On August 10th, 2024, Bobbi Clemmer, myself and my visiting-from-Florida sister Lauren climbed the classic Cube Point, a 9,800 foot tower on the East Ridge of Symmetry Spire, via an overnight camp in the lovely Hanging Canyon. The East Ridge of Cube is a popular Teton classic, offering five pitches of rock up to 5.5 in difficulty, covering some truly unique and stimulating terrain.
Upon egress from Cube Point to camp, damp and clammy after a quick pulse of rain, Lauren asked if she would “make it on the blog” with this climb. Well here you go sis – you’ve done it – and in much deserved fashion. As a visitor from the flatlands of alligator infested Florida, clad in slip-on OnCloud running shoes and a mere handful of climbing experiences outdoors or otherwise, I was skeptical of Lauren’s ability to complete a true alpine climb. When she visited last year we climbed the first four pitches of Baxter’s Pinnacle, rappelling into the descent gully from the final, and crux, 5.9 pitch. While Baxter’s exists within the realm of Grand Teton National Park, the approach is hardly 45 minutes with negligible vertical gain – damn near cragging. Woven between Baxter’s and Cube were two days of multi-pitch climbing on Teton Canyon’s Grand Wall, bringing her all-time pitch count to eight. Climbing aside, Lauren isn’t exactly a bruiser. Her thin frame, built from CorePower yoga classes and casual jogs at sea level, is diametrically opposed to the quintessential stereotype of a hardened mountain woman. Cube would almost certainly be her first time clocking 3,000 feet of elevation gain at altitude, further augmented with overnight gear and five pitches of exposed rockcraft. Only one thing about this trip was certain: she was going to be tested.
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Our original intentions to day-strike Cube Point were thwarted by forecasted early-morning rain on our only available climbing day, and Lauren’s desire for a backpacking trip. Grand Teton National Park was nice enough to cut us an overnight “delicate area” permit for Arrowhead Pool, a small water feature at the base of Cube’s north face in Hanging Canyon. Our plan was an evening approach to high camp at 9,130 feet followed by an early rise and five pitches of granite, up to 5.5 in difficulty, before thunderstorms at 11:00AM. On Friday evening, joined by the Alpine Peanut – Bobbi Clemmer – herself, we approached Hanging Canyon as an enthusiastic team of three. Neither Bobbi nor I had been into Hanging Canyon let alone climbed on Cube, so we were more excited than usual for a family climb day, which usually occurs on routes we’ve climbed several times. Finding the unofficial climbing trail for Hanging Canyon was relatively intuitive (poke around the north end of the Jenny Lake west-shore boat dock, north of the Cascade Canyon Horse Trail, for a well traveled footpath that has any relevant longevity), and before long we were hammering up the forested headwalls of the exceptionally steep canyon mouth. On this approach Lauren got a particularly authentic Teton experience – a steep and rugged trail, a little taste of bushwhacking, expansive views and overflowing wildflowers. From the shores of Jenny Lake to our permitted camp was approximately 2,400 feet, but we would only make it about 1,800. What started as an upbeat pace quickly devolved into a classic altitude hindered slog for little Lauren, who put forth every ounce of fleeting effort to reach the final 600 foot headwall underpinning Arrowhead Pool by dusk. A reasonably flat bench bisected by a pair of mountain creeks, teeming with lush brush, beckoned an early camp. We found two reasonably flat tent sites amongst a checkerboard of grass flanked talus and settled in for an evening of exotic camp dining, late-summer air and a crystal clear star-scape. Despite falling short of our day one target, confidence in our ability to get Lauren up the summit of 9,800 foot Cube Point still soared.
We broke camp on Saturday morning by 7:00AM, wound past Arrowhead pool with lightened loads and made our way to the East Ridge of Cube Point by 10:00AM. Bobbi and I wore lightweight ski harnesses and approach shoes, holding down either end of a 50 meter rope. Lauren rocked Bobbi’s TC Pro rock shoes, “crampons for granite” in the words of Hayden Kennedy. I would be leading and Lauren would be climbing about 20 feet ahead of Bobbi, tied into our same single rope with an extended overhand-on-a-bight and two locking carabiners. I carried a light rack of four cams (#0.5 to #2) and a half dozen wires, four slings and some anchoring cord. The wind howled amongst building clouds as we began our first pitch from a small ledge at the geological toe of the ridge. A half rope length of blocky terrain through a treed bench evolved into steeper than expected climbing for the grade on thick crystalloid granite reminiscent of that found in Death Canyon – alligator skin we call it. I clipped a fixed piton, continued straight up on positive holds and eventually deadended at the confluence of two right facing slab corners, one directly overhead and another closer to the crest. I opted for the latter, and quickly found myself engaged in pleasant layback crack climbing on perfect stone with incredible exposure. My worn approach shoes resisted purchase on the knobby rock as my scanty rack drained towards empty, and while trivial in the grand scheme of climbing this stellar pitch actually kept me quite focused. A picture perfect belay from a treed ledge at exactly 50 meters seemed tailor suited to our needs. Lauren followed with tremendous poise, showing only the slightest signs of trepidation over the immense exposure into Hanging Canyon far below.
Our second pitch tackled a short vertical crack on the direct crest before transitioning to a half-rope of standard fourth class slab terrain. By the time the whole crew reached a pleasant belay alcove beneath a large boulder the sky was beginning to darken and sputter. A quick scan of the weather showed intermittent patches of rain, though no thunder for at least another two hours. Our next three pitches to the summit were some of the most unique I’ve climbed in the Tetons, weaving between several significant pinnacles on a now low-angle, yet highly featured, ridge. We danced gracefully with the rain, constantly checking the radar and moving efficiently through largely fourth and low-fifth class terrain. Occasional spurts of wetness were cut by longer patches of warm summer wind which quickly dried any damp spots. By noon we had monkeyed all the way to the base of the quintessential “Cube Pitch”, a short unprotected 10 foot boulder problem to surmount the true, and quite cube-like, summit block. We all took turns spotting each other, snagging pictures and butt-scooching the boulder move. While this unique perch was certainly fun for all, the amazement on Laurens face was especially evident – mission accomplishmed.
To regain terra firma we reversed two traversing pitches until a convenient looking ledge system appeared to facilitate a descent into Cube’s East Couloir (Cl. 4). A cave formed by a gigantic wedged boulder provided relief from a micro-thunder storm before we slung a horn to rappel Lauren into the couloir, skipping an otherwise highly exposed fourth class down-climb. Bobbi generously led the rappel to ensure the rope was draped properly into the couloir, and after both ladies were confirmed safe I cleaned the anchor and down-climbed. We all monkeyed down the couloir together, which featured only one short fourth class step amongst otherwise standard third class terrain. We reached camp by early afternoon and enjoyed a quick brunch of cheese and crackers, followed by a short siesta, before packing up and trudging to the car. All in all we rounded out the entire extravaganza in about 24 pleasant hours. The climb itself, while deemed five pitches in the guidebook, is best described as one or two pitches of 5.5 followed by a brief course in mountaineering short rope technique. The summit is a unique perch worthy of attention from over-qualified climbers, if only as an attraction en’ route to a longer scrambling outing on Symmetry Spire. The scenery in Hanging Canyon is top notch, and both Bobbi and I are eager to return for pearlier objectives in the years to come (cough cough… Rock of Ages). As for Lauren, well, she did about as well as we could’ve imagined. She handled the surprising exposure and slightly more technical rockwork with poise, and kept pedal to the medal when it was time to hustle against building clouds. We slept beneath the Teton stars, climbed squeaky clean granite accompanied by mind bending views, packed in a cave to hide from a lashing storm and best of all, enjoyed top-notch three-way camaraderie – all in a day’s work. I’d say that’s a raging success.
Resources
- A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range by Renny Jackson and Leigh Ortenburger, and Best Climbs of Grand Teton National Park by Richard Rossiter, offer a basic route and approach description
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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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