Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
The Beyer East Face is a highly reputed Teton classic, weaving a logical 900 foot line up one of the most impressive walls in Grand Teton National Park, with several standout pitches and an exciting summit scramble to the 13,775 foot summit of the Grand Teton. Noah Burbanc and I climbed the route in 17 hours car-to-car on September 26th, 2026.
The "Banana Couloir" is really not a couloir, but rather, a 3,300 foot slide path of epic proportions. The entire descent is pure "fall line", sustaining an average slope angle just above 30 degrees with no pitches steeper than 38 degrees, making for a incredible moderate objective catered to fast and fluid skiing.
On Saturday April 13th I had the pleasure of skiing the classic East Face of The Jaw with Bobbi Clemmer, Bailey Haus and Carl Osterburg. That's right, Carl's back on the blog. Upon exiting we tagged the North Couloir of Symmetry Spire, a really neat, relatively tight and seldom skied hallway funneling into Hanging Canyon.
The Otterbody Snowfield is a 1,700 foot fairy tale ski mountaineering descent, 7,000 feet in full, on the East Face of the Grand Teton. On March 30th, 2025, I had the pleasure of descending the route with Hayden Evans and Julian Winston.
On Sunday June 23rd Justin Gilbert and I clawed up the equally remarkable and unexpectedly difficult 1961 South Buttress route on the 1400 foot East Face of Table Mountain. 10 pitches, 15 hours, 15 miles and 5000 vertical feet later we were slightly busted, but far more stoked.
As the 2022/23 winter is slow to ramp up, and I'm still spending time digesting my Thanksgiving meal with family, I figured I would add this short bight from what was perhaps my first "real" Teton ski mountaineering descent - the famed Spoon Couloir on Disappointment Peak - circa 2018. Are you ready? (trip report... Continue Reading →
May 18th, 2022 saw my second summit ski descent of the East Face of Teewinot Mountain. Sustained 45+ degree face skiing above terraced cliffs and a 400 foot wide upper bowl funneling through a ski-width choke characterize this extremely classic Teton ski mountaineering objective. Connor James and I took advantage of the newly cleared Lupine... Continue Reading →
In 2015, David Gonzales wrote a popular article for POWDER Magazine titled "Is There A Better Way to Ski the Grand Teton?" in which he discusses the perilous and increasingly pressing issue of congestion on the Grand's most popular ski route, the Ford-Stettner. This article will double down on Gonzales's work, putting a microscope to the Workman-Starr Sneak and its potential to reduce overhead hazard when multiple climbers/skiers are on the mountain.
On March 30th, 2022 I completed my first solo climb and ski descent of the Grand Teton, with ropes used for rappel. I used the traditional Stettner & Chevy Couloirs (WI2+, steep snow) for ascent, but climbed a new (to me) variation of the Ford Couloir - the "Workman-Starr Sneak" - to access the summit... Continue Reading →
The Ford-Stettner route on the Grand Teton is arguably the range's most classic and sought ski mountaineering descent. On January 19th, 2022, I completed my second successful climb and ski descent of the Ford-Stettner, this time with a brand new partner. In classic Grand Teton fashion we battled copious unknowns, learned many lessons and returned... Continue Reading →
