On Friday I got out and enjoyed my first GTNP high country ski of the season in Okie’s Thorn Couloir, a unique and seldom visited line just northwest of the popular Dike Snowfield.
It’s low tide… and has been low tide… in the Tetons for weeks now. The number of cars in Teton Pass and GTNP parking lots is not indicative of good snow, but rather a testament to the dedicated Teton ski community. After skiing 25 Short and Taylor with Bobbi Clemmer during the last big storm cycle three weeks ago I’ve been laying mostly dormant, climbing ice, working and traveling, waiting for the refill that isn’t coming anytime soon. Alas, inspired by a few highly motivated friends ticking off high lines across the range I finally took the sticks out for a spin in Glacial Gulch. My initial plan was a solo summit and ski descent of Mount Owen via the Koven Route and Diagonal Couloir, but the amount of exposed rock in the Koven Couloir and Lower East Ridge was off-putting. Shame on me for thinking that just because the Grand Teton has been getting skied every other day that its grizzly neighbor to the north would be in ski-through condition. I made lemonade from lemons by touring up Teton Glacier to scout the North Face Grand Teton winter climbing routes and nab a descent of a seldom skied north facing couloir on the eastern toe of the Grand known as the Okie’s Thorn Couloir.
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As for the Grand, every winter climbing route from No Name Gully to Shea’s Chute was practically bone dry. For how much ice is forming in other transient locations across the range I am baffled by the stubbornness of these proud lines, which were also mostly dry last March. The skiing on Teton Glacier was horrendous but the skiing in Okie’s, with its sheltered NE aspect was excellent. A nice easily broken crust atop a foot of light powder provided an excellent interface for precise jump turns through the meat of line, which registers at about 42 degrees in a thirty foot constriction. Okie’s, named for the rock tower Okie’s Thorn above, sits just northwest of the popular Dike Snowfield but is difficult to reach from Teepe Glacier, leaving tracks almost always non-existent. When it does get skied it’s typically after descending a portion of the standard Dike Snowfield, traversing over a rock band and then reascending (see Teton AT trip report). Despite the hassle, Okie’s provides 700 feet of narrow 40 degree couloir skiing and a 1400 total fall line descent to Glacial Gulch in a spectacular location, and is well worth the extra effort, especially when the Dike Snowfield and Red Sentinel Couloir are tracked to hell. The coverage was great in the couloir but steadily deteriorated until I was tagging rocks and jump turning through dirt patches, Vermont style, on the lower flanks of Surprise Pinnacle. At this point it’s difficult to decipher whether trips to the high country are “worth it” – or perhaps I’m growing a bit soft. Regardless, it was dreamy to throw some confined jump turns in the heart of the Tetons. When the snow comes – which it will – I’ll be ready.
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DISCLAIMER
Ski mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing and all other forms of mountain recreation are inherently dangerous. Should you decide to attempt anything you read about in this article, you are doing so at your own risk! This article is written to the best possible level of accuracy and detail, but I am only human – information could be presented wrong. Furthermore, conditions in the mountains are subject to change at any time. Ten Thousand Too Far and Brandon Wanthal are not liable for any actions or repercussions acted upon or suffered from the result of this article’s reading.
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