Explorer Jake Reid has set a fastest known time on a brand new route in WA, dubbed The Stirling Completion, a trail that traverses every peak in the state’s Stirling Ranges – and he’s just released a film about the feat.

 

What’s the furthest you’ve walked in one hit? 30km? 40? 50? Last year, Explorer Jake Reid walked 110km, climbing 5,562m of elevation, in 36 hours 42 minutes and 58 seconds, as he summited every peak in Western Australia’s Stirling Ranges, setting the fastest known time of the newly forged route. 

 

 

‘I’ve always grown up loving the outdoors and some of my first adventures took place in this very national park. Bluff Knoll was the first mountain I ever climbed and also the first time I ever saw snow. Since the first time I climbed it I’ve now climbed Bluff Knoll more than 16 times and all the other awesome summits throughout the range’, says Reid. 

At the start of 2023, Reid set himself a challenge to do something beyond anything he’d ever thought of.

‘Despite being outdoorsy I wasn’t attending a gym or training anything fitness-related at all. When the idea of The Stirling Completion came to mind I really didn’t know if it was even possible.’ 

With the assistance of filmmaker Harry Blyth and long-distance hiker Cam Bostock, Jake took to the trail in December 2023, traversing what’s considered the most dangerous trail in Western Australia, the Stirling Ridge Walk, before continuing on through the day and night to summit the remaining five peaks. 

 

 

‘The experience was unreal but easily the hardest thing I have ever done’, Reid said. But he’s challenging other people to take on the new route as well. 

‘I hope that forging this route encourages others to get out there and experience more of this breathtaking national park. I can’t wait to see other people giving it a go and hey maybe I’ll give it another go one day myself.’

Watch the whole expedition unfold!

 

Photos by @harryjamesblyth

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