Wasatch Range SR600 — Ride with GPS Link
RUSA Permanent # 2801
This route was first approved as a “Randonneur” type Super Randonnee 600 (i.e. SR600) on August 9, 2015 by Audax Club Parisien in France (the other type of SR600 is “Tourist,” which is more relaxed pace 600).
Audax Club Parisien SR600 Site
Certification: Despite being approved and administered by ACP, this ride does not qualify one for the Super Randonneur award, nor does it serve as an ACP qualifier for longer brevets.
Introduction to Super 600s A Super 600 is a special 600 km permanent with with a minimum of 10,000 m of climbing and a maximum distance of 619 km (according to Openrunner.com). Originally, SR600s allowed 50 hours to complete, instead of 40 as allowed on regular 600 km brevets, but later on (2017?) the rules were changed to allow 60 hours. Consequently most randos doing them split them up into three 200km days, instead of two long days. This route is approved by ACP in France but is administrated by individuals in each country.
Background of this Route During the spring of 2015 I was laboring on many route variations for a possible Super 600 Permanent here in Utah, when my fellow randonneur, Kenneth Moss, also from Utah, submitted one simple but nice loop, which included going through Sanpete County (where I live). We took this route and refined it, making the overnight at my home in Mount Pleasant, some 214 miles in. Much of the route includes roads that the Tour of Utah pro tour goes and climbs up to ski resorts where the 2002 Winter Olympics took place. This route travels near five Utah ski resorts and then into rural east-central Utah, before returning to Salt Lake City.
Route Overview
Day 1 = 134 miles (215 km) + 13,682 ft
Day 2 = 145 miles (233 km) + 10,575 ft
Day 3 = 107 miles (107 km) + 10,209 ft
Total: +10,014 m per OpenRunner, +34,390 ft (+10,482 m) per RWGPS
Mountain Passes on this Route (in order of appearance, based on the 3-day route)
Passes or summits, in order of appearance, with the maximum elevation and elevation gain for each pass.
- Little Cottonwood Canyon (i.e. Snowbird ski resort) 7,906′. Gain of 3,644′ from the motel.
- Guardsman Pass (top of Big Cottonwood Canyon) 9,791′ (2984 m). Gain of 4,707′ from the mouth of the canyon.
- Wolf Creek Pass 9,485′ (2891 m). Gain of 3,259′ (993 m) from a point beyond the small town of Francis.
- Indian Creek Pass 9,068′ (2763 m). Gain of 3,553′ (1083 m) from the town of Duschene.
- Skyline Drive (Eccles Canyon), 9,655′. Gain of 3,380′ for the two summits, from the town at Scofield Reservoir.
- Nebo Loop 9,345′ (2848 m). Gain of 4,997′ from the motel in Nephi to last summit; there are many huge rollers or “false summits” on this section.
- Alpine Loop 8,060′ (2457 m). Gain of 3,721′ from the bottom of the valley in Provo City.
- Traverse Mountain 6,135′ (1869 m). Gain of 1,336′.
Route Description This clockwise loop route starts in Draper, a suburb, just south of Salt Lake City. It finishes back at the same location. The only “out and back” sections are the climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon and a short section on the morning of the last day, climbing up Salt Creek Canyon.
DAY ONE The first climb goes up Little Cottonwood Canyon up to Snowbird ski resort (very sustained 9-10 grades, esp. the bottom 2/3s of the canyon, with a few sections at ~ 12%). Alta Ski Resort is above, but thankfully, the route doesn’t go there. From there you make U-turn back down the canyon and in the foothills east of Salt Lake, make a short traverse over to Big Cottonwood Canyon to make the longest climb of the ride with almost 5,000 feet of vertical, over legendary Guardsman Pass (we are going up the “less steep” side, which has a few short 12–14% sections, but overall it is a manageable 5-8%, esp. the bottom parts of this climb). It passes Solitude ski resort, but turns off just before Brighton resort. It tops out at 9,791 feet, the high point of the ride. It then drops down near the fringes of Park City ski resort and into beautiful Heber Valley. From there it heads up and over Wolf Creek Pass (9,400 ft) and down into the rural community of Duschene for the overnight. There are no known 24-hour services there.
DAY TWO The route climbs up and over another 9,200 foot pass (Indian Creek). The routes works it’s way around the east side of Scofield Reservoir and finally up to the top of the Skyline Drive at about 9,655 feet before making a quick descent into Sanpete Valley where there are some services. From Duschene to Mount Pleasant (my hometown) is 100 miles, with only one service, which closes at 6:00 p.m. In 2015 it was closed one day a week (Wednesday?) however they had a water spigot on the outside available 24 hours. Additionally, from Duschene to Scofield is about 70 miles with no water sources, except a small creek, shortly after the Indian Creek climb. Because of this, consider of the following for this section: a) load up with extra bottles of bottle in Duschene, b) carry a hydration pack or, c) plan to purify water along the way. Since this section will be in morning hours, your need for fluids may be less critical compared do when we did it in 2015 and we hit this section in afternoon or “heat of the day.” In any event, after leaving Mount Pleasant, the route gets a respite from the climbing as it heads over to the base of Mount Nebo where you can overnight in the town of Nephi. There are 24/7 services there.
DAY THREE From your motel in Nephi, the route backtracks a little bit, going back up Salt Creek Canyon where it then gains the Nebo Loop road which includes some short 10-14% grades with many false summits. It then drops down to 4,500 feet into the Utah Valley (Utah County) and has a some flat miles as it travels along the southern and eastern edges of Utah Lake, before it goes through metropolitan Provo and then heads up Provo Canyon. The route then does the Alpine Loop which passes by Robert Redford’s Sundance ski resort (yes, named after the movie), topping out at 8,060 feet. It thens drops down into American Fork Canyon and makes a “short” climb over Traverse Ridge which empties into the busy Salt Lake Valley again (~ 4,500 feet) with an easy descent back to your motel at the start.
Stats It is possible, that this is one of most difficult SR600s worldwide, due to the fact that it has five passes over 9,000 feet and two over 8,000 feet. When this route was submitted, the approval folks in France indicated that it may have the highest “average” mean elevation of any SR600. An average of the seven passes over 2000 m, equals 2781 m (9,124 feet). Because of this, randonneurs traveling from regions at lower elevation would be well advised to acclimate a week or so prior to attempted this route.
Availability The optimum time for this brevet is middle to late June or the last week or two of August through the first fews weeks of September. Beyond that the early mornings can be very cold and the remote possibility of snow exists too. You could ride it in July, but only if the forecasted day temps were not too high (> 95F). The weather is late August or September tends to be more predictable than in June.
Support No outside support is allowed at any checkpoints, except for drop bags and services at the overnight checkpoint.
Start & Finish Location Draper, UT (a suburb just south of Salt Lake City)
Time Limit 60 hours
Fee $20.00 (which includes the ACP homologation fee, but not a medal)
Overnight Locations (3-day route)
- Start & Finish Location >>
Ramada by Wyndam
12605 Mintueman Dr
Draper, UT 84020
Tel 801-251-6992 - Hotel Duchesne Inn Extended Stay (3 blocks off the route)52 S 500 W StDuchesne, UT 84021
Tel 435-738-6666There are no known 24-hour services in Duchesne. - Economy Inn & Suites
885 E 100 N
Nephi, UT 84648
Tel 435-623-9000
Across the street is a 7-11 with 24/7 services. There is a diner & TacoTime a few blocks east (up canyon) from the motel.
Results
11 Sep 2015: Richard Stum & Kenneth Samuel made the inaugural run of this route with a time of 45:36, while getting some 4.5 hours of sleep.
See Kenneth’s report here. My blog report is here.
18 July 2020: Four riders finished it unofficially (COVID-19 caused a closure of all events that summer & early fall), doing it in a reverse direction (they were forced to, due to construction on a given Saturday). All four started together. Byron Welch and Roger Peskett finished it three days and Andrea Christensen and Jay Fichialos did it as one push, taking around 40 hours with no sleep.
OLD Route Description (based on the 2-day old 50-hour cut off)
This clockwise loop route starts downhill from the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon (home of Brighton and Solitude ski resorts). Not coincidentally, my daughter & family previously lived just a short distance from the start.
DAY ONE (344 km [214 miles], four major mountain passes & 18,660′ of climbing): The route starts at 4,514 feet and immediately makes it’s first climb, which is 5,000 feet of vertical, over legendary Guardsman Pass (we are going up the “less steep” side, which has a few short 12–14% sections, but overall it is a manageable 5-8%, esp. the bottom parts of this climb). It tops out at 9,791 feet, the high point of the ride. It then drops down near the fringes of Park City ski resort and into beautiful Heber Valley. From there it heads up and over Wolf Creek Pass (9,400 ft) and down into the rural community of Duschene. The route then climbs up and over another 9,200 foot pass (Indian Creek). The routes works it’s way around the east side of Scofield Reservoir and finally up to the top of the Skyline Drive at about 9,400 feet before making a quick descent into Sanpete Valley, where we make our overnight stop in Mount Pleasant at 6,400 feet. From Duschene to Mount Pleasant is 100 miles, with only one service, which closes at 6:00 p.m. at night and is closed one day a week (Wednesday?). Additionally, from Duschene to Scofield is about 70 miles with no water sources, except a small creek, shortly after the Indian Creek climb. Because of this, consider of the following for this section: a) load up with extra bottles of bottle in Duschene, b) carry a hydration pack or, c) plan to purify water along the way.
DAY TWO (269 km [166 miles], three major, and one minor mountain pass & 16,000′ of climbing): After leaving Mount Pleasant, the route gets a respite from the climbing (mile 214 to 241) as it heads over to the base of Mount Nebo, where it climbs some 3,500 feet (including some 10-14% grades), plus some additional up and downs along top of this scenic road. It then drops down to 4,500 feet and has a some flat miles as it travels around the southern and eastern edges of Utah Lake, before it goes through metropolitan Provo and heads up Provo Canyon. It makes a short hill climb up part of the Squaw Peak overlook (more short 14% grades), before returning to Provo Canyon and finally tackling the Alpine Loop (topping out at 8,000 feet), passing Sundance ski resort and then down American Fork Canyon. It then makes a “short” climb over Traverse Ridge which puts it into the busy Salt Lake Valley again (~ 4,500 feet). The final climb goes up Little Cottonwood Canyon past Snowbird ski resort (very sustained 9-10 grades, esp. the bottom 2/3s of the canyon, with a few sections at ~ 12%), ending at Alta ski resort (8,600 feet), before making a U-turn back down the canyon and back to the start.
Rando Richard Blog 