[Note: Below is a portion of a post of mine that had been removed, as it addressed the now-removed brouhaha, and was returned to me, at my request, by one of the moderators. After some deliberation, I am re-posting this portion so that it is part of the VFTT record and also because it is referred to in a post that remained a part of the thread. Please note that I am not making a judgment about Farmer's attempt & the associated trail breaking. It's my strong belief that discussing contrary points of view--call it arguing if you'd like--can be both enjoyable, illuminating, and stimulating provided that it is the ideas that are criticized, not the person expressing them.]
The point that Ryan207 raises is a legitimate one, in terms of winter hiking ethics and style, regardless of whether or not you agree with it. After all, having the trail broken out for you is performance enhancing. Does it mean that what Farmer is trying to accomplish is unimpressive? Certainly not, but it is inherently less impressive than if some hiked the same itinerary in a similar time, but had to break a considerably larger amount of trail.
An analogy would be comparing the effort and impressiveness of someone trying to speed hike the ADK 46 prior to the establishment of herd paths versus trying to speed hike the 46 today. Would a current-day attempt be invalid? Not in my view, but it certainly would pale in comparison to an attempt, if there was one, some 50 years ago.
For some, breaking trail is an inherent part of winter hiking. Does this mean that if a trail happens to be broken out, it isn't a true winter hike? Obviously, no. But, over the course of hiking a list or a for a season, one can reasonably expect to encounter unbroken trail, unless you are someone who waits to do a hike until after you know that it has been broken out. I can certainly understand the point of view that considers the latter to be poor style.
