Rock Climbing – Ice Climbing – Ski Mountaineering
On December 31, 2025, Julian Winston and I skied the Chouinard Couloir from 12,200 feet, 300 feet below the summit. We turned around due to firm snow conditions, a usually buried rock step that would've forced downclimbing, and overhead hazard from falling rime ice.
On December 28th, 2025 I opened my ice season with Erik Boomer on the Teton classic Right and Left Ghost Pillars (WI5 & WI4). Both routes were in virgin conditions with thin top outs. A few observation notes on nearby routes are included at the bottom.
Seams Heady is a renowned 5.11b "PG" trad seam in the glacial polished granite wonderland of Teton Canyon. In 2024 I completed a ground-up redpoint with no previous inspection or beta. I learned three enlightening lessons through the process.
On Thursday June 19th, 2025, I climbed Irene's Arete with new-to-the-Tetons desert coworker Kenzi Stemp, including a two pitch direct start which has surely been climbed before, but is undocumented and often skipped. Higher, we explored a few harder variations with pleasant rewards. This article will focus solely on the variations we climbed, and others I've climbed over the years, which add tremendous value to this already great route.
The Snazette is an especially incredible two pitch 5.10c variation to one of the Teton's already great routes, The Snaz (5.10a, IV).
On April 29th, 2025, I skied a rare line on the South Face of the Dike Pinnacle. I'd been dreaming of connecting the dots on this improbable face for many years.
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 Northeast Face of Mount Woodring is an unassuming, yet intricate and at times rather severe, 3,000 foot ski descent tucked away in the deep recesses of Leigh Canyon.
The Eagle Scout (a.k.a. Mack-Tyson) pillar is the premier single pitch ice climb of the Teton Range, with "more than 100 feet of vertical or overhanging climbing" and a grade ranging from WI5- to WI6R. Having not climbed the Eagle Scout in two years, I thought I would add some notes from the perspective of a better ice climber.
Over December and January I climbed and equipped two new or seldom visited routes in the South Fork of Teton Canyon that may be "Rusty's Smears", with three different partners.
Ten Thousand Too Far 