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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 31, 2015 - 11:25am PT
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I made two trips to the Tetons when I was very young. First, right after I got my driver's license at 16, and another time just after high school. I turned 18 on that trip. Both times I went with my childhood partner.
Coming from Oklahoma, and it being the late 70's, we knew very little about how to actually climb. It was hard to get info back then, so everything was an adventure.
I remember leading my first 5.8. A route on Baxter Pinnacle, on the 1st trip. We also did the Exum Ridge (a 5 star route for its grade) and other routes. Chuck Pratt must have been guiding there, because we saw him every evening at the Jenny Lake Boulders. He was a quiet man. I can't recall him ever speaking.
I turned 18, and we celebrated my new drinking age at the Moose Bar in the afternoon. Pratt was there, at the end of the bar, sipping on red wine. We were paralyzed with hero worship and didn't say a word to him. He might have been the quietest person that I have never met.
The Tetons are beautiful, and one of the only places in the lower 48 where you can do real alpine routes. The view from Jackson Hole, looking at the east faces of the Tetons, was one of the classic views in all of climbing. The winters are cold, so winter ascents have a more modern feel to them.
They had the AAC run Climber's Ranch, and for all I know, it is still there. It was like Camp 4, but not so raucous. You could meet partners and socialize in the evenings.
The difficulty of the routes wasn't up there with other areas, but the routes were big and spooky looking. One time we hitched a ride across the lake to Mt. Moran from a couple of true Vulgarians. The canoe had about 4 inches of freeboard. We could have sunk.
Devil's Tower isn't that far away, and you gotta go there. Tons of great routes.
I've thought about going back there this or next summer to do some routes that we were too afraid of back in the day.
I went a third time, just after I got married. I guided my wife up the easy route on the Grand, the Owens-Spaulding route. Allan Bard died guiding that route, although it is only 5.5. It has great exposure, and the belly crawl pitch may be the most exposed 5.5 in the country.
So who else went to the Tetons and were baptized as alpine climbers? What did you do? What were your recollections? Anyone been there recently? There is a lot of rock there.
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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Dec 31, 2015 - 11:50am PT
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Direct Exum on the Grand. Beautiful route, clean rock. And the best easy-access backcountry skiing anywhere, imo. Making my annual pilgrimage there in Feb.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Dec 31, 2015 - 12:06pm PT
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Did some backpacking there. Went up Paintbrush Canyon and spent 5 days near the summit of Paintbrush Divide. Hiked the whole loop back down to Jenny Lake. Woke up one morning with a bunch of Elk walking through our camp.
Beautiful area. I need to go back and try some of the routes.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Dec 31, 2015 - 12:15pm PT
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I grew up in a era when the Tetons were the epicenter of American climbing. The Nose and the NW face of Half Dome had just been done, California free climbing had begun to surpass Colorado and Teton standards (Teton Grade VI's in Ortenburger's guides were typically 5.7, occasionally 5.8) but US climbers were mostly ignorant of the granite revolution going on in the Valley and at Tahquitz, mountaineering still held the place of honor in the climbing world, and everyone passed through Jackson Hole on their way to other ranges. The Tetons were where it was at.
My first climb, in 1957 as a 14 year-old client of the Exum guide service, was the Owen-Spaulding route on the Grand, and for a while I labored under the quaint misapprehension that the Tetons were the only climbing area in the US. Even after I knew this to be false, it remained for my friends and I the hub of our summer climbing trips through the 60's, during which period I must have done somewhere between 50--100 climbs there (depending on whether or not you count repeats), including a few utterly inconsequential firsts or variations and almost all of the "classics," (the North Ridge of the Grand be a notable exception that got away).
A few Teton shots from a very long time ago:
Jenny Lake Campground:
On the way up to the North Face of Cloudveil Point:
About to get started on Cloudveil Dome:
On Cloudveil Dome:
Rebufattian pose on the Guide's Wall, Storm Point:
High on the Guide's Wall:
Jensen Ridge, Symmetry Spire:
On the Lower Exum Ridge:
Black Face, Lower Exum Ridge:
SW Ridge of Disappointment Peak:
North Face of Disappointment Peak:
High on the North Face of the Grand:
Bivouac below Skillet Glacier, Mt. Moran
On Skillet Glacier, Mt. Moran
Summit, Mt. Moran (after Skillet Glacier route):
Crossing Leigh Creek on the way into Leigh Canyon for South Buttress of Moran Routes (real men do not take canoe!)
South Buttress, Mt. Moran
South Buttress Right, Mt. Moran
South Buttress Right:
Jenny Lake Boulders: Cutfinger Crack one-handed:
Jenny Lake Boulders: the Master, John Gill, at work:
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Dec 31, 2015 - 12:36pm PT
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Climbed the Snaz in the mid 70's and it was great. We did some other stuff that I can't remember. We were staying with Keith Hadley at the Jenny lake ranger cabins. Lots of bouldering around Jenny Lake.
Been back many times, generally for riding. One of my favorite parks for sure.
Marty
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Dec 31, 2015 - 12:52pm PT
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I learned to climb out on the East coast - places like winter on Mt. Washington and summer at Whitehorse. The day after graduating from high school in New England my brother and I loaded up the Pontiac LeMans and drove 3,000 miles back to our beloved California.
On the way, we stopped in the Tetons for a our very first "real" mountain experience. It was a helluva lot bigger than we had imagined, after putzing around in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We wanted to climb the Grand and ended up summiting Fair Share Tower.
Alpine starts, young teenagers, it was still a "grand" time for all.
This was 40 years ago. Fell in love with the High Sierra and subsequently never had any desire to return to the Tetons.
HEAD WEST, YOUNG MAN
On Fair Share Tower
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Dec 31, 2015 - 01:27pm PT
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Just found this stuffed in a book...
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jstan
climber
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Dec 31, 2015 - 01:41pm PT
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Many eastern climbers in the mid 60's did indeed think the Tetons was where something really good
was happening. I think it was on my first trip we met two climbers running down the mountain. One of
them had a smile at least 18 inches wide. You know from this, of whom I speak. Don Storjohann. His
partner was Pete Cleveland. His facial expression we will not, here, go into.
On the second trip I was tasked with provisioning for a trip of 8 people lasting a month. Being an
orderly type I had eight different numbered breakfasts, four of which involved pancakes. Being first up
I would yell out, "It's a number 6 today." I kept getting back moans that sounded like, "Oh gawd! Not
pancakes again." I was not again tasked with provisioning anything.
A most welcome result.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 31, 2015 - 01:51pm PT
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Guided a n00b up the Grand in October. It would have been considered full winter conditions
most other places but there it was business as usual, if you like verglas. It was a nice day,
when you could stand up straight. Anyway, it got so windy on the descent that I had to tie
rocks to the rope ends otherwise I'd have been pulling them down as I rappelled. The funny
part was that the night before we shared the hut with two of the head guides for Outward
Bound. They bailed on Middle. LOL!
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Dec 31, 2015 - 02:55pm PT
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Added twenty or so pictures to my original post...
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Dec 31, 2015 - 02:57pm PT
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Here's one of me and three of Sune Tamm-Buckle on the FA of Prospect of an End on the North Face of the Enclosure in the late 90's.
I remember he made it past the overhang and onto the slab above, got some pro in, lowered off and handed me the rack. That was the first (crux) pitch after exiting the Enclosure Couloir.
In the Enclosure Couloir on the approach
Heading out of the Enclosure Couloir to the base of the route
The start of Prospect of an End
First of the rock pitches
The mixed pitch exiting the head wall
Near the top of the line right before it joins the upper part of the high route
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Dec 31, 2015 - 03:05pm PT
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Awesome photos, Rich! Is that RR?
I climbed there for my first mountain experience in 1974 (not a great
trip, as I blistered terribly). Howie Doyle saved me from drowning
in a creek up near the top of Garnet Canyon. . . Did the Guide's wall and
a couple of other minor climbs--tried the Petzold Ridge and my partner dropped a large rock on my head. . . then were weathered off. . .
My next trip, in 1977, was much better, though we got lost on the
North Ridge of the Grand and ended up climbing up the west face, missing
the top due to zooming winds that knocked my partner down. . .
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Dec 31, 2015 - 04:00pm PT
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Agree with Steve. Stellar photos, Rich. Wonderful history.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Dec 31, 2015 - 04:50pm PT
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Tried to solo Tewinot and Moran but just ran out of gas. The approaches were brutal; I was off the couch and was just too out of shape.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Dec 31, 2015 - 05:18pm PT
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I fantasized about the Tetons for years. Then went there in '74.
Yeah, did the direct Exum with a few new minor variations, Baxter Pinnacle, check.
Then I became a desert climber and it took years to return.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Dec 31, 2015 - 05:32pm PT
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i owe a debt of gratitude to the late and esteemable mr. rat hole for providing me with tent space for the entire summer of 1985? next to his cabin on guides hill. it was a treat to partner up with members of the crew who had ambitions to climb off-menu fare of substance on their days off. thank you ratty, many a fine memory your generosity provided
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Dec 31, 2015 - 05:37pm PT
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Here's another short photo TR from the FA of Mr.Glass (aka Three Shots in the Dizzy Wind) with Kevim Mahoney on the North Face of the Enclosure in early fall of 2000(?).
Approaching up the Enclosure Couloir
Heading out of the Enclosure Couloir to the base of the route
Looking up at Mr. Glass (aka Three Shots in the Dizzy Wind)
Kevin on the first pitch
Me on the second pitch
Kevin on the third pitch
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Dec 31, 2015 - 06:19pm PT
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I climbed with and stayed in Jackson with local Steve Quinlan while in the area for about eight days during a late summer in the early eighties. Two years before that, in 1981, Steve and I had climbed the Zodiac. We had a really great time on the route (our 3rd El Cap route for both of us) so he left me an open invitation to come out to Wyoming and climb with him. I was about 25 at the time and I brought my girl friend Cathy (wife to be), our two kids Manuel and Cecily, and our dog in a '74 VW beetle. We went to Yellowstone for a few days also before driving back to Sacramento. We were gone two weeks and the whole trip cost us only $300. Of course that was a lot of money to us back then.
Steve and I went up to do the Black Ice Couloir but rain turned us around. Then we took the family with us and Steve, Cathy, and I top roped one afternoon at a local limestone crag, which was about 60 to 100 foot high, but I can't remember the name of it. Only time I ever climbed that stuff, steep with sharp in-cut holds and tiny ragged pockets. It was finger shredding vertical face climbing kind of like Owens River Gorge but on white limestone instead.
The best of our trip was after that, we all canoed one lake, portaged and then rowed across Jenny Lake. We canoed across to a base camp on the western shore of Jenny Lake for three days. The canoe was close to being swamped with three adults, two little kids, a dog, and all our gear in it. My son and daughter might not remember it well, they were only about five and seven at the time, but it was one of the most beautiful wilderness trips we ever took them on.
Steve and I climbed a grade IV on the south side of Mt. Moran, rapped the route, and got back to base in the dark. I think it was the South Buttress Right but that was over thirty years ago so I’m really not sure, I only remember there were many pitches, one or two with 5.10 and a short aid section in the middle or near the top. The position was so exposed and beautiful. My wife and kids almost lost the dog, Jack, while they were hiking back to Lake Jenny from where we left them on the approach. Jack the Dog was 6 months old then and like a son to me, he was really upset that I left him with my family as I went off to climb. It all worked out though because when they got back to camp, he was sitting by the tent waiting for them. Someday I’ll dig out my old photos of the area and post them, faded and yellowed as they probably are now
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Dec 31, 2015 - 06:34pm PT
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great thread with just a few posts so far
yeah, I've climbed in the Tetons, amazing place
one of the only places in the lower 48 where you can do real alpine routes.
if only this were so. I'm not quite a generation younger than Base (well, biologically, yeah, but in modern terms not quite), but I've hiked in twice to do the classic Black Ice Couloir only to find it a shooting gallery devoid of ice. Sad.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Dec 31, 2015 - 06:48pm PT
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Here's the Jackson/Woodmancy on the North Face of Middle Teton in the late 90's.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Dec 31, 2015 - 07:21pm PT
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Baxters in 86 Don't really have many photos of climbing in tetons. most stuff got lost or was with other partners....
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Dec 31, 2015 - 07:54pm PT
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^^^^^
. . . and I top roped one afternoon at a local limestone crag, which was about 60 to 100 foot high, but I can't remember the name of it. Only time I ever climbed that stuff, steep with sharp in-cut holds and tiny ragged pockets. It was finger shredding vertical face climbing kind of like Owens River Gorge but on white limestone instead
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Dec 31, 2015 - 10:54pm PT
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Blacktail Butte, that was it. Thank you Mr. Gill. It was a popular place, even back then, which wasn't really so long ago considering you must have been soloing there fifty or more years ago.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Tetons is where I got the climbing bug in 81-82 but i never did any roped climbing that year. I was a total noob!
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Here's another one I found from Mike Ruth (Exum guide) from the late 90's. It's right of the Jackson/Woodmancy on the north face of Middle Teton
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Tradman, I think your shot of the main peaks is from Baxter's, because here's the view from the Guide's Wall, which is pretty much directly opposite Mt. Owen:
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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rgold
those are some rockin' photos
everyone is posting great stuff
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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I don't know if we went to guides wall or something else? I remember following directions or getting directions from a guide to a 2 pitch 5.7 somewhere but i don't remember the view and have no photos of it? The photos of martha on the way to climb would that have been the start of the hike to baxters? pretty shure the climbing shots were definatly on baxters. I remember takeing my shirt off and martha haveing a hard time cleaning a red tricam on that last steep pitch to the summit. It took her quite awhile and I got a richly deserved sunburn after giving her a hard time about being slow cleaning the pitch.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Something in Cascade Canyon around 2001
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hellroaring
Trad climber
San Francisco
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In the summer of 1989 I was working in Yellowstone. A buddy of mine was fresh off one of those semester in the Rockies courses at NOLS. At the time I had never climbed a thing & was petrified of heights. Somehow he talked me and a few others to go and give the Middle Teton a try. The noob factor of the group was off the charts.
We rented ice axes at Moose Junction, and our NOLS friend gave us a short tutorial at our campsite in Garnet Canyon on how to self arrest. He never said or demonstrated the concept of using the ice axe for self-belay purposes & that self arrest is a last resort after screwing up. The route itself wasn't technical but it was early summer and we did have to cross several steep snow fields that sat above cliffs.
We all made it up to the summit and back. A couple of us, myself included, did indeed slip & self arrested. I remember being surprised at how quickly you gained momentum, especially while wearing nylon wind pants! When we got back down to the trailhead I saw an informational sign that I had missed on the hike in, that warned tourists that a slip on steep snow could easily prove fatal. I realized at that moment how much dumb luck had been our friend.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Teton Minutiae: Red Sentinel North Face:
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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It's great to see a thread about the Tetons. I think it was 1955 that I was in the park for the first time and joined several members of the Princeton Mountaineering Club for the east face of Teewinot. I had just come from Georgia and thought I was in fair condition, but the bushwhack up and lengthy scramble did me in. I can't recall us finding a path through the brush and trees to timberline.
In the latter 1950s I would sneak up onto the south face of Storm Point and explore new climbs by myself. I don't recall the fine for solo climbing, but I never had to pay it, although I was discovered doing the back side of Baxter's Pinnacle one time. Incidentally, after Baxter and crew aided the spire it was lost for many years until I saw its profile in the setting sun one day, and a friend and I scrambled up to it the next day. I told Yvon about it and he went up and climbed it with Ken Weeks(?) or someone, using a spot of aid. It seems like Kamps & party went up and freed it, and then I freed the DA crack. It's in a guidebook somewhere but I'm too lazy to look it up.
Nice memories.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Richard,
Your photo of Mt. Owen clearly shows Run-Don't-Walk Couloir, which brings back memories. Yvon Chouinard invited me along on an attempt to climb it in 1971, but after a bivouac Yvon decided it wasn't in condition. The next year, I went back with John Bouchard, and bagged the 1st ascent.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Our shadows on the way to the S. Ridge of Nez Perce. I think it is Buck Mountain in the background...
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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The Red Sentinel. Cool. You don't see photos of that often...
Steve A let's see some photos of the Run Don't Walk. Here's one from a failed attempt around 2000
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Here's a better distance view of the Walk-Don't-Run couloir:
Taken late June I think.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Here's a few from the South Buttress Drifter and the Kelley/Beyer on the South Buttress of Mount Moran. Both really good routes...
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Rgold,
Thanks so much for that enhanced photo of "Run-Don't Walk", on Mt. Owen!
It is a nice New Years gift, since I've never seen that view before. I remember where that ice shute really narrows down, seen in the photo, it's close to vertical, and really narrow, about 10 feet wide. On the 1st ascent, something about the size of a refrigerator, came thru that narrow slot, and just missed us, ha, ha.
I still need to scan most of my slides from BITD, but will keep procrastinating.
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Here's my humble contribution to this great thread. I had the chance to climb The Grand for my 60th birthday.
Ah, to be young again!
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Hi Phil,
Yes, it is a beautiful place. Have a great 2016!
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Cheers mate! And Happy New Year to you.
Yes, beautiful mountains. My visits there have been a precious few.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Tryin' to keep the Teton psych going...
Guide's Wall:
Cloudveil Dome North Face:
On the way to the SW Ridge (Buckingham Arete) of Middle Teton:
North Face of Middle Teton from the Lower Exum Ridge:
Casual day in Hanging Canyon. Cube Point on the left, Symmetry Spire on the Right.
Glissading back to platforms camp in Garnet Canyon:
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wallyvirginia
Trad climber
Stockholm, Sweden
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Wonderful photos Rgold!
There's something about these photos from the fifties and sixties that resonates really well with me, in a way that pictures of climbing from the seventies and onwards never do.
Mostly aesthetically I guess, the gear and clothes are beautiful in their simplicity but still seems light and functional.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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OP. Yes. 1965.
In the mid 60s the Tetons was where the poor people went. If you had a car you went to the Rockies, the Bugs or the Winds. Otherwise you hitched from Yos, Eldo or the Gunks to the Tetons. The Jenny Lake climbers' campground was a lot like C4, with the added advantage of having the lake right there.
Jenny Lake climbers' campground. One and a bit [arm only] waitresses from the Yos Lodge coffee shop, Joe Faint sitting, and Dennis Mehmet on the right.
Dennis and I did the south buttress left and the south ridge of Moran, taking 2 full days. We walked around the lake, and all the way back to Jenny Lake, arriving about 2 am of the 2nd night. We were so stoked we could have walked all night!
Hamie belays the "pendulum pitch".
John Roskelley climbed our descent route a few days later.
Joe Faint low on the north face of the Grand. We did the 2nd one day ascent, taking about 18 hours lake to lake. The late Pete Sinclair did the first.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Great stuff. Only climbed there once but got up the Direct Exum, back in the mid 80's.
BAd
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Wow, thanks for posting all the historic photos. Especially rgold, jgill, and johnkelly.
I'm psyched to go up there next summer, you pretty much have me convinced. Just need to find a partner.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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I might not be in the mainstream on this, but I always made relatively early-season visits (i.e late June to perhaps mid-July) to the Tetons in order to enjoy them in a more alpine context. I'd much rather plod up a snow slope than a scree slope, and glissading from the lower saddle down to the Garnet Canyon trail in a matter of minutes sure beats coming down the endless mid-to-late season moraine.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Yeah I'd go either early season or in early fall. Far fewer people, more ice/snow, no dust...
There's a bunch of really good rarely done ice/mixed routes to pick from in spring/fall.
On the Grand there's the Tower Two Chute on the Second Tower, The High Route and Mr. Glass on the North side of the Enclosure, the Root Canal, the North East Couloir, and the Grand North Couloir (Shea's Chute) on the North Face.
The Run Don't Walk on Owen, the Minor Fourth Couloir on Moran....
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steve shea
climber
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RGold and JK that is exactly why I moved here from Chamonix. To be here when the good stuff was in; ice mixed. I almost never climb here in summer. Summer is pretty busy now. Plus, you need permits well in advance. August is for the Winds or the Beartooths.
The Run Don't Walk is an interesting route once you get there. It has the approach from hell. But as John says some good stuff comes in in the autumn. I've done it spring and fall. The NE Snowfields on Mt Owen are often good in the fall. Neve stretches connected by short ice sections. Really reminiscent of easy routes in Cham. The Tetons in spring can be fantastic for alpine climbing given a good winter's snowpack and cooperative spring weather. There is ice everywhere at times.
BTW I think two guys climbed what called the Grand North Couloir in '78.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Wooo...great thread!
Fun!
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Belay at the top of the Black Face on the Lower Exum Ridge:
A "late-season scree field" underneath Middle Teton (note the 2-piece ice ax):
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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This thread has longer legs than I expected.
Along with good climbing, good food and some romance are also important. Here are a couple of examples.
Most rest days, and there were lots of them, we would catch a ride or hitch into Jackson. There was a small sporting goods/climbing store there which was beside a restaurant that was closed. An unlocked door connected the two stores. The owner of the climbing store told us to go into the restaurant and check the deep freeze. We were delighted to find a large number of freezer burned steaks inside. Somehow we managed to keep this a secret, and we were able to pick up a few free [but old] steaks on each visit to town.
One day someone heading to Jackson arrived at an accident scene involving a bakery truck. He was able to 'acquire' a large number of pies, which he brought back to Jenny Lake. He then walked around the campground shouting "Stolen pies. Get them while they're hot". Free steak and free pies, we were in heaven.
Dennis told us that on one occasion when he was hitching into Jackson he was picked up by an attractive lady, who then propositioned him. He claims that he declined the offer. Logic dictates that at least one of those 'facts' has to be untrue.
After a brief romantic encounter with a passing tourist I said,"Goodbye, it's been nice knowing you." "Yes," she replied, "In the biblical sense!"
Good times. The camping was free. All you needed was a weekly entrance pass, as this campground did not officially exist. I doubt if the ACC ranch is as much fun.
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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In 1983, driving from New Hampshire to the Valley, I was splitting gas and driving with a visiting Brit who was a runner but had never climbed. We pulled into the Tetons late in the afternoon and hiked in to the bivy for the Grand, and the next morning I roped Raymond up (so he couldn't go back) and dragged him up the Upper Exum. We were the first to summit since the last round of storms, and had the summit to ourselves. At the OS rappel I realized that I had to do some trickery to get down with one rope, so lowered Raymond and was just about to figure out the next bit when another party joined us from above and we rapped down on two lines. We spent that night back in the tent before hiking down and continuing on to Craters of the Moon, some fishing on the Snake, and then down to the Big Ditch.
I was so impressed by Tetons that a few years later I returned with my new wife for our honeymoon, which included a three day backpack along the Teton Crest Trail.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Hey (idle) rich, cool shot of Leigh Ortenburger (RIP), an iconic Teton figure and author of some of the most delightfully incomprehensible guidebooks ever.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Early morning mists lifting:
Rushing down before the storm hits:
Red Sentinel Rappel
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Rgold. thank you so much for the photos and stories.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Wow! Thanks to all the contributors . . . wonderful writing and photos you all! I was fortunate to do the Direct Exum in 1985 with Kim Grandfield and Paul McCandless. Such awesome rock for an alpine climb.
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Always dug the Tetons,can hardly wait to get back.
Great thread.BASE.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Some more random stuff from the late 90's / early 00's.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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over fifty years of fine adventures
including early 1960s first solo ascents (that is if JGill didn't get there first and isn't talking): Irene's Arete, Direct Exum, Teewinot, Grand North Face, Owen-Spalding, Symmetry Spire routes, various un-named aretes on Disappointment Peak and Teewinot, etc...
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okie
Trad climber
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In the 80's a group of us Oklahoma climbers were working as guides on the Snake River. My buddy Jon went off one day to solo the Exum. He was a strong, confident climber so he threw himself at the route basically without thinking a whole lot about it. He found himself a bit off route on 5.9ish stuff in his running shoes (he hadn't thought climbing shoes necessary for the route). Jon wasn't so good at altitude so he started throwing up as well. Even so, his skill kept him alive.
I wanted that summit too, but being less talented and gifted than Jon, I chose the easiest route for my climb. In those days I had an excellent set of lungs, if nothing else, and I remember pausing only once in a field of boulders to snack on some grapes on my way to the top. The Owens Spaulding was easy but on that North Face the cracks were a bit iced up and in that incredibly exposed position I kept in mind that the longest fall had been taken from just right there, thousands of feet down the face. You do that belly crawl to get out there onto the route and then you're looking down that couloir, down the whole North Face.
On my way down I encountered an interesting character at the lower saddle. This guy was some sort of ascetic, high on his particular brand of Jesus Joy. He had managed to make it up to the saddle in his bare feet. An integral part of his life method, he explained, was to never wear shoes at all, under any circumstances. There wasn't a lot of snow/ice up there that summer so he had managed to do this with just the simple vagabond threads on his back and his feet at every step intimately connected to the earth.
I was impressed with this strange human creature and couldn't wait to tell my friends about him. When I did, far from sharing my enthusiasm for what I'd seen, the consensus was that he was a worthless lunatic.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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[One of the paradigm shifts in my very young climbing career was encountering the Vulgarians in the Jenny Lake Climbers' Campground in the early sixties. The following account is a slightly edited version of ones I've posted on this site and elsewhere.]
My first encounter with the Eastern Wild Ones occurred in the climber's camp in the Tetons, a place that used to be at the epicenter of American climbing.
Except for some minimal instruction from a few Exum-guided climbs, I learned about climbing on my own, primarily from books. My impressionable adolescent psyche had been deeply influenced by the purple pro---uh, the lyrical writing---of Gaston Rebuffat. From his books I learned about the beauty of the mountaineering experience, the brotherhood of the rope, the necessity of being fashionably attired at all times, and that under no circumstances was the leader to permit the perfect vertical line of his rope to be broken by pictorially distracting protection points.
Having marinated in matching-patterned-sweater-and-knicker-socks idealism, I made my way to the Teton climbers' camp. Oh, the horror! The place was infested with badly dressed, apparently unwashed, and thoroughly unkempt vermin, drinking, copulating, disrupting Teton Tea parties, roaring around the loop road in their Triumphs, sounding the Vulgaraphone, and indulging in all manner of activities inconvenient, if not impossible, to carry out in woolen knickers.
I feverishly consulted my copies of Neige et Roc and Etoiles et Tempetes for protective incantations against these alpine demons, no doubt the same ones feared by the early peasants venturing into the heights for the first time. Now these fiends had somehow been transplanted from Chamonix to Jackson, screaming like the hounds of hell, enraged, no doubt, by the color coordination and tell-tale scent of my dry-cleaned climbing outfits.
As I cowered behind Orrin Bonney's teepee, watching the End of Days unfold before me, I realized that the apocalypse had arrived---probably during AP Calculus class---and that from now on Fire and Brimstone would be replacing Starlight and Storm. Still, I managed to cling to one eternal verity: these were not Real Climbers. No way.
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kpinwalla2
Social climber
WA
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This post inspired me to dig out my old Ortenburger guidebook and reminisce a bit. I climbed there a bunch in the 80's when I lived in nearby Pocatello, and by the guidebook entry for each route, I wrote the date and the name of my partners. By Exum Ridge, I had written "William Meyers, age 55", and that brought back some great memories and inspired some introspection. My partner Geoff May and I were approaching the base of the route when we caught up to an "older" couple. The guy explained to us that he and his wife had planned on climbing the Exum Ridge, something he had done 25 years ago. He said he figured it was his last opportunity to do it as he was getting older and starting to have some health issues. However, it turned out that his wife was not up to the challenge and wanted to turn back, so he asked if he could join us while his wife hiked backed down to their camp at Garnet Meadows. We welcomed him, even though we were worried he would slow us down considerably. It turned out that he was still a good climber and his previous experience on the Exum helped keep us on route. I led most of it, and I can still remember being somewhat annoyed hearing him yelling from below "no, the REAL route goes THAT way". I also remember thinking how cool it was that this "old" guy was still getting out and climbing - but that his days were definitely numbered. Well, now I'm almost 57, have a brand-new knee and I'm wondering when or if I'll ever make it back up into the high mountains. Incidentally, my partner Geoff was the rescuer that found Hugh Herr on the slopes of Mt. Washington.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Jackson Hole was a pretty good hang. My climbs in the Tetons were usually suffer fests going up Garnet Canyon. finding maybe three good pitches of rock climbing and a lot of scrambling. I was more interested in the flesh pots of Jackson--particularly a Mexican cafe called the Merry Piglets that made some thing called a Cheese Crisp- it was about the size of a frisbee and cost under $4.00.
I do have a story worth sharing: Friend of friends had managed to find work as raft guides on the Snake river. They were required to run the guests down river, regal them with stories of machismo and to fish them out of the water when they fell in.
After the run they were required to shuttle the gear and people back to the put in and then do it again.
The lower end of this social spectrum were the poor slobs who had to strap on the rafts to the trailers and then pull it back home using an ancient schoolbus.
The mind numbing job was made more amusing by the "drivers challenge"
While on the twisting Snake River road the driver was "required" to let go of the wheel and then turn and run back as far as they dared into the rear of the bus-touching a seat (or the mythical rear emergency door) and then hauling ass back to the driver seat/wheel before the bus went off the road/into the drink/head on collision with mini van family, etc. No fatalities were reported and a good time was had by all.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 5, 2016 - 12:15pm PT
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RGold,
That was one of the best posts that I have ever read here!!!
I cut and pasted it so I can pilfer from it some day.
My first trip to the Tetons must be put in context. We were babies.
I began climbing on some local 30 foot limestone crags after finding a copy of The White Spider in the Ada, Oklahoma town library, where I spent a lot of my free time. I pulled that book out at random, not knowing that it would change everything. From there we found a copy of Basic Rockcraft at a back packing store in the city (Oklahoma City), but that book wasn't very comprehensive. We learned to climb in a total vacuum. We had a few books about climbing. One of them was Chris Jones' Climbing In North America, which we read so many times that it fell to pieces after we learned it by heart. I would love to read that book again, after all of these years. It made guys like Kor and Robbins sound like giants. We saw no reason why we couldn't be giants as well.
Our parents had allowed us to spend our savings on a week being taught and guided by George Hurley, who drug us up a ton of routes during a week in Eldo and the Flatirons. We came away with a basic knowledge of how to climb safely, set pro and anchors, and safely rap back down routes. The hardest route we did was the Yellow Spur, which didn't seem overwhelmingly difficult. Then we took off for the Tetons. I can't believe that our parents allowed us to go. We were nigh babies. We saved up for the trip by flipping burgers every night after school.
Jones's book had a fair amount of discussion regarding the Tetons, and it was just up the road from Boulder. A day's drive. So we pointed the landshark north and made our way there with great excitement. We were real climbers now! I should note that Hurley did a damn good job with us, and after a week with him, we knew how to climb safely. We were like little monkeys, so it wasn't difficulty that stopped us. It was gear knowledge, and he taught us that. We also scored a copy of Climbing Magazine from Culp's store, and from an ad, we later bought all of our gear by mail order from EMS in New Hampshire.
We spent our savings on rope, shoes, and gear at Bob Culp's shop in Boulder, and marched forward, with all of the confidence in the world. Being kids, we didn't have a good risk meter, and got ourselves into a few epics, but on we marched, trying to be just like Kor and Robbins. I should say that my shoes were Shoe-Nards, which totally sucked. I didn't learn about EB's until much later. My friend bought a pair of PA's. It didn't matter. All of the old pictures showed Robbins and Kor climbing in what looked like hiking boots.
We knew of the Vulgarians from Jones's book, which has a few hilarious stories, so when we went to do that route on Moran (can't remember the name. It is in the old 50 classic climbs book), we met two true Vulgarians with a pilfered canoe to shortcut across the lake. We all jumped in and it barely held us all.
We peppered them with questions, and they provided answers and hilarious stories at a shared camping spot that evening. They shared their booze with us, despite our young age. We felt a hundred feet tall. Nobody back home would ever understand the adventure road that we were now firmly on. I didn't know it, but the trajectory of my entire life changed in less than two months that summer. Anyway, it was ALL about adventure. The Tetons were bigger than anything we had seen, so when we crossed that pass and got our first view of them, it was like stumbling onto Valhalla.
That would have been around 1977. We managed to climb every route that we tried, and wanted to cap it off with an ascent of the N Face of the Grand. The climbing rangers put a huge scare into us when we stopped off to sign in, and we decided against it. We should have ignored them. We were doing OK. I remember romping right up the complete Exum Ridge and standing on the summit. We were alpine heroes, not far from the rolling ranching country where we grew up. The route was easy. This climbing stuff isn't so bad...
Everyone seemed to be staying at the AAC climbers ranch, which was pretty spiffy compared to a campground. It was sort of like Camp 4, but with manners....sorta kind of. We had heard of Camp 4, but this gathering of so many climber in one place seemed incredible to us, having grown up nailing rotten rock routes with our 5 pitons in the middle of climbing nowhere.
Anyway, it was all a great adventure. I still regret not doing the N Face. It was only 5.7, after all, and 5.7 seemed pretty easy to us. We had grown up climbing rotten rock near my hometown, so bad rock didn't frighten us either. The Climbing Ranger made it sound like a total death route.
Within a few weeks of starting college, I managed to hook up with the local climbing scene and that was that. Childhood was over. There was a very hardcore group growing up there at that time, and I climbed El Cap only a couple of years later.
It all started with George Hurley's tutelage and the trip to the Tetons, though. It was a great adventure. I can still vaguely remember climbing on Falling Ant Slab at the Jenny Lake Boulders. Everyone went there in the evenings.
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wallyvirginia
Trad climber
Stockholm, Sweden
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RGold,
That was one of the best posts that I have ever read here!!!
+1
And it captures exactly what I was trying to say about why the older photos are resonating so well with me.
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johnkelley
climber
Anchorage Alaska
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Here's a few of the FA of Tango Max with Matt Neuner in 2001 or so.
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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One of my college buddies once told me, "someday you're gonna look back at our days at school, and realize those were the best years of your life". My reply was, "nope, I'm living the best days of my life right now." This conversation was had several months after I had moved to Jackson, Wyoming from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I was 22 years old, and thought I had found paradise and would never leave.
I spent 5 years living in various locations in the valley, working at various hotels and restaurants, and getting into either the Tetons or Winds every weekend during the summer. During this time I transformed from a backpacker into a climber. My memories during this time: winters so cold that ice climbs don't form up (at least not near as many as one would think in a place that wintery); getting off the night shift from baking at the Bunnery and skiing the Pass every day from November til sometime in February; first "long" rock climb on Rock Springs Buttress; hanging onto Wes as we rode his motorcycle at high speeds from the Village to Moose to climb each weekend in the summer; doing many of the climbs that I have seen gorgeous pictures of on this thread, with the most memorable one probably being the Italian Cracks car-to-car.
Two things from upthread I have to take issue with: first is that Steve Quinlan ever went to Blacktail Butte. We could never drag him out there, except when he and I removed a couple of bolts that had been placed from rappel next to cracks. (I think the bolts were probably replaced the same afternoon, and we were accused of being elitists.) The second thing is that the Tetons are one of the few areas in the lower 48 where one can engage in real alpine climbing. This is not even close to true.
Then there were the 5 seasons I went back to the Tetons from Boulder to guide for JHMG. I have mixed feelings about that experience overall, but the 4 day trips up the Grand were almost always fun. While guiding the Snaz, my client and I were treated to watching Mugs catch up to us with his client by placing gear only for belays. When I commented to him about the lack of protection he was placing, he told me that it was good training for The Alpine. During this time I would routinely see Mr. Pratt on the trail, as well as Schmitz, Bridwell and Roskelley, and each time I felt like a teen-age groupie. I think Dean Moore had climbed the Grand close to 500 times by then.
I still like hiking to get to climbs (even though my feet hurt constantly), and by God as hard as I've tried I just can't get away from my love of climbing frozen stuff. We called ourselves Teton Dinks, and I will always be a Teton Dink, even though I haven't lived there for nearly 30 years.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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After the age of fifty (1987), and a bad arm injury, I gave up serious bouldering, and for the following twenty years would try to take a summer trip to the Tetons, mostly soloing modest routes I had done many years before or wanted to try. I remember meeting Gary Neptune in Garnet Canyon as I was going up to climb something I hadn't done on the South Buttress.
Also, I had a wonderful time solo-exploring the Granite Mountains in central Wyoming. Rattlesnakes and all.
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wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
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Another memory is of not being able to do any of the Gill problems on the Jenny Lake boulders.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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BASE104-
Thanks for the post.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Base104
AWESOME!!!
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the idle rich
climber
Estes Park, CO
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Rich (Rgold)...I also enjoy trying to decrypt Ortenburger's route descriptions. I think my favorite was where he described climbing up to "a nearly vertical ledge". I couldn't decide if it was a steep slab or a ramp/corner. There must have been something to his descriptions...I was able to follow them and was occasionally on route I would guess.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Great pics, Mr. Kelly
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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A worthy bump
Have never climbed there, but this is one of the best threads going.
Thanks to Base104, johnkelley, jgill, hamie, Brian in SLC,
and especially rgold's classic pictures and great stories.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Great photos, Rich--is that Donini?
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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I would guess Bragg.
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the idle rich
climber
Estes Park, CO
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That would be Donini and the one in Avalanche Canyon is Chouinard and Kent Lugbill.
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clode
Trad climber
portland, or
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In 1972 I was 17 and had just got my driver's license. I had the incredible fortune of getting a call from the Mazamas (of which I was a member), asking if I wanted to go to the Annual Outing in the Tetons as a cook helper, all expenses paid! You can guess what my answer was! There were four cook helpers, in two teams of two. Each team alternated, working every other day. This meant if I worked a shift for one of the other team members, when they "paid me back" I'd get three days off in a row. This allowed me to go on not one, but two climbs of the Grand, with an overnight stay at the Lower Saddle. Both climbs took the Owen-Spalding route. I'll never forget "Threading The Eye of the Needle", and especially the "Belly Roll" where the exposure above the West Face was 4,000 feet! During the first trip up, the Ice Chimney crux was quite difficult, I dare say more than 5.5, due to the slick conditions. When I climbed it again one week later, the ice was all melted out and the moves were definitely easier.
Other climbs I got to do during the three week outing included Ice Point, Symmetry Spire, Teewinot, and Buck Peak. There were probably others, but memory has faded just a bit in the last 43 or so years ...
I have some scanned slides at home but alas I'm at work so I don't have access to them. Maybe later if this stays on the front page.
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Bump!
I'm thinking of going up in early - mid June.
It would be cool to sample some of the classics, and do something where you need to climb ice and rock.
I have a canoe.
PM me if you want to meet up there . . .
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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Feb 22, 2016 - 08:42pm PT
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No but I want to. I have backpacked the paintbrush divide loop and it was really cool and scenic.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Feb 23, 2016 - 02:21pm PT
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bump
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Happy Cowboy
Social climber
Boz MT
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The Tetons hold a special place in my heart and soul. I was quite active thru out the roarin 70's. A few pics from the day.
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Happy Cowboy
Social climber
Boz MT
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SteveA commented on the memories Rgold's pic brought back. This was Deja Vue for me, on left. Run-don't Walk Couloir hanging high above had a hold on me, and I remember your ascent. In May 73', Jay Wilson and I did the 2nd ascent. We continued a direct line to the summit of Mt Owen. I still remember the 1st(mixed) and 3rd (waterfall pillar) leads. That was the hardest technical ice I'd done to that point. And the rock fall...we also had mobile refrigerators hurling thru space.
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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First went there in 1979 with Dan Bolster, Tony Jewell and Tom Walter in Tony's Econoline van, drafting trucks out from CA.
Tom and I did the N Ridge of the Grand in 14 hours car-to-car. We were in really good shape that summer. A couple of days later we did the Snaz. Tom forgot one of his EBs and led the crux with one EB and a tennis shoe.
They went over to Lander to join NOLS and I hitched down to Colorado and did D7 on the Diamond with a friend of mine there.
Climbed off and on over there over the years. Always have liked it, even though I was spoiled by High Sierra granite early on so the Tetons always seemed a bit more chossy to me. It's still a great place to climb and I try to do at least one thing there every year.
Hard to pick a favorite there. Mine are Irene's Arete, Open Book, and the Serendipity Arete. Really fine climbs.
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clode
Trad climber
portland, or
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I just remembered another: Storm Point.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Mar 22, 2017 - 10:25am PT
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funny question about the Upper Exum (not the full Direct Exum) -- would one rope suffice for the several rappels from the summit? would a single 70-meter rope (i.e. 35-meter rappel) work?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 22, 2017 - 10:36am PT
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Moran South Butt was the business!
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Mar 22, 2017 - 11:11am PT
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A single 70m rope would get you down the descent. Possibly even a 60m.
You'd have to break the long rappel into 2 pitches (I saw some intermediate slings around a flake).
BTW, this thread inspired me to get up there last summer. I did the Upper Exum, and was not disappointed. Still, I'd like to go back and do the full Exum route.
Better be in hiking shape!
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Mar 22, 2017 - 03:13pm PT
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Isa took this shot of me last summer
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ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
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Mar 22, 2017 - 05:09pm PT
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Damn ... real climbin' bump
Never been , but I am going. Thanks to all for great pics and inspiration !
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ryankelly
Trad climber
Bhumi
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Mar 22, 2017 - 09:47pm PT
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formative place in my life. worked in Kelly one summer. climbed "the Grand" became a hippy. that was it.
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Mar 23, 2017 - 07:58am PT
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First went to the Tetons in 1979 w/4 of my CA climbing buddies in an old Econoline van. Tony Jewell, Tom Walter, Dan Bolster and I. We got there on Friday nite, went to the Cowboy Bar and closed it...I was the only one who could (barely) drive...ended up in the barrow pit out towards Wilson.
Couple of days later, Tom and I did the N Ridge of the Grand...14 hours car to car. We were in really good shape from Spring in the Valley. A couple of days later we did The Snaz. Tom forgot one of his EBs and led the crux in an EB and a tennis shoe. He was later killed on Foraker...a good man...
The three of them wanted to go to Lander and check out NOLS. I wasn't interested so I started hitching to Colorado to meet up with a friend to do the Diamond (D7 it turned out). A cowboy with Texas plates stopped outside of Jackson and asked me if I was one of them California hippies (I had pretty long hair). I said, no, but I'm from California. So he gave me a ride...pretty cool guy looking for cowboy work...we went to all these rough bars through Pinedale and down and of course the residents wanted to give me a haircut but he told them, nah, leave him alone, he's all right. He bought me drinks in every bar and by the time we got to Rock Springs, I could hardly get outta the truck...that's why they used to have the drive-up liquor windows in WYO, by the way, because that's when you blow it is getting outta the car.
Anyway, I try to go over there once or twice a year now that we live in Lander...sorta like the Taj Mahal when you drive over Togowtee Pass...it never fails to impress you.
Over the years have climbed all the crystalline peaks over there. Can't think of one I didn't like. It's pretty crowded these days but you can see why...
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 24, 2017 - 01:20pm PT
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Wow! When I started this thread, I thought it would die. Instead, I saw posts from many of my childhood heroes. I am truly honored by all of the great posts and photos, and want to thank everyone.
Seeing the Tetons for the first time, when you come from a mainly flat state with few multi pitch climbs, it is just a breathtaking view that is also a little scary. The Tetons have amazing relief from valley to summit.
It was all there, from having my first legal drink at the Moose Bar, rather early in the day, with a silent Chuck Pratt the only other person at or in the bar, everything was kind of like a dream.
Like I said, that fall, when I got to college, I hooked up with the climbing scene in Oklahoma, where a lot was going on, and had done El Cap and climbed 5.11 in a short time.
It was a true blessing, and I am sad that Chuck Pratt is gone. I would have loved to talk to him, but to us he was practically a movie star, and our southern manners prevented us from pestering him.
I've talked with Doug Robinson about hooking up and doing the North Face of the Grand, just for fun, but right now all of my energies are getting sucked into paragliding, which I think will be my major activity from here on out. I'm 55 now, and have started to count the years I have left.
That still leaves the question. How relevant are the Tetons today? I rarely hear of anything significant happening there, but that doesn't mean that people aren't collecting amazing experiences, which is what life is all about.
Thanks, everyone.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Mar 24, 2017 - 03:05pm PT
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//A single 70m rope would get you down the descent. Possibly even a 60m.
You'd have to break the long rappel into 2 pitches (I saw some intermediate slings around a flake).//
Single 60m rope works if you go off the correct side of the rappel anchor.
How relevant are the Tetons? Still a proving ground for hard winter ascents, enchainments, speed climbs of the Grand and the Grand Traverse and of course ski descents. And, look at the horsepower that routinely plies their craft there. Some strong up and comers out there!
One of the great American ranges. Still.
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Mar 24, 2017 - 03:11pm PT
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How relevant are the Tetons? Sadly, they are easy to reach and the wrong kind of rock for 5.15, so Alpinist will be about obscure corners of China and freeing smooth stuff in Yosemite Valley until we start climbing on Mars. There may be some good new routes north of Moran Canyon, if you don't mind the bushwhacking and grizzlies.
Still, they're one of my favorite places in the lower 48.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Mar 24, 2017 - 07:02pm PT
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Moran, South Buttress Left. Pendulum pitch. Fun, fun.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Mar 25, 2017 - 04:14am PT
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news of the grand traverse in 6 1/2 hours this summer totally blew me away....
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Mar 25, 2017 - 05:26am PT
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I can't even concieve of doing the yraverse in a day. 6 1/2 hours is mind blowing..
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divad
Trad climber
wmass
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Mar 25, 2017 - 06:03am PT
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^^^
Ya gotta be an elite runner who knows how to climb or an elite climber who knows how to run. Or both...
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hellroaring
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Mar 25, 2017 - 09:36am PT
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I grew up in Kansas City and didn't see the ocean until I was 16 & never saw real snow capped mountains until my mid twenties. Should turn my parents in for child abuse! Anyway I was living in Lawrence Ks (super cool town for the Midwest), when my friend talked me into a road trip out west to backpack in the Bob Marshal wilderness (sp?). Going over Togotwee pass and seeing the Tetons was like Moses seemed by the burning bush the first time. I've never been the same since!!!!
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Mar 25, 2017 - 09:40am PT
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Hellroaring and i want to get out there and do some climbing-what are good routes for 54 yr old gumbies? I mean sh#t i can lead 5.9 on a good day and have some snow sense, and am reasonably fit, so tell me wise ones?
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Mar 25, 2017 - 10:07am PT
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Cave, Blacktail Butte: Hennek, Mavis, Pratt and Kimchi -1966
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Mar 25, 2017 - 11:51am PT
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Hellroaring and i want to get out there and do some climbing-what are good routes for 54 yr old gumbies? I mean sh#t i can lead 5.9 on a good day and have some snow sense, and am reasonably fit, so tell me wise ones?
There's a guidebook worth of answers, as moderate alpine is the Teton's strong point, and everyone has their own favorites, so I'm going to refrain from specifics. I do think it will be much more enjoyable to avoid the most popular routes unless you enjoy crowds. (A possible hint: see what the guides list as their "usual" guided routes and stay away from them.)
You'll want to be in good hiking shape, as the approaches are often relatively long and steep. You need to be able to deal with bad weather on a climb. If you go before August, you'll probably need that "snow sense," meaning the ability to travel safely up and down on soft to hard-frozen snow at various angles. Every year there are accidents in the Tetons on very moderate snow fields.
For openers, knock two grades off what you can lead every day (not just on a good day), start at that level, and work back up.
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Jim Herrington
Mountain climber
New York, NY
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Mar 25, 2017 - 02:23pm PT
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Roman Laba (bottom center) walking down the Teton Glacier after we climbed the East Ridge of Mt. Owen in the '90s.
Photo © Jim Herrington
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 25, 2017 - 03:45pm PT
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I am reminded that the great Allan Bard died while guiding the Owens-Spaulding. A simple slip was fatal.
I used to help Allan guide in the Pallisades. His favored method with absolute beginners was that it was safer to carefully flake the rope and solo every pitch, being careful to place pro protecting the second from any danger, such as on traverses.
The last time I was in the Tetons, I guided my wife up the Owens-Spaulding in my running shoes, and thought it was a terrific easy route. The exposure on the belly crawl was worth the hike on its own.
It was late in the year, and ice clogged the cracks. I can see how you could slip.
I miss Allan's sense of humor. He was one of the funniest guys that I ever met. I shared a house with Dale, but Dale was quiet and hard to get to know, while Allan seemed to have inherited all of the outgoing personality. I really liked them both.
Fun guy to climb with. Sorry that he isn't still a part of the world.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Mar 25, 2017 - 04:00pm PT
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The Tetons have a modest alpine character that can, I think, be misleading. Even the perfect rock isn't perfect, easy routes, particularly the north and west-facing ones, can get terribly iced, and summer thunderstorms can come on fast, be very severe, and often bring a lot of lightning with them. People run up and down the O-S dressed in little more than their underwear, and then experts like Allan slip on an ice patch and die. It's all kind of laid-back and low-key until something bites you hard in the ass. So enjoy, but beware.
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Mar 26, 2017 - 05:52am PT
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Relevant? What an interesting way to judge a climbing area.
I'm thinking of adjectives like spectacular, demanding, big, classic, an all around alpine proving/training ground.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Mar 26, 2017 - 06:05am PT
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Good pt., Rgold. I've only climbed there once, back in the mid 80's on a long road trip, three of us tooling around the western US and Canada in a Pontiac Grand Ville that guzzled oil but, somehow, kept running. I got up only one route, Direct Exum on the Grand, and we were tagged by a thankfully short-lived thunderstorm--scary up there on the upper ridge!
BAd
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Mar 26, 2017 - 06:58am PT
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Storm comming in
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Mar 26, 2017 - 07:49am PT
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How relevant are the Tetons? Sadly, they are easy to reach and the wrong kind of rock for 5.15
Relevance depends on the subgroup of participants in question. The Tetons were already losing the American cutting edge as far as alpine rock is concerned way back in the sixties. (By European alpine standards, they were never close.) Although I have no first-hand experience, they seem to have returned to some prominence in the realm of alpine mixed climbing and winter mountaineering, but no one was or is going to journey over from Chamonix to Jackson in search of premier alpine challenges, summer or winter, and of course sport climbers aren't going to be lining up for the Owen-Spaulding...
The Tetons have seen an enormous growth of the ultrarunning-climbing genre in the summer and ski mountaineering in the winter. Killian Jornet saw fit to visit the Tetons to lower the round-trip record for the Grand. (One of those underwear ascents I mentioned earlier; see https://vimeo.com/51450196. The record was somewhat marred by the fact that Jornet reportedly shortcutted switchbacks on the way down, causing the NPS to post a reminder that such activity is citation-worthy. Eleven days later, Andy Anderson cut 59 seconds off Jornet's time without taking any of the shortcuts.)
Last August, Nick Elson lowered the time for the Grand Traverse to just a touch over six and a half hours, see http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/sports/features/elson-runs-climbs-to-grand-traverse-record/article_8aa84308-a7b1-55d4-bae9-ae5c3e1d6661.html. This type of activity seems to me to be about as cutting-edge as you can get.
(Those who know the Tetons know that there is an entire ridge including South Teton, Cloudveil Dome, Gilkey Tower and the Ice Cream one which runs West from Nez Perce and so is entirely hidden in this photo, which makes it look like you go direct from Middle Teton to Nez Perce. It is on this ridge that Elson cut most of the time off Garibotti's previous record. Also, the starting and ending boxes in the photo have little or nothing to do with the actual start and end points, which I think are both Lupine Meadows.)
Accessibility is the Teton strong point for the great majority of ordinary climbers who are not pursuing some kind of genre-specific cutting-edge experience. You don't have to shoulder a big pack and walk 20 miles into the Wind Rivers, for example, nor do you have to thrash through the ghastly underbrush characteristic of much of the PNW. Once you've made your way to Jackson Hole, everything is right there and you could manage with just a bicycle if you were so inclined. The tasks of planning and provisioning are reduced to the level of a low-key weekend jaunt and make it possible to do things on the spur of the moment. The mountains, canyons, and valleys are as beautiful as ever, and they are right there all the time, beckoning, even as you are browsing in Jackson or stocking up at the super market. Although the crowds are certainly there and increasing, it is still possible to get off the very beaten paths.
My personal fondness for the Tetons is because it was my first climbing experience, the place where I fell in love with the mountains and mountaineering, and it is true what they say---you never forget your first love.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Mar 26, 2017 - 09:59am PT
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About every five years I would drift into the ranch. My first memory of real climbing begins here. Turning into the parking lot......a Saab with Vermont plates and the hood up and the valve covers off......The owners- wondering how to get it home. It all looked so cool I couldn't stand it.
Twenty years later, newly married, I stray back to Jackson to have another go at the long march up Garnet.
The ranch is booked solid, but we impress upon the ranch hosts are desperation-they make eye contact, shrug and say well........... "Candy might have some space"..........
We move in and the cabin is empty except for the back room- it has gear and a bath tub.
We are waiting for our friends from Logan to arrive. 7......8.........9......10P.M. No soap. They don't show so we crash. Just before lights out a couple of guys from Kentucky(?) ask if they can sleep on the floor. No problem, and its nighty night.
About midnight, from outside we hear thumping, than we hear a very deep sigh, followed by what sounds like weeping. Startled out of a deep sleep I look up to see whats the matter.
It enters the cabin, carrying a pack, and moving in a shuffle similar to the Mummy as it exits the crypt. It sucks in huge breaths of air and it is pulling frayed pieces of webbing and what looks like pride and the last vestige of an ego.
Unfortunately, my glasses were off, so I was unable to get a good view. The entire mass goes to the back room and with one last effort it yards on the webbing, bandages, ego and pride. In a vortex they whirl into the room and door closes with surprising force.
About 3:00 A.M. the crew from Logan arrives and the usual greetings and grab-ass occurs when friends are re-united after a year absence. They find spots on the floor and pass out.
All too soon it is 6:00 A.M. and the Kentucky boys rise for the "alpine start". Halfway through stuffing their sleeping bags, the door to Candy's Room opens like it has been shot out a gun.
In the door stands a woman and she raises an arm and points to the mountaineers and says "you.....you.......how dare you come in to my cabin so late and make noise (her speech gets faster) and wake me after I had (she begins to get shrill) just come off of Symmetry Spire-5.6- and we got off route and we did not get up and the we missed the boat and we (her volume begins to go exponential) had to walk back and the rain and something about bears and and after 16 hours and I made it here and I was just about to fall asleep when you......you......." She takes a menacing step toward the boys from Kentuck........
At this point, my wife- who was new to this sort of game-can stand it no more and she rises to the defense of innocents and says "It wasn't them- we were the ones making the noise"
Candy stops as if struck, she flashes her teeth as she turns toward new prey- But it all goes south for her. In front of her lies Chris Heck. Half out of his sleeping bag, not quite awake, testicles hanging from a large rent in his boxers.......Chris Sands has not even moved......and beyond them is my wife Debbie staring Candy down.
Candy is speechless. She tries, she really tries but it is too much and she turns and slams the door.
At that point we were all awake and it was off to the hills.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Mar 26, 2017 - 12:53pm PT
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rgold is correct when he says "the Tetons have a modest alpine character." There are lots of excellent alpine rock routes, but little snow and ice. The only mountaineering skills required are common sense, good judgement and the ability to glissade. I enjoyed the pre-climb bivvies and the glissading back to the lake almost as much as the climbs.
Not sure how/why we had a small fire going.... Partner may be Joe faint? Hard to tell.
Dennis Mehmet and his g/f on the right side.
I have posted this one before. Relaxing in the old climbers' camp at Jenny Lake.
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melski
Trad climber
bytheriver
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Apr 26, 2017 - 11:40am PT
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Don't waste your time in those choss piles go directly to the winds
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Tod
Trad climber
Idaho
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May 10, 2017 - 10:22am PT
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Teton's is where I learned what it really meant to climb. My baptism by fire was on the Snaz; my first multipitch and I had only lead my first trad route the week before. Afterwards I knew I would always be a climber. That was in 1993 and I climbed there much of the 90's. In the 2000's, I spent time elsewhere but have recently going back to the Tetons annually and am still in love with the place. Crowds? Sure. But only on a few routes. Coudn't believe how many folks are doing the Traverse. Had three parties in front of us and one behind us in August a few years ago. There are so many other excellent unsung climbs and peaks.
Climbed the Snaz again last year and, after 23 years It has not lost it's appeal.
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BurakOzdogan
Trad climber
Prague, Czech Republic
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Oct 11, 2017 - 02:56pm PT
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Hi hamie,
Please accept my apologies if this is off topic.
I have been working on an article that focuses on historical ascents of one of our mountains in Turkey, the Parmakkaya Tower (Finger Tower or DirekTas) which saw its 1st ascent in 1972 by John Waterman and Dennis Mehmet.
I tried to contact Dane Waterman (cousion of John Waterman) with a hope to get some information if possible but I was not successful to reach him.
I know John Waterman has passed away. But I have no clue about Mr.Dennis Mehmet -who was his partner in that ascent.
I noticed you have some photos above of Dennis Mehmet.
Unfortunately I do not know if Dennis Mehmet is (and hopefully) still alive; if he is, I would really appreciate if you can advise or help me to reach him or anyone who knows him in person that I could get some information. (So far Alan Rubin shared lots of info with me on those times but I would be glad to gather more info.)
Again I apologize if this is an off-topic request.
Thanks and kind Regards,
Burak Ozdogan
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Oct 11, 2017 - 04:50pm PT
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Burak
I read your request earlier, on your other thread. Sorry, but I can't help, The last I heard of Dennis was when I read his article in Ascent.
I first met him in Yos, and we both hitched separately to the Tetons. We did several routes together, and shared the same communal campsite. He was a good guy, and a good climbing partner. Like you, I hope that he is still alive and kickin'. He is standing on the right in the last photo above.
Life is so much easier with email. I have lost track of almost all of my early climbing partners.
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BurakOzdogan
Trad climber
Prague, Czech Republic
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Oct 12, 2017 - 04:58am PT
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Hello Hamie,
Thank you very much for your answers.
Would it be suitable for you if I can ask you a few questions via email about the topic? If it is fine for you, you can drop me a message to ozdogan76 at gmail.com, and I will write you back.
Thanks, Ragards,
Burak Ozdogan
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 12, 2017 - 08:07am PT
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Wow...great thread! Thanks for all the pictures and stories. I have so many memories going back to 1967 but not a single photo....except for a few from my two marriages there.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Oct 12, 2017 - 08:27am PT
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I just love the Tetons, always have. Yep, there are crowds, but there is an awful lot of alpine goodness packed into a small area.
Long time partner and major bud John Ferguson on the north face of the Grand.
Myownself on Symmetry Spire.
Early major climbing partner and major bud for life, Jimmy Newberry, Exum Ridge.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 12, 2017 - 10:45am PT
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My favorite ten climbs in the Tetons:
North Ridge/North Face Direct combo on the Grand
Lower Black Ice/ West Face on the Grand combo
North Face of the Enclosure on the Grand
Complete Exum Ridge
South Buttress Right of Mt. Moran
Irene’s Arete
The Snaz
Caveat Emptor
The Cathedral Traverse
Enclosure Ice Gully/SW Ridge of the Enclosure combo
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Oct 12, 2017 - 05:54pm PT
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Enclosure Ice Gully/SW Ridge of the Enclosure combo
You mean the NW Ridge, right?
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