Wall

At what point in Garnet canyon do you gain the east ridge route? Or phrased differently.... how do I get to this route? I know the area and have the guide book but I am at work right now and I am usually at work when I am thinking about climbing!!!! Thus, I never think to look up the route once I get home and start drinking beer. Can you help?

I noticed a few people were mentioning the possibility of down climbing the Owen Spalding... not a great idea! Yes it can be done but it is not very good time management, especially if you are trying to do all three of the Tetons. As for the rappel... a 60 meter rope will do the trick if you throw to the south when the rap rings are to your back!!!! That is SOUTH, not skiers left, although they are almost the same thing. With a 60 meter your feet will just touch the ground and then you will have about 20 feet of easy down climbing. Be careful not to rap off the end of your rope!!!! A girl did that on DT a few months back!!!! In addition to that, to save time and to be safe you can rap down Sargents Chimney as well. Peace and happy climbing

I have never done the GT East Ridge but am also looking into it. I did the Upper Exum on the 9th of July and posted about it not too long ago. As for the South and Middle Tetons I have climbed them both. If you do the North Ridge on the Middle the only tricky part is finding the true summit (or maybe that was a personal problem). The summit of the Middle is composed of several blocks. It is not real hard to find the true summit just don't veer to far to the east. As for the South, its a cake walk for the most part. You will most likely descend the SW coulour (how do you spell that?) of the Middle and end up in the saddle. Then the easiest way up the South is the NW coulour. It is easy fourth class with only one sort of exposed move. No gear needed except for an ice axe so leave it all in the saddle. It should only take you an hour or two to reach the summit of the South once you have descended the Middle and reached the saddle. I know this is not much info and not very detailed but the Middle and the South are pretty straight forward. Let me know if there is anything else you need.

i don't live in Washington (right now) but I lived there for 21 years and if anyone has that guys address I am down for showing him how its done in my home town.... a little beat down is what a believe we use to call it!!!!!

That makes my stomach turn! I once camped at the base of the Grand Wall in that little campground and had a negative experience with some of the locals as well. Whats up with that? I thought all those good home grown hits would mellow them out.

This is only my second post on this site as I am no longer living in the PNW. However, I love sharing with all of you the sweet climbs that are in Wyoming. My last post was about DT. On the 9th of July I summited the Grand. The climb was stellar and we did not even have to race an oncoming thunderstorm like you usually have too when climbing in the Tetons. I worked as a Park Ranger in Yellowstone last year and went back there last week to guide two friends to the summit of the Grand. They are both in their fifties and climbed like pros even though neither of them have much climbing experience. Shit, they have not even been on rock in over 20 years. The climb itself is killer. The rock is sound and the views are exhilerating. The "Friction Pitch" (5.5), which happens to be the crux, is very decieving from below. I was pitching shit on the team above us (friendly shit) about how long they were taking. Then when I took off on lead I thought... oops... I hate karma. The pitch looks like it has supper big holds on it from below but 20 feet above the belayer, with tennies on, with no pro in place, you discover why it is the crux. It is really not that bad but it did make me think a little. I climbed the route looking at its potential for a solo climb. I feel the route can be done solo no problem if you are confident on 5.7 to 5.8 trad leads. Most of the route is upper 4th and lower 5th class but there are a few tricky and exposed moves. If anyone is getting ready to head over to the Tetons and you need any beta on any of the major peaks just let me know. Happy climbing

where is the Conn traverse located at?

I grew up climbing in the PNW and have recently landed in Nebraska.... it sucks. However, DT is only 3.5 hrs away and the Neddles distict in the Black Hills is only 1-2 hrs away ! I have been climbing some of the classics in the hills like Gossamer and Garfield Goes to Washington near Mount Rushmore. Two weekends ago I did my first DT climb. The Durrance Rt. of course. When my partner did not show I started bumming around the campground at daylight looking for anyone who looked like they were heading up. Luckily I found two guys from Montana who thought they may need someone to lead the crux pitch! We hooked up and were the first ones on the RT., closely followed by atleast three other teams. Before the climb I read a lot of forums about the Durrance Rt. and they all seemed to say that pitch 2, the crux, which is off-width crack climbing is way harder than 5.7. Well, I climbed it without even thinking about it and I am only a 5.8 to 5.9 leader!!!! If anyone is headed to DT don't worry about the crux pitch being harder than 5.7. There are plenty of holds and two cracks to chose from. You may want to take a size four cam to protect near the top though or you will have to run it out! Other than that the climb was steller. Its not Leavenworth or the Early Winter Spires but it was certainly a classic. Happy climbing to all back in the PNW and I can't wait till I get back out there to join ya. Peace P.S. I heard that last weekend (5-17 ish) a girl rapped off the end of her rope decending the tower.... anyone over there hear anything?