SpicyGoliath

Ever since visiting Jackson last year I wanted to climb the Grand Teton. Because of its technical nature it is not just a simple hike-up and summit trip but a more involved mountaineering affair that requires much more planning, equipment and of course the right climbing partners. With Penny in town visiting Dave we had the perfect opportunity and since Dave has climbed the Big Teton before, we had somebody with real experience to lead us up. The Grand has numerous routes to its top, all which require some form of roped-up climbing. We decided on the Owen-Spalding – the easiest and quickest with thrilling exposure.

Our trip started at the Lupine Meadows trail head with Dave, Penny, Janet and I slowly heading up Garnet Canyon with our fully loaded backpacks. In addition to the regular backpacking stuff we had to haul our climbing harnesses, gear rack and two ropes. Although one 60m rope would’ve been fine for the climbing there is also a 120 ft rappel at the end which is best done with two ropes tied together. Above 10,000 feet the terrain quickly turned more alpine as we climbed above the tree line and onto the moraine of the Middle Teton Glacier before reaching the Lower Saddle at 11,600 ft just before sunset. The Lower Saddle connects the Middle and Grand Teton and with the limited number of permits available it fills up fast resembling a bustling climbing base camp. There is a snow patch on the east of the ridge providing drinking water for safe unfiltered use which means human waste management is crucial and all climbers are required to use the dreaded “wag bag” for this purpose.

I don’t sleep well at altitude and was still wide awake at 3 am when the first climbing parties headed out of camp with their headlamps marking the route up the mountain. Expecting good weather we didn’t find it necessary to start that early and had enough time for coffee before heading out at sunrise. A couple of hours later our summit ambitions were evaporating as we were scrambling around looking for the dreadful “eye of needle”. This natural tunnel under an enormous boulder threads an easy way through the boulder field to the Upper Saddle. Penny decided to return to base camp with Dave who was suffering from altitude sickness while Janet and I continued to the Upper Saddle following a friend of Dave (also Dave) who was leading a group of four climbers. The view from up high was spectacular with the glacier very small in the South and Solitude Lake and the Paintbrush divide in the North.

With Dave’s group encouraging us to continue and offering us the use of their rope for the final rappel our summit hopes were renewed. We followed them across the Belly Roll and the Crawl, two very famous and very exposed parts of the Owen-Spalding route. A slip here would mean a more than 2000 feet plunge into the depths of Valhalla Canyon. It was late morning but the going was slow and we needed to summit before noon for a safe and lightning free decent. After the traverse we climbed up two chimneys before reaching the summit. Breathtaking views of the entire Teton Range were followed by a quick celebration with a round of Japanese Single Malt before down-climbing to the rappel anchors. We reached the Lower Saddle under threatening skies with light hail falling from the sky.

I wish it could end here but unfortunately we still had to pack up camp and hike out – to me, always the most grueling part of any trip.