The Natural 101 from Icelantic Skis is the ski mountaineer's quiver killer. Light enough to climb the Grand Teton and tackle multi-peak traverses, but burly enough to dispatch thin couloirs, bushy June exits and rocky October strike missions, this ski can handle quite literally anything. The Natural 101 on a May ski mission to Static... Continue Reading →
On May 27th Vinny Gwinn and I climbed and skied the Ford-Stettner route on the Grand Teton, the likely punctuation to another phenomenal ski mountaineering season in the Tetons.
Albright, Static and Buck is the classic, but I think this one might be more logical, at least for skiing. A ~7000 vertical foot day, somewhere in the realm of 10-13 miles, on the three peaks that crown the Stuart Draw drainage - one of the best this season.
The Zorro Snowfield is a mythical ski mountaineering descent on the northeast aspect of Spalding Peak, a winding, unintuitive journey down 1,300 feet of steep off-camber ramps underpinned by a monstrous (nearly quarter mile wide) cliff. Sadly, our conditions didn't align for the most stylish descent, but descend we did.
The North Snowfield of Spalding Peak is yet another "steeper than it looks" and overlooked line in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon, complete with a unique summit, and on May 14th was the bearer of rarefied May powder. Skiing from just below 12,240 feet, this line could possibly be the mellowest descent from 12,000 feet in Grand Teton National Park.
Mount Owen's Northeast Snowfields are a coveted and seminal tick for Teton ski mountaineers - a serious, exposed and committing 2,500 foot descent requiring at least one rappel - a line I've chased for years, and finally had the chance to bag with Vinny Gwinn on May 12th, 2023.
Peak 12,000+ is the largest west sub-peak of the Mount Moran massif, home to a truly stellar and seldom visited ski mountaineering line we're calling the Twelve Thousand Couloir. Sustained 45 degree no-fall skiing on a 1,000 foot hanging snowfield, with a thin 55 degree escape crux, and 4,200 total feet of quality skiing to Leigh Canyon below, characterizes this "should be classic" descent.
On April 24th Reed and I got denied in Mount Wister's Chockstone Couloir, more commonly known as the Northwest Couloir, attempting a top-down ski descent. Useful for the next descentionist?
The North Face of Peak 10,686 is home to one of the most striking ski mountaineering lines north of Mount Moran. A beautiful, meditative, solo day in the north end.
On Sunday April 16th I reconnected with Reed Finlay for an interesting powder redemption tick in Colter Canyon, the surprisingly exciting North Couloir of Leek's Peak.
On Wednesday April 12th, Connor James and I got caught in a storm atop Mount Owen's Northeast Snowfields. We down-climbed the lower East Ridge and made a successful ski descent, my second and partner's first, of the Diagonal Couloir into Cascade Canyon.
Ten Thousand Too Far 