree with the magistrate judge’s ruling,” Sunseri’s attorney Michel Poon of the Pacific Legal Foundation said in a statement emailed to WyoFile. 

That ruling, he said, “reifies the enormous claims of power by park superintendents to write federal criminal law. This is well beyond any power the Constitution contemplates him to have.”

The fateful route

In the lead-up to the attempt, Sunseri devoted his life to the goal, moving to Togwotee Pass in order to acclimate to a higher elevation. He climbed the peak dozens of times to memorize his route.

On Labor Day 2024 when he set the record, Sunseri cut the switchback to avoid hikers on the designated route. He described his decision in a Strava report shortly after the feat, writing that “If I had to make this choice again, I would 100% make the exact same choice.” 

Some previous record holders also had taken that shortcut, but Sunseri was the first to face formal consequences. Fastest Known Time — the organization that arbitrates and tracks official speed attempts — rejected his submission due to the offense. Shortly after, Grand Teton National Park rangers cited him for violating 36CFR2.1(b), which prohibits “leaving a trail or walkway to shortcut between portions of the same trail or adjacent trail in the national park.” The citation comes with a maximum penalty of $5,000 and six months in jail.

When offered a plea bargain of a misdemeanor conviction, five-year ban from the national park and a fine, Sunseri opted to challenge the charges. That led to the May trial.

Meanwhile, the court of public opinion also weighed in. Sunseri supporters made T-shirts, stickers and social media posts accusing the National Park System of a heavy hand. Others, including Jackson Hole athletes, said Sunseri was setting a poor example of trail stewardship as a sponsored athlete. 

Trail minutiae 

Over the day-and-a-half trial, which unfolded in the Clifford P. Hansen Federal Courthouse in Jackson before Judge Hambrick, eight witnesses took the stand. They included professional athletes and older climbers who had climbed the peak hundreds of times, park rangers and a trails management expert. 

Their testimony offered details on the historic conversation around and use of the switchback-cutting route; the procedures by which park rangers discern whether a citation is appropriate; the private conversations Sunseri had regarding his route and the semantics around trails considered either “established,” “maintained” or “designated.” 

The lawyers’ arguments centered on whether the Park Service properly noticed the closure and fairly cited Sunseri.

Prosecuting attorney Ariel Calmes offered evidence that rangers issued the citation simply because a violation occurred and Sunseri made a confession. Sunseri’s lawyer, Ed Bushnell, argued that the closure was not signed adequately enough to communicate that the established route was closed and that the government did not fulfill the obligations required to enforce trail closures. He indicated that Sunseri was singled out for the violation just because of his social media presence.

The “old climber’s trail” is well-used enough to be a faint singletrack. Small signs posted where the cut leaves and returns to the main trail read “closed for regrowth” and “shortcutting causes erosion.”

Ultimately, Hambrick sided with the prosecution when she determined the trail closure was valid and the park properly communicated the closure, and thus had the authority to cite Sunseri. Trial testimony established that the park superintendent imposed a restriction on shortcutting, she wrote in her filing, which was set forth in what’s known as the 2024 Superintendent’s Compendium. 

“The court finds the restriction consistent with applicable legislation and the federal administrative policies of protecting the natural resources to allow for revegetation and restoration of GTNP and to provide for visitor safety,” Hambrick wrote, before concluding that “The Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant was acting voluntarily when he took the [old climber’s trail] shortcut.”

Widespread attention

In the months following Sunseri’s Labor Day climb, the case attracted attention not only in the niche world of alpine sports, but in broader legal and policy realms. 

The speed attempt spurred a lawsuit and debate over filming in national parks that involved the legal advocacy group The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is known best for its free speech work concerning colleges and universities. National press outlets from Outside Magazine to the New York Post wrote about the legal debate over the shortcut. The case even piqued the interest of members of Congress. 

In July, Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman along with Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, penned a letter to U.S. Attorney Stephanie Sprecher stating that Sunseri’s “prosecution appears to be a prime example of the problem of overcriminalization.”

The representatives brought up a May 9 executive order in which President Donald Trump addressed the criminalization of technical and unintentional regulatory violations.

“President Trump instructed all federal prosecutors to prioritize civil and administrative remedies over criminal enforcement where conduct was unintentional, non-harmful, or gained no advantage,” they wrote. But in Sunseri’s case, they said, it appears that has been ignored. 

“In addition, the decision to prosecute Mr. Sunseri was apparently made over the NPS, the original referring agency, which withdrew its support for criminal prosecution before the trial,” the letter stated. “NPS even noted that the prosecution of Mr. Sunseri was ‘overcriminalization based on the gravity of the offense.’” 

In the wake of the verdict, WyoFile asked Grand Teton National Park if it had changed or modified the trail signage. A park spokesperson referred the inquiry to the Department of Justice. 

Fastest Known Time, however, has updated language on its Grand Teton entry page to emphasize what it calls the “Modern Route” up and down the mountain. The route does not use the old climber’s trail. 

“The Jenny Lake Rangers now prefer that runners stick to designated and maintained trails (where available), which aligns with this Modern Route,” the page reads. “FastestKnownTime indicated it will not accept future submissions using the Historical Route, though it remains an integral part of the mountain’s history and lore.”
Andy Anderson, who did not take a shortcut during his blazing 2012 out-and-back time of 2:53:2, remains the official FKT Grand Teton speed record holder.