A few photos and notes from three successful early season ice climbing days in Teton Canyon. The canyon is coming into shape well. A full conditions report from all TC climbs at the bottom.
The Birds (WI3)
Teton Canyon has experienced an excellent start to the 2024/25 ice season. On November 9th Hayden Evans and I went out to a rarely climbed, relatively remote and short WI3 called The Birds. This fine route can be spotted about 1.5 miles up the South Fork trail. The best approach will be found walking just past The Birds and ascending a generally open snow gully to the east of some rolling cliffs, about 1000 vertical feet. Plan on 60-90 minutes from the South Fork trailhead. Teton Ice lists the route as two pitches, but only the first poses interesting climbing, with the second a mere thin WI2 runnel. 40 feet of steepish WI3 climbing will be found on a narrow pillar leading to a two bolt anchor on climber’s left. If the rest of the route is formed, which it often is not, another 40 feet of WI2 in a thin limestone slot can be followed to no man’s land above. On November 9th Hayden and I stopped at the bolt anchor, as the remaining ice was delaminating glaze. Bobbi Clemmer, Mike Parri and I returned on November 22nd and climbed the full first pitch, braving the upper neck in 7-10cm aerated ice conditions. I got one 7cm stubby in a blob of flow ice to tame an otherwise ground-fall runout. The compact rock on either side offered no rock protection opportunities, except a placement for a large/medium pecker I did not have. A beautiful pour-over of blue ice above the runnel provided a saving grace v-thread for top-roping and descent. According to the guidebook this upper section may never form all that well, and climbers wishing to climb the entire first pitch in early season conditions might consider a bolt kit or robust array of pitons and small wires for anchoring. All in all, this is a great early season outing while waiting for the bigger down-canyon lines to form.
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Left Ghost (WI4)
Between my outings on the The Birds I got out with Bobbi Clemmer and Liam Wylie for an after work session on the Left Ghost. On November 9th the climb looked to be forming well, and after week of sub-freezing nights we rolled the dice on November 19th. The approach was the typical steep bushwhacking for south wall routes, beginning with a pleasantly low creek crossing adjacent to the Waterfall Wall summer climbing area – so far this appears to be the optimal crossing. We passed the Right Ghost on the way, which was a staggering sight of two large hanging daggers, still about 30 feet from touching, spraying water like a shower. According to Dean Lords these were the exact conditions the first ascents of both bolted lines on either side of Right Ghost were sent. The left is Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, a well protected M8 that gains the left dagger. The right is The Poltergeist, slightly “scarier” M6+ that gains the right dagger. We climbed neither, but they sure looked cool. The Left Ghost tested the limits of thin but climbable, providing 30 feet of very thin climbing on overhanging jellyfish drips, and a tenuous shell ice mantle, to reach the first reliable screw in the main column. The vertical section was well adhered, yet candled, delicate, and very difficult for the WI4 grade. The upper section featured more protection-less shell ice to a rock, hero moss and bomber thin ice top-out that was more secure than expected. I sort-of felt like I “got away with one” leading Left Ghost this early, taking about an hour to work up 90 feet of ice, with only a few screws worthy of bodyweight, let alone a fall. We did the season’s first ascent of the route, and the second ascent party two days later reported even worse conditions following an above freezing night. Next year I will wait longer to try my luck on Left Ghost. That said, Bobbi and Liam reported very fun top-rope climbing conditions, and generally speaking this was an excellent day out.
Below is a conditions report from November 9th for historical context, and a conditions report from the 21st for relevance. Cheers to ice!
Conditions Report – November 9th, 2024
- Eagle Scout (WI5)
- Large (50 foot?) hanging dagger with a substantial base, but not quite connected. Ice has no color.
- Boy Scout Falls (WI3)
- Thin or non-existant
- Reunion Falls (WI3-4)
- Non-existant
- Right Ghost (WI5)
- Large hanging double dagger not close to touching.
- Left Ghost (WI4)
- Continuous but thin ice to a very thin looking top-out with visible rocks. This will likely be the next climb to come into shape.
- The Birds (WI3)
- 40 feet of good quality WI3 to bolt anchor. WI2 above very thin glaze.
- North Side Climbs
- All climbs on the sunny side have extremely little or no ice formation.
Conditions Report – November 21st, 2024
After 12 days of consistently freezing nights in the twenties and a handful of nights in the teens or single digits. Daytime temps in the 20’s to low 30’s.
- Eagle Scout (WI5)
- Fully formed to ground and starting to develop visible deep blue color. No known ascents. Appears to be difficult WI5+ or 6 conditions from the road.
- Boy Scout Falls (WI3)
- Thin or non-existant
- Reunion Falls (WI3-4)
Starting to form, but thin and discontinuous
- Right Ghost (WI5)
- Large hanging double dagger 30 feet from touching. Very wet and hollow.
- Left Ghost (WI4)
- Climbable at thin WI4+. Thin lower and upper, well adhered and wet middle. See trip report above. No rock gear.
- The Birds (WI3)
- 40 feet of good quality WI3 to bolt anchor. 40 feet of 7-10cm poor quality glaze to top of pitch one. See trip report above.
- North Side Climbs
- All climbs on the sunny side have extremely little or no ice formation. Landslide (Waterfall Wall area) has a thin sheet, but is likely unfit for leading and extremely wet, if climbable at all.
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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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