Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
The Zorro Snowfield is a mythical ski mountaineering descent on the northeast aspect of Spalding Peak, a winding, unintuitive journey down 1,300 feet of steep off-camber ramps underpinned by a monstrous (nearly quarter mile wide) cliff. Sadly, our conditions didn't align for the most stylish descent, but descend we did.
The North Snowfield of Spalding Peak is yet another "steeper than it looks" and overlooked line in the South Fork of Garnet Canyon, complete with a unique summit, and on May 14th was the bearer of rarefied May powder. Skiing from just below 12,240 feet, this line could possibly be the mellowest descent from 12,000 feet in Grand Teton National Park.
Mount Owen's Northeast Snowfields are a coveted and seminal tick for Teton ski mountaineers - a serious, exposed and committing 2,500 foot descent requiring at least one rappel - a line I've chased for years, and finally had the chance to bag with Vinny Gwinn on May 12th, 2023.
On April 24th Reed and I got denied in Mount Wister's Chockstone Couloir, more commonly known as the Northwest Couloir, attempting a top-down ski descent. Useful for the next descentionist?
On Saturday I enjoyed a Garnet Canyon/Glacial Gulch link-up, skiing the Dike Snowfield to Teton Glacier, climbing to the Tallboy Col and eventually skiing the rarely descended SE face of Peak 11,751 (East summit of the East Prong). Both descents were personal firsts, a great day in the hills.
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 →
An updated and thorough topo of the Chouinard-Frost Chimney on the north face of Disappointment Peak in Grand Teton National Park.
A first for Ten Thousand Too Far, this is not a trip report - but a simple conditions report on the main ice climbs at the mouth of Death Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, after a futile ice trip on November 10th, 2022.
Seizure Disorder is a single pitch 5.10- variation to the original South Ridge (5.9, II, 5 pitches) route on Baxter's Pinnacle. No Perches Necessary is a short but worthy two pitch affair at the mouth of Cascade Canyon, featuring a stellar and sustained 5.9 fist crack, and a bold 5.8R runout slab pitch. On October 20th, 2022 Jordan Creech and I linked the two routes for one seven pitch day of excellent lowland climbing in the Tetons.
Peaches is an adventurous four pitch, grade two, 5.8 rock climb established by Yvon Chouinard and Kathryn Collins in 1980, and has seen few repeats since. Though only graded 5.8, if twenty foot runouts above small brass nuts puts bees in your bonnet, this might not be the climb for you.
Ten Thousand Too Far 