The Tetons hold a special place in the lives of many north american climbers; i am no different. The first "big" alpine objective i ever attempted was on the Grand Teton shortly after moving to Salt Lake. Since then, i have been back a few times to climb or ski in the park. Each time, I am amazed at the progress i have made in my fitness and climbing competency. What once was inconceivable in a day has now become just one step in a much larger objective. What remains constant is the astounding, overwhelming beauty of the place.
At the beginning of this year, on a bit of a whim, i set 3 goals for myself. Complete the WURL in salt lake (haven't tried it yet, hopefully i will before the snow starts), Climb the Original Route on the Rainbow Wall in Red Rock, Las Vegas (a 14 pitch 5.12 that is amazingly beautiful but so seemingly far out of my reach that this was more of a moonshot), and complete the Grand Teton Traverse in one push under 24 hours. All of these goals were past the edge of what i perceived my limit to be, but hey that's the point of goals, right? To push you to be better. Of the three goals, i thought this would be the most achievable. The WURL involves 36 miles of "running" with 20,000 vertical feet of gain over a rocky ridge line. I hardly lead 5.12 in the gym, let alone even thinking about leading 5.12 on gear in a remote multi-pitch setting similar to what is required for the Rainbow Wall. The Grand Traverse, however, was "only" 14 miles, ~13000 vertical feet of gain, with climbing up to 5.7 on the north face of the Grand Teton. I have done 10,000 plus foot vertical gain days hiking on skis with relatively little problem so i thought this would be the easiest to start with.
The route goes roughly as follows: East face of Teewinot (~6000 ft of gain class 4 climbing, though i have yet to find the truly 4th class route), Peak 11840, East Prong (both 4th class) Mt Owen (5.4), Grand Teton North Face from the gun-sight notch (5.7 ish, generally 6-7 pitches of roped climbing), Middle Teton North Ridge (5.5) South Teton (3rd class), a bunch of small peaks including: Ice Cream Cone (5.7) Blob, Gilkey, Spaulding, Cloudveil (4th class), and finally Nez Perce (4th class) linking all of the Tetons, and several other major peaks in the central Teton range into one loop that remains above 11000 feet for nearly its entire length. It links some amazing peaks and classic climbing through the heart of the Teton range.
This climb is plagued by the alpine catch-22: The more you take with you, the longer you will take to do the route, therefore the more safety margin you need on route due to being exposed to the risks of climbing for so long, thus requiring that you take more gear to be safe. Its a vicious cycle. We suffered a bit from this because of the time of year. The first attempt was early august, which was still considered "early season" due to the snow this year. The second attempt was early September after the first snow of this year and was probably "too late". There is a sweet spot of minimal gear requirements and maximal speed/efficiency/safety sometime around the second or third week of August. For both attempts, an ice axe was brought with, and if nothing else, helped ease the decent and make it more fun (glissading is WAY better than walking down the loose boulder fields in both forks).
On September 8th my alarm went off at 12:30 am. Wohoo! Almost 3 hours of sleep! Adam and i wrap up our bivys, head over to the car to get some coffee started, pack some last minute items, and eat breakfast. By 1:15am we had started up the Teewinot trail. The trail is pretty obvious until it hits a snow band. After that the scrambling begins and i have yet to find the true 4th class way up this peak from the east. Adam and i negotiate the 4th class terrain with the occasional 5.5+ sections in approach shoes in the dark. At least with the stifling darkness we cant see how high up we are. We got to the top of Teewinot by 4:30am, still a long time until sunrise but that is OK because we still have a LONG way to go! The summit didn't afford much in the way of views, probably because it was still ~3 hours before sunrise and there was no moon, but we were greeted with a constant flash of lightening far to our north in the Yellowstone area. Looks like it will be an exciting day!
Adam riding the summit of Teewinot at 4:30am
Looking back at Teewinot from east prong at sunrise
We quickly made it down then over to peak 11840. In early august i did the loose walk around, this time we opted for the rappels off the backside. I am not sure which i think is better. Time wise, they are pretty close, but i guess going up and over the top saves a little bit of energy from not walking? I suppose if you had the walk around dialed it might be quicker though. Moving over to east prong it becomes apparent: no one has attempted the traverse, even the cathedral or the Teewinot-Owen, since the snowstorm at the end of august 2 weeks prior, so we get to set the trail through the snowfields! Its a good thing we brought the ice axes!
After crossing the Koven Col, the weather we had been watching roll through to the north finally makes its way into the Tetons. It looks like we hit the "20%" in our 20% chance of rain. On a positive note, the precipitation didn't come down as rain! Adam and i look up as the clouds roll in at sunrise to see a wave of graupel swirling though the air about to engulf us. Maybe i am a bit masochistic or just crazy, but i think it is really interesting being in the mountains, canyons, or really anywhere, when some "less than ideal" weather rolls through. Places just seem so much more vivid and alive when weather rolls through, like i am witnessing a secret side of the mountain that is held back from those who only venture out in the sunlight and blue skies. We paused, Adam remarks on how amazing the swirling clouds of graupel are (you can actually see the graupel swirling, thrown every which way by the winds, it was really cool, maybe i am just nerding out on the weather a bit though). I urge us to keep moving because it just got really cold, windy, and now with the precipitation everything is getting wet. At the very least, i know there are some sheltered spots closer to the summit of Mt Owen that we can hunker down in if we need to. The snow and ice covering rocky sections on Mt Owen made a usually casual section a bit more spicy but beautiful nonetheless. By the time we were at the base of the Koven chimney (route to the top of Mt Owen), the weather had mostly blown through, leaving us with some stout winds, cold temps, and wet cloths, gear, and rock. After a quick summit, we returned to a sunlit wind sheltered spot for a nap/warm up while we waited for the north face of the Grand to dry a bit, we are 8 hours in to the traverse (slowed down by adverse weather) and still had a long way to go, so a short nap to wait for better conditions was welcome!
Adam pointing to where we will be going soon! Its gonna be exciting!
Me looking up at a moody Grand Teton as the weather rolls in
With clear skies and strong winds, we dropped into the notch on the south west side of Mt Owen and quickly made it to gunsight notch. In August, i got to lead all pitches on the north face of the Grand, so i let Adam do the honors this time. He threw on the one pair of rock shoes we had brought with (just in case the north face was too icy and we had to climb a more difficult route) and set off out of the gunsight. With a single 60 meter rope we were able to get through all of the technical climbing and up to the 4th class section leading to the top of the grandstand and the beginning of the north face proper. There were some sweet ice flows forming on the north face that i would love to find more information about. "what are we doing?!? we should be over on that ICE!" Adam exclaims, but those weren't our objective for the day and will have to wait for another trip, plus we don't have the gear which makes saying no to the temptation easy. The north face was in less than ideal conditions. In a lot of places, there was an invisible thin and glassy layer of ice covering the rock which made for some tenuous climbing, especially in approach shoes.
Me Rappelling into the Gunsight Notch
Me climbing near the top of the technical climbing on the Grandstand
Near the summit, what was a visibly clear sky turned out to be clear to the north, with a snow squall approaching the peak from the south-east. As Adam topped the "boulder problem in the sky" a short boulder to make the top out on the summit of the grand more fun, i heard a strange noise. It sounded like pressure was releasing from something in my pack; i didn't think much of it at first. Adam started hearing it too, so we immediately threw our packs which both featured a lovely lightning-rod esque ice axe begging for a strike, and hid under a boulder as the snow squall rolled through dropping more graupel. The storm didn't seem overly electrical but that is the only thing we can think was causing the really strange noise. In 5 minutes, it was over, the skies cleared, and we were on the summit.
Adam looking out over his kingdom, On the Summit of the Grand Teton
The mental crux of the grand traverse is definitely leaving the lower saddle (after the "cathedral traverse'). The trail is so enticing and the trip back up Middle Teton (while only ~1300 feet of vert) starts to look disheartening. This is where Vlad and I turned around in early august. We got the benefit of a high snow year at that time and were able to glissade most of middle teton glacier and the snowfields below to avoid walking most of the descent. After a quick break to refuel and refill water, Adam and I say no to the easy out and continue up and over Middle Teton. The ascent went quickly, however the 5.5-6 section leading out of the black dike notch and onto the "summit" ridge was a bit of a mental crux. Soloing heady 4-5th class terrain for hours in the dark, then in the snow and rain mentally takes its toll. The steep and fractured pitch of rock definitely put me on high alert, especially since Adam had run ahead as i took a moment to relieve myself halfway up the route. Standing alone on the summit of the Middle Teton late in the afternoon in the now beautiful weather was a real treat though, and made the trip up the ridge 100% worth it.
Looking at the loose and rocky descent and subsequent potential ascent of South Teton soured the moment a bit; the ascent looked a bit longer than i had hoped. I though i was out of the woods and over a LCL strain in my left knee that resulted from overuse/the last time i attempted the traverse but on the descent it really started acting up and becoming a bit unstable/painful to walk. Disheartened due to the long distance still to go to get to South Teton and the ridgline that followed, and taking into account the time of day, speed at which i could move, pain in my knee, and technical difficulty that still remained i made the call to Adam that i didn't think we should continue. The time has come and i admit to myself that i am just not good enough to complete the route in a day.
Looking at the loose and rocky descent and subsequent potential ascent of South Teton soured the moment a bit; the ascent looked a bit longer than i had hoped. I though i was out of the woods and over a LCL strain in my left knee that resulted from overuse/the last time i attempted the traverse but on the descent it really started acting up and becoming a bit unstable/painful to walk. Disheartened due to the long distance still to go to get to South Teton and the ridgline that followed, and taking into account the time of day, speed at which i could move, pain in my knee, and technical difficulty that still remained i made the call to Adam that i didn't think we should continue. The time has come and i admit to myself that i am just not good enough to complete the route in a day.
Vlad descending Middle Teton Glacier in early August. Everyone was wondering what we were doing out on the snow including a question "what is that orange spike thing for??" Oh the ice axe? its for having fun!
Backing off is something i struggle with sometimes, did i make the right call? Am i just being a chickenshit and backing off, taking the easy way out? In February i was in Canada attempting a winter ascent of Mt Sir Donald when another friend, Teddy, and i made the call to bail about 1500ft from the summit with daylight left. Technically i think we definitely could have made it to the summit and back but we would have been risking a night out in Canada in February. I have been kicking myself a bit ever since for backing off. Now i was faced with a similar situation. There was still light left, we still had strength, but i could tell the state of my LCL was deteriorating. I think i could have "toughed it out" and completed the traverse but that would have put us on the ridge line in loose and unknown 4th-5th class terrain tired and in the dark. I am sure we could have finished the route but I guess on a base level i didn't want to risk a substantial injury and complicated descent and missing out on ski season in order to finish the goal. I think i made the right choice? It is an iterative learning process and I am still trying to figure out where to draw the line between pushing myself and doing something stupid. But we were so close to finishing!
Backing off is something i struggle with sometimes, did i make the right call? Am i just being a chickenshit and backing off, taking the easy way out? In February i was in Canada attempting a winter ascent of Mt Sir Donald when another friend, Teddy, and i made the call to bail about 1500ft from the summit with daylight left. Technically i think we definitely could have made it to the summit and back but we would have been risking a night out in Canada in February. I have been kicking myself a bit ever since for backing off. Now i was faced with a similar situation. There was still light left, we still had strength, but i could tell the state of my LCL was deteriorating. I think i could have "toughed it out" and completed the traverse but that would have put us on the ridge line in loose and unknown 4th-5th class terrain tired and in the dark. I am sure we could have finished the route but I guess on a base level i didn't want to risk a substantial injury and complicated descent and missing out on ski season in order to finish the goal. I think i made the right choice? It is an iterative learning process and I am still trying to figure out where to draw the line between pushing myself and doing something stupid. But we were so close to finishing!
Descending to the Meadows in Garnet Canyon in early August. The south fork looks like this, just ~3 miles longer and less fun.
Descending was a bit painful. The LCL issue really only manifested itself when walking on rocky terrain going down. Which is all the descent through the south fork of Garnet Canyon is. For Miles. Adam and I got a bit of glissading in, I got to get a bit of skreeing in (scree skiing) because it was the faster and easier way down for my knee. Around dusk we made it to the meadows, which remain mostly covered in snow from an absolutely massive avalanche that occurred sometime in February, the remnants of which contributed to the decision a group of friends and myself made to back off from skiing the hourglass couloirs on Nes Perce. Around 10:30 we made it back to the car, exhausted from the 22 hours of movement, countless feet of rock climbed, then descended, and a full value day in the mountains. And to think, people do this shit in 6 and a half hours! THat is absolutely mind blowing! Definitely, hats off to Rolo garibotti and Nick Ellison (current speed holder), that is an inhuman effort to put up that kind of time on the route!
Time for some left over pizza and beer!! In the morning we won't relax, hang out, and say hi to bears like I did in August, Adam is on a time crunch and has to get back to Salt Lake to study for school, that's dedication!
Good Morning Bear! A bear says hi as I while i was trying to put shoes on after a quick dip in Jenny Lake
Did i mention the attempt occurred right after my birthday, on my first day of 28? 28 didn't start off as such a smashing success as I hoped it would. Rather it turned out to be nothing but failure, I guess it can only get better from here though? Hopefully after another year of ski touring and training, i will come back and crush it next year! I am hanging up alpine climbing for the season, its time to run off to the desert for some towers and big walls! Zion here i come!!
The north face of the Grand shrouded in clouds as a storm approaches
Waking up in my bivy to an outstanding view of Teewinot, couldn't ask for a better view
