This trip was 5 years in the making. Last time I tried for the Grand, my friend Glen and I headed up with 50% chance of weather, and what we got was 4 straight days of constant rain and thunder storms. There was maybe 1 or 2 solid hours of reprieve for 96 hours straight. To top it off, we had a bear encounter in the national forest around Shadow Mountain. We heard an agitated growl outside the tent in a thunder storm – Glen had his Glock 40 cal locked and loaded, myself a measely bottle of spray. We exited the tent, guns blazing and heard/saw the silhouette of a massive figure run in to the woods, followed by the crunching of trees. We took an uncollapsed tent, tied to roof and drove back to Denver dejected. We never even made it to Lupine Meadows TH. Keep reading…
I’ve been intrigued by Mount Moran ever since seeing a trip report about it on TGR years ago, then reaffirmed by a pic from a plane included in Chris Davenport’s “50 Classic Ski Descents of North America”. The draw is obvious from the start – an approach on a canoe across a lake in the Tetons to a campsite along a shore and a 6000 foot vertical ski line in the heart of raw nature. In my opinion, that’s a must do for any ski mountaineer, or any mountaineer period. Keep reading…
About two months ago Carl pitched me the idea of going for the Grand Teton via the Upper Exum Ridge, a route about as classic as they get. Immediately I was interested; the Grand stood high on my wish list as one of those must-do-in-your-lifetime peaks, as it does for many. For weeks we researched and discussed the plan, ultimately deciding on the last weekend in July as the best window for our trip. Keep reading…
