Michelino Sunseri is a professional mountain runner, Teton Valley resident and bartender at Grand Targhee’s Trap Bar. Multiple offers by Michelino for a reasonable resolution, proposing community service in Grand Teton National Park to improve signage, til the soil and revegitate have been rebuffed. The federal prosecutor's best offer is a misdemeanor plea, and multi-year ban effectively forcing him out of town. Backed into a corner, Michelino's case heads to trial on May 20th.

On September 2nd, Michelino set the new speed record or fastest known time (FKT) on Grand Teton, running from Lupine Meadows to the summit and back in 2h 50m 50s. On descent, he followed the footsteps of six of seven prior record holders—including Kílian Jornet and a women's record accepted in 2022—by taking the old climber’s trail, a hard-packed, well-traveled and historically-significant trail below the mouth of Garnet Canyon. Get the full backstory at grizzliesandavalanches.com and the Freetrail podcast.

After his FKT, the NPS alleged that the trail was closed and told FastestKnownTime.com, a private site, to reject his record. Their case rests on two iPhone-sized signs stating “Short cutting causes erosion”—the only side Michelino entered—and “Closed for regrowth,” one hidden in sagebrush and the other behind a pine tree. Despite consistent public use of the trail over the last three decades, no one else was prosecuted.

Meanwhile, within a mile of the old climber’s trail, tens of thousands of tourists venture off-trail to Delta Lake every summer, legally causing 100 times the impact of 100 runners on the old climber’s trail. The NPS explicitly condones off-trail travel to Delta Lake, having installed a sign five-times larger than the old climber’s trail signs.

That particular inconsistency—combined with off-trail travel being broadly allowed throughout Grand Teton National Park (GTNP)—makes it difficult to understand the impact caused by Michelino's use of the old climber’s trail and the motivation for criminal charges.

The NPS already stripped Michelino of his record, dragged his name through the mud and utterly terrified anyone who’d consider following in his footsteps. If the goal was deterrence, mission accomplished.

Yet, the prosecutor’s best offer was a misdemeanor guilty plea, five-year ban and fine. As a professional mountain runner, a five-year ban would force Michelino—and his two huskies, Dash and Thor—to move away from his community of four years. To him, the six months in jail threatened by the GTNP Spokesperson is more palatable, though entirely unacceptable. A misdemeanor on his record carries a variety of collateral consequences, impacting employment, housing and international travel.

Unfortunately, simply paying a fine isn’t an option. Michelino, a local bartender struggling to make ends meet like the rest of us, must mount a legal defense at considerable expense with a trial set for May 20th.

Taxpayers will now pay tens of thousands of dollars on drawn-out litigation that the government may very well lose. Alternatively, Michelino would likely be receptive to volunteering on sign improvements and soil tilling—required steps to properly close and revegetate the trail that the NPS neglected to take. By dropping criminal charges, the NPS would accomplish all stated goals without costing taxpayers another dime.

In the words of Michelino’s father, “My son matured greatly through adolescence to adulthood, and like most, not without scars. Those scars are the life lessons that shape us into what we decide to be. His journey was tumultuous and not without errors and mistakes, but each step he took was of humility and kindness.”

We urge the NPS to recommend that the U.S. Attorney settles this prosecution with a reasonable civil compromise, potentially including mandatory volunteer hours. There’s no need for continued escalation when a sensible, kind resolution is available.

Supporting this petition does not require you to believe Michelino's FKT should be accepted or that the old climber’s trail should be used, merely that banishment is a step too far.

All views expressed above are those of the organizer and signed parties, and don’t reflect those of Michelino Sunseri or others involved.

At popular request, we created a Printful store for friends of Michelino to direct-order stickers, hats and t-shirts at cost plus shipping (no profits). Courtesy designs available here if you'd like to print yourself. Jackson Hole / Teton Valley residents, message Alex Rienzie or Connor Burkesmith for free stickers.