Just got an e-mail from Liam O’Sullivan, a 29-year-old guide for International Mountain Guides in Ashford.

O’Sullivan, a Seattle native who starts med school at the UW on Monday, says he climbed Mount Rainier Tuesday morning in 4 hours, 46 minutes, 29 seconds.

This is a new unofficial speed record for a round trip from Paradise to the 14,411-foot summit and back.

O’Sullivan’s friend and fellow IMG guide Justin Merle set the unofficial record July 9 when he made the trip in 4:49:35. Previously, Chad Kellogg held the record with a 4:59:01 trip in 2004.

None of the climbs were officially timed.

Photo courtesy of Liam O’Sullivan

In an e-mail to his bosses at IMG, O’Sullivan said his legs cramped up during the climb forcing him to slow his descent. Cramps cost him another attempt at Merle’s record earlier this summer.