Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
A video trip report from June 1st, when Bobbi Clemmer and I enjoyed what can only be called a magical day of late spring corn skiing. We connected the North Bowl of Table Mountain and the West Ridge of Peak 10,650 for 7,000 feet of type one fun.
The Alpine Peanut remains motivated to earn her turns well into May. The weekend of May 11th and 12th we skied the East Face of Rockchuck Peak and one of her season projects, the South Face of Taylor Mountain, in perfect corn!
On March 9th, 2024, Bobbi and I were joined by three friendly Minnesotans for a long walk in the high alpine. Many people forget that a ski descent from 12,000+ feet in the Tetons actually can be mellow. This was also Bobbi's first ski descent from above 12,000 feet, exactly one year to the week from her 2023 partial ACL and meniscus tears!
Bear Lodge is the indigenous name for the iconic 867 foot free-standing igneous monolith commonly known as Devils Tower. The Durrance (5.8, II) is the easiest route up Bear Lodge, with pitch after pitch of slippery, old-school, wide crack climbing.
The Needles host some of the boldest old-school trad lines in the country, with rich history on amazing granite pillars. Bobbi Clemmer, Carl Osterburg, Bailey Haus and I sampled some of the moderate four-star classics over two days, including Threading the Needle (5.8+ R/X), Tricouni Nail (5.8 R) and Tent Peg (5.7 R).
Two weekends ago Ricky Bobbi and I packed sparkly waters and fresh produce into high places, and enjoyed an awesome, almost leisurely, camp-to-camp ascent of Nez Perce's acclaimed Direct South Ridge (5.7+, III) over three days.
Irene's Arete is widely stated as the finest rock climb in Grand Teton National Park. Many variations are possible, but we sought the path of least resistance and cleared the ridge at 5.8, with truly remarkable positioning on a golden, awe inspiring knife's edge arete. Yep, she's a classic - but, THE classic? Oh, and we hit some traffic too.
The "Complete Exum" - "Full Exum" - "Direct Exum" - "Durrance Direct to Upper Exum" - whatever you want to call it, this 1,700 foot skyline route is one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America for a reason. You can see it from just about anywhere within 100 miles, and pitch for pitch holds some of the best alpine rock climbing in the Tetons, on the tallest and most impressive peak in the Tetons.
On July 1st, 2023, Bobbi Clemmer and I found our flow on one of our favorite GTNP routes to date, the Corkscrew Arete on the Watchtower, one of the many freestanding spires between The Grand Teton and Disappointment Peak.
On Saturday June 24th Bobbi Clemmer and I got benighted on a wild ascent of a wet Trinity Buttress (a.k.a. Symmetry Crag 4). Originally graded 5.9 by Yvon Chouinard and T.M. Herbert in 1970, the climb ascends two-thirds of the major rock buttress west of the popular Guide's Wall with a few stellar, and a few not so stellar, pitches.
Ten Thousand Too Far 