Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
On July 4th, 2024, Chase Krumholz and I completed the first ascent of Chilly Dogs (5.10-, III), a six pitch extension of Hot Dogs (5.9, I) on the south face of Storm Point. The route features nice selection of exciting and adventurous pitches in an accessible area, with a streamlined descent.
On Saturday September 21st, 2024, Greg Gwinn and I attempted to repeat the long forgotten Vas Defrens on Cathedral Rock, a 1000 foot "5.9 R" established by the legendary Jim Beyer and Buck Tilly in 1978.
On September 15th, 2024, Chris Morelli and I thrutched, wormed and grunted up the Snaz, an old-school, mega classic, ten pitch 5.10- on the commanding 1000 foot wall of Cathedral Buttress. I led all the crux pitches, and eight out of nine total pitches, which provided a far different challenge than swinging leads on the same climb two summers ago.
On September 8th, 2024, Bobbi Clemmer and I climbed the classic Southeast "Buckingham" Ridge on the 12,809 foot Middle Teton via an overnight camp in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon. It was Bobbi's first time swinging leads on an alpine climb, at pretty darn high elevation no less.
On August 15th Drew Grasso and I scurried the Upper Exum Ridge (5.5, II) for his first, and my thirteenth, Grand Teton summit. This was my third time on the route, but only the second with a rope. On this day we aimed to find the perfect balance between minimalism and security for a roped ascent. Here lies an exceedingly nerdy article oriented towards climbers, detailing our light rack and specific techniques for moving through this notoriously long 1000' route with a short 30 meter rope.
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.
On August 3rd I trotted into Garnet Canyon and soloed the should-be-classic Dike Route on the Dike Pinnacle. While the climbing itself was excellent, the direct descent into Garnet Canyon from the summit of the Dike Pinnacle nearly killed me... metaphorically... of course.
I've been battling a partial rotator cuff tear this summer, so I've been dipping my toes into the dark arts of rope-less climbing as a way to score significant mileage on easy terrain. The Chouinard Ridge provides a 1,600' vertical adventure on clean-as-a-whistle Middle Teton granite.
On Saturday July 13th Bobbi Clemmer and I attempted a Cloudveil Traverse, a classic seven peak link up following the skyline ridge connecting the South Teton to Nez Perce. Due to a few unexpected steep snow crossings and a critical route finding mistake by your's truly we were forced to retreat 150 feet from the summit of the final peak.
On Sunday July 7th Bobbi Clemmer and I climbed the uber-classic Dihedral of Horrors including the seldom climbed first pitch 5.10 variation. Because DOH has been documented on 10K2Far before, this article serves mostly to touch on the underrated 5.10 variation that more folks should climb.
Ten Thousand Too Far 