Scorecard
WSER Golden Ticket scorecard: Canyons vs Javelina
A Western States ticket is not a mountain. Canyons is the UTMB 100K on the Western States Trail. Javelina is the Halloween desert loop. Both can put you in the Olympic Valley conversation. Neither is the reason to skip Hardrock, HURT, or a real ridge.
Race Canyons if the Western States Trail 100K is the goal; race Javelina if you want the desert loop. Neither replaces a real mountain icon.
No blended index. Low Worth is the take.
Canyons 100K
Foresthill to Auburn, California · 100K
Demand
3 out of 5
How much it asks
Worth
2 out of 5
Worth the flight + fee
Canyons is a 100K on the Western States Trail with a UTMB logo, and both halves of that sentence are the score. The published line runs from China Wall toward downtown Auburn: Eldorado, Deadwood, Swinging Bridge, Devil's Thumb, Michigan Bluff, Foresthill, Cal Street, No Hands, Robie Point. About 12,300 feet of gain, 20 hours, a Western States qualifier. Demand is 3 because that is a hard canyon 100K, especially if April is already hot, and because it is still a 100K on trail you could describe without using the word alpine. Altitude is a 1. Technicality is WST, not Lone Peak. Heat in the canyons is the demand, not a 14er.
Javelina Jundred
McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Arizona · 100M
Demand
3 out of 5
How much it asks
Worth
3 out of 5
Worth the flight + fee
Javelina is in this catalog because people treat it like a destination 100, and we need a score that says what kind. It is a ~20-mile rolling loop on the Pemberton Trail in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, costumes, Golden Ticket, 30 hours, Halloween weekend. Demand is 3: 100 miles in desert heat-to-cold is a real night, and it is still a runnable loop. Vertical is a 2. Technicality is a 2. This is not HURT. This is not Hardrock. The demand is climate and distance, not terrain. A Golden Ticket does not turn a party loop into a mountain 100, and we are not going to score it as if it did.
| Dimension | Canyons 100K | Javelina Jundred |
|---|---|---|
Distance & format | 3 A 100K on the Western States Trail, 20-hour cutoff. Not a 100 miler, not alpine. | 4 A 100-mile loop party with a 30-hour cutoff and a Golden Ticket. The format is social, not alpine. |
Vertical | 3 About 12,300 ft of gain. Canyons, not fourteeners. | 2 Rolling desert. The vert is not the story. |
Technicality | 3 WST singletrack, swinging bridge, Cal Street. Trail, not scramble. | 2 Pemberton Trail singletrack, mostly runnable. Not a mountain 100. |
Climate | 4 Late April canyons can already be a heat race. That is the demand. | 4 Late October in the McDowells: heat by day, cold by night. Climate is the demand. |
Altitude | 1 American River canyons, not Sierra high country. The air is not the problem. | 1 Sonoran desert hills, not a 14er. |
Logistics | 3 Auburn/Foresthill is easy by mountain-ultra standards. UTMB stones are the tax. | 2 Fountain Hills / Phoenix airport. Easy. That is why people fly for a party 100. |
Prestige & field | 3 WS trail, competitive front. The sticker is World Series, not Hardrock. | 4 Golden Ticket, costumes, a deep field. Prestige of a scene, not a mountain. |
Organization | 4 Professional UTMB machine on a famous trail. Competent, commercial. | 4 Aravaipa machine, publicly documented, large. Competent. |
Value | 2 Circuit pricing to run a trail you could train on if you lived in Auburn. | 3 A destination for the scene. Not a destination for the mountains. Worth 3 is that split. |
Adventure & scenery | 4 El Dorado Canyon, No Hands, the river. Beautiful. Also a product. | 3 Saguaro and a costume 100. Desert pretty. Not a reason if you wanted ridges. |
Change the matchup
Swap races below. The curated pair above stays in the HTML for search.
Canyons 100K
Foresthill to Auburn, California · 100K
Demand
3 out of 5
How much it asks
Worth
2 out of 5
Worth the flight + fee
Javelina Jundred
McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Arizona · 100M
Demand
3 out of 5
How much it asks
Worth
3 out of 5
Worth the flight + fee
| Dimension | Canyons 100K | Javelina Jundred |
|---|---|---|
Distance & format | 3 A 100K on the Western States Trail, 20-hour cutoff. Not a 100 miler, not alpine. | 4 A 100-mile loop party with a 30-hour cutoff and a Golden Ticket. The format is social, not alpine. |
Vertical | 3 About 12,300 ft of gain. Canyons, not fourteeners. | 2 Rolling desert. The vert is not the story. |
Technicality | 3 WST singletrack, swinging bridge, Cal Street. Trail, not scramble. | 2 Pemberton Trail singletrack, mostly runnable. Not a mountain 100. |
Climate | 4 Late April canyons can already be a heat race. That is the demand. | 4 Late October in the McDowells: heat by day, cold by night. Climate is the demand. |
Altitude | 1 American River canyons, not Sierra high country. The air is not the problem. | 1 Sonoran desert hills, not a 14er. |
Logistics | 3 Auburn/Foresthill is easy by mountain-ultra standards. UTMB stones are the tax. | 2 Fountain Hills / Phoenix airport. Easy. That is why people fly for a party 100. |
Prestige & field | 3 WS trail, competitive front. The sticker is World Series, not Hardrock. | 4 Golden Ticket, costumes, a deep field. Prestige of a scene, not a mountain. |
Organization | 4 Professional UTMB machine on a famous trail. Competent, commercial. | 4 Aravaipa machine, publicly documented, large. Competent. |
Value | 2 Circuit pricing to run a trail you could train on if you lived in Auburn. | 3 A destination for the scene. Not a destination for the mountains. Worth 3 is that split. |
Adventure & scenery | 4 El Dorado Canyon, No Hands, the river. Beautiful. Also a product. | 3 Saguaro and a costume 100. Desert pretty. Not a reason if you wanted ridges. |