New FKT on Alberta’s Livingstone Range Traverse

The Livingstone Range Traverse in Southern Alberta is a rocky ridge connecting Thunder Mountain, Lightning Peak, Centre Peak, Cauldron Mountain, and South Livingstone Peak. It extends from Oldman River to the Frank Slide over 38K with approximately 3,500 metres of elevation gain. On Sunday July 28, Arielle Fitzgerald and Joanna Ford became the first and fastest known women’s-only team to complete the traverse. Their time was 13:55.

The ridge is visible from the highway to Crowsnest Pass, and Ford first noticed it a few years ago as she was driving down to race Sinister 7. When she saw Andrew Fairhurst and Troy Misseghers’ accomplishment on Strava, Ford knew it was possible. Since then, Fitzgerald and Ford have been dreaming of the traverse, and first attempted the ridge in spring 2018.

In preparation, the women trained long days in the mountains, practising scrambling and vert. They also trained carrying supplies and essentials they would use when completing the entire traverse. They carried three litres of water each, extra clothing layers including puffs, a wind shell, gardening gloves, cell phone with additional charging abilities, helmet, ACR ResQ Link beacon, emergency first aid kit (duct tape, bandaids, pain killers, safety pins, electrolytes, antihistamine, scissors, emergency poncho), and a variety of fuelling and calorie options.