6-28-2011 Speed attempt of the Ford/Stettner, The Grand Teton

Jared's been talking about this one for a while now.  I was always on board but wasn't super psyched until Brian, Sam, Jared and I climbed the Grand en route to the Trifecta a few weeks ago.  That day Jared had to be in Salt Lake early so he skied out after summiting the Grand.  His car to car time was 7:21. Pretty quick but to me, it seemed like we wasted at least an hour taking pictures, getting lost,  slowly transitioning, hiking at a casual pace, sitting on the summit...  Since then I've thought A LOT about how to get up there and give it a go.  Andy and I were planning on trying later this week when we got a picture text from Nate Brown with his watch reading 7:15 and the caption of GFT!  His psych is pretty contagious.

Somehow Jared, Andy, and I were all free on Tuesday so off we went.  The first two people we talked to in Jackson added fuel to the fire.  #1, the cop who pulled Jared over for speeding.  After lawyering his way out of ticket Jared was asked what our plans were.  He said to attempt a speed ascent of the Grand.  The cop laughed, said yeah right, and walked away.  #2, some guide we met at the trailhead.  The first thing he said in a condescending tone was, "you're too late."  The next thing was, "two tools, two whippets?  That's 4 tools! What?!"  The next I heard as (not even close to a direct quote), "nice tights, you guys are idiots, I'm a guide, I know a lot."  With that fresh in our minds we started jogging the flats and fast hiking any ups on the way to the meadows.  We planned on dividing the day into 3 parts; 1:20 to the meadows, 1:20 to Glencoe, 1:20 to the summit.

1:16 at the meadows had us skinning on variable snow up to Glencoe.  After swapping leads about half way up the Tepee, we decided to start taking the booting the 5 people who left before us had kindly put in, thanks! We decided not to take it lower down since we normally prefer to skin but the warm temps and the morning sun had done some damage to the Tepee.

The boys heading to Glencoe Col

We arrived at Glencoe at 2:38, transitioned and left for the summit at 2:45.  Hard snow made for fast travel, no need to put a booter in, we just front pointed all the way to the summit (3:27).  On the summit we regrouped for a few minutes, laughed a lot while yelling at Andy, and were off.

Andy looking fresh

Jared "skiing" off the summit

Skiing off the summit. Photo by Andy

The skiing down through the Ford was pretty great, hard pack but very skiable.  After transitioning right at the base of the Petzoldt ridge we down climbed through the ice which seemed easier than a few weeks ago since the ice was pretty beat out.  Moving quick yet cautiously on exposed terrain with a few friends is pretty amazing.

Andy and Jared in the Chevy

All we had left was sloppy corn down to our shoes and a quick run to the car.  I don't care what Andy or Jared say, the run out was great.  A few falls and not cutting any switchbacks (erosion=bad) cost us a bit of time but we didn't care.  I couldn't help but laugh/smile the whole way.

Sweaty, in tights, and content

6/17-27/2011 Miscellaneous

Residency started this past week.  It was great to meet all my new co-interns, learn a bit and also run/ski a bit.  A few pics...

Jessie (black shorts, not the lycra) during The Wasatch Back.  See Andy's post for more details.   

Andy in Main Baldy Chute

The work crew heading to Mt Ogden

Sarah in one of the Race Chutes

Angus in Ogden Chute

Andy in Ogden Chute

Amanda running/creek crossing

6-11,12,13-2011, The Nose, El Cap

Pre-climb meal, actually pretty good.

 I gave Drake a call a few weeks ago on the off chance that he would have a week free to go climb.  He said he had class/work on the 8th and then a final in the morning of  the 15th but as long as we could get him back to Denver in time to take his test he would go.  Ha ha, I love it.  He was so psyched that he was willing to risk missing a final in Pediatric Nursing to give the Nose a go. He and Graham (Indiana friend who wanted to go find a partner in the Valley and get on whatever he could, also psyched!) pulled into SLC late Wed night slept for a few hours and we headed out early Thurs with the plan packing the bag that night, fixing to Sickle ledge on Fri, and giving it a go starting Sat. I was sure Drake was in great climbing shape but was a little worried about how well we would work together never having climbed a wall together.  In fact, we had only climbed together once (outside of Climb Time Towers) prior to this trip. 

Drake heading over to start fixing lines. 

Pitch 3

 Fixing to Sickle went as smoothly as I could have hoped and I remembered why I liked climbing with Drake so much last year; he's always ready and trying to be efficient.  Exactly what we needed on a long climb.  From there it was pretty casual making our pre-planned bivy spots.  On the first full day of climbing we hit El Cap Tower before 5 PM.  Having of extra free time was pretty great, we ate a ton and then decided to fix the next pitch, the Texas Flake, just to get a head start on the next day.

Drake after penduluming, heading toward the Stovelegs

Drake after penduluming once again on pitch 12 off of Dolt Tower.

Breakfast on El Cap Tower.  

 Day 2 was better than the first.  There was a little to think about (always fun) as far as logistics go. The King Swing, hauling through the traversing Grey Bands pitches, and Drake leading his first full aid pitch of the trip (The Great Roof) were the highlights.  As lame as it sounds, it felt pretty good to hit the King Swing and hear cheers from the bridge down low.

About to start the King Swing

Drake on the classic Great Roof

Drake jugging the upper part of Pancake Flake

 Day 3 was a short one, 6 and half pitches and we were off.

A wet Changing Corners

Drake on the last STEEP bolt ladder

A view down the most of the route from the "wild stance"

Drake topping out El Cap

 Finding the East Ledge decent added a little adventure to the day.  Luckily it was easy to find, had fixed lines and was a MUCH quicker than the Yosemite falls exit.

Drake scrambling with the Haul bag.  

 Immediately after getting down we took showers and headed out as quickly as possible.  We figured if we drove all night, Drake could get home to study a bit and sleep the night before his test.  It felt like a long drive to SLC, I'm sure adding the 7 hours to Denver felt longer. Hope he did fine.  After unpacking I realized we left in such a hurry that we forgot to take one of the lines we left at the base of the route.  Hopefully the party that we shared fixed lines with noticed we forgot it and gets some good use out of it, I doubt they will...

6-8-11 West Slabs to Apollo, Mt. Olympus

I got to run/scramble/climb/glissade all on the same outing this morning.  Tom, Jared, Jon and I headed up the West Slabs on Mt. Olympus and then down the Apollo.  It's always good to get out and try to move quick with these guys.  A few pics...

Jared and Tom

More West Slabs

Pack strap anchored for saftey!

Jon in tennis shoes

Sliding out

6-4-2011 Grand, Middle, and South Tetons

We've been talking about this one for a while now, The Trifecta.  Myself and brothers Sam and Jared Inouye met Jackson local Brian Harder with plans of skiing the Grand, moving on the the Middle to check conditions on the North Ridge, and hopefully continuing on to the South.  A 2:30 start had us skinning in the dark on firm snow. Other than getting lost once, the approach went pretty smoothly. 

Brian heading to Tepee Col

We (except Brian, poor guy, his bindings didn't have the attachment mounted yet) stayed in ski crampons until just before Tepee Col and then booted the rest of the way.

Jared above close to Glencoe Col, Tepee Pilar in the Background

The Stettner, Chevy and Ford were filled in and unfortunately had very little ice.  This made for a pretty causal group solo to the upper snowfield.

Brian and Sam in the Stettner

Jared below a filled in Chevy

Brian coming up the Chevy

We ended up finding winter snow all the way up the Ford to the summit.  It made for a little bit slower travel but the skiing was fantastic!

Jared Inouye skiing off the summit of the Grand

Brian skiing pretty quick on the upper snowfield

Sam on the upper snowfield

Group Ski!

Brian and Jared in the Ford, more group skiing!

Brian down climbing the Chevy

Jared said he was going to keep his race skis on and try to side step the Chevy and the Stettner.  In retrospect it was probably a good idea he didn't, especially since I would have HAD to follow suit.  After a fun group down climb and it was time to split up.  Jared had to be in SLC around 3PM later that day so he headed home hopeful to make the car to car trip in under 7 hours.  With out all the wrong turns he probably would have made it, still, 7:21 isn't too slow. The rest of us headed to the lower saddle and on over the the N. Ridge of the Middle.

Brian and Sam coming up the N. Ridge

We took a long while wandering around trying to find the way over into the couloir that leads to the summit of the Middle.  Maybe a little too long, Sam's woman was waiting down in Jackson and being the gentleman that he is, he decided to go keep her company.  As we kept going, the climbing was pretty exciting, a little (a lot) exposed.

Brian

Down climbing

Traversing a little snow ramp over a lot of air

After a little under 2 hours we were in the couloir with a clear shot to the summit.

Brian

Brian on the summit ridge

Once we were on top of the Middle we thought all the hard parts of the day were done.  We sat and watched a party we bumped into earlier summit the Grand, pretty good view.

On top of Middle Teton

The SW off the Middle was ridiculous, it was filled in, fast, and soft.

Brian in the SW couloir of Middle Teton

Once off the Middle we skinned to the NW couloir of the South, headed up, and ate celebratory gu on the summit.

Brian towards the top of the NW

Turns out skiing the NW on the South was the sketchiest skiing of the day.  It was steep, slightly runnelled and narrow but once through the choke, we found dry soft winter snow all the way out of the South Fork.  We entertained thoughts of added a bit more on for the day but decided to head home happy with The Trifecta, next time...

Stats:

Summits: Grand, Middle, South

Total Elevation Gain: 10,138? (my watch stopped working, I think that's what Brian had)

Time: 11:57

Ropes carried: 2

Ropes used: 0

Food: 12 Gu's, 2 Probars, 1 bag Juicy Oozers