Three-quarters of the way through her attempt on the Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup (WURL), having just summited the final peak on the route, amateur athlete Mali Noyes leans over and vomits. The gusting wind blows her stomach acid nearly straight sideways.
Afterward, she feels better and continues jogging slowly downhill. The most difficult portion of the journey, a 45-degree gully choked with scree and talus, lies ahead.
Photo: Screenshot
It’s all just another moment on the WURL, a deceptively difficult 58km ridge linkup route that circles Little Cottonwood Canyon just outside of Salt Lake City. The WURL fiendishly combines a middle-distance trail ultramarathon with a perpetual string of Class IV scrambles over 6,000m of elevation gain.
Photo: Screenshot
Not quite a trail run
The brainchild of Salt Lake City runner Jared Campbell, the route exists in a liminal space between climbing and trail running that challenges devotees of either discipline.
Campbell was hiking in Little Cottonwood one day in the early 2000s when the thought occurred to him that a linkup of the surrounding ridgelines could be possible. And so the WURL was born.
Rite of Passage is a film that follows Noyes as she attempts to complete the route. But the documentary also serves as an oral history of the route and includes a murderer’s row of accomplished athletes (some quite famous) reflecting on the challenging run.
Photo: Screenshot
The WURL sometimes attracts people who aren’t quite up to the challenge. Partly, that’s because the route is so close to Salt Lake City — a hub of fit, enthusiastic outdoor athletes. And partly, it’s because a 58km ultra with 6,000m of vert doesn’t seem intimidating to athletes who can go out and run 160km.
“People look at the numbers, at the elevation gain, and maybe underestimate what’s involved,” Campbell says.
But Campbell, along with every other athlete interviewed in the film, urges caution. The exposure is constant, the stakes mortal. There’s an ever-present danger of slipping off one of the route’s countless knife-edge ridgelines, especially as the distance increases and fatigue sets in.
Photo: Screenshot
‘It can be so intimidating’
But Noyes is a local trail runner with climbing chops, and she has what it takes. As the film progresses and she gets deeper and deeper into the run, she struggles, slips, and slides but never seems out of control. And like many ultra-distance efforts, the real battle is in the mind.
“Wherever you are [on the route], you can look at where you came from and where you have left to go, and it can be so intimidating,” she notes at one point.
Photo: Screenshot
Rite of Passage is a short and punchy watch, clocking in at just under 20 minutes. Seeing the enthusiasm the runners have for the route, you might just be tempted to try it. But know thyself. The WURL isn’t something to be tackled lightly.
However, if you have the skills and the fitness, it looks absolutely amazing.
“I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘That was something I’ll never forget; that was one of my best experiences in life.’ ” Campbell reflects. “Those [comments] mean a lot to me.”
