Chad_A

Oh, and I should add...the ice climbs actually come around later in the year. They're all snow climbs right now, although Stettner has ice in it. I'm told that most of the ice routes on the Enclosure come around in July. Maybe a bit earlier nowadays, with global warming 'n all.

There's just about everything that you could possibly hope for on the Grand. Everything from good rock climbing, to ice; the Enclosure, a sub-peak of the Grand, has the Black Ice Couloir, which will probably come in this year, with the snowpack that they have. Also, a harder variation of that, with (what I'm told) reasonably difficult mixed climbing, Albrechts Alley, is right there, as well as the VisionQuest Couloir. The Black Ice is supposed to be the most straight forward steep snow and ice, followed by VisionQuest, and then the hardest rated is Albrechts. The only thing I can see missing from the mountain is the usual snow slog; not such a bad thing. It's not a bad idea, from what I gather, to have climbed the Owen-Spaulding (5.4) route, so you'll know the descent. It's kind of a lengthy traverse from the Upper Saddle (the spot between the Enclosure and the Grand) from the west side of the mountain, to the south side of the mountain. Once you're at the Upper Saddle, it's a scramble downwards, via scree covered ledges (and, this time of year, post holing snow slopes) to get down. I understand that it's much less pleasant of a descent once the snow is gone...and it wasn't that great with the snow present! Bleech!

Beer has a bad aspect? Impossible. Though beer is a good medium to compare the different types of alpine climbing. There's quite a selection. Some days I feel like having a Stout, most days I feel like having an IPA. Most days, I prefer ice, just like most days I prefer an IPA. Like a Titan IPA. It has an ice climber on the bottle.

Thanks, Oleg! We didn't have much rock climbing; just the part that bypassed the ice pitch. The couloir itself was a riot...fun, soloable ice.

Very cool. Nice TR, and great pics!

Hey, Steve- No, I haven't done This House of Sky, yet, but from what you describe, I'll bet that it isn't that far off, in general. I wish that the finishing pitch of WI would have gone, but it was prudent not to climb it. Maybe a week earlier and it could have been golden!

Climb: Grand Teton- Stettner Couloir Date of Climb: 5/26/06 Trip Report: I'd been contacted by Keith, who was also interested in the Canadian Rockies, for fall climbs. We'd decided to get together before that, and climb something on the Beehive in Montana, to get me some mileage on some mixed climbing. This past week, upon talking to a local in Montana, we had changed plans to the Tetons abruptly; turns out, the season has been a complete wash for climbing on the Beehive this year. Keith mentioned Stettner Couloir on the Grand, and so we set our sights on that. It sounded fun, but I didn't know much about the Teton(s) in general. With an hour of sleep after working, I made the drive to Jackson, and met Keith at the Jenny Lake campground. The view of Teewinot was beautiful from our camp. The weather was forecasted to change Saturday, so we only had Friday to climb. We prepared the gear, and hit the sleeping bags for a wink or two of sleep before heading up. I was pretty beat. At dusk, we were near the Lower Saddle. Here's the Middle Teton, and Keith, in the growing light. We got separated on the scree field for a bit, but found each other soon enough, and climbed up to the col, where you downclimb and traverse to the base of the Couloir. I was feeling pretty miserable; the lack of sleep and the altitude was having it's way with me. Keith moved along without effort; I vowed to continue until we had a real reason not to. Here's a pic of the lower couloir. The couloir was interspersed with steep snow and WI2. Or, AI2, whatever you would call it. It was blue, and refrozen water, in the alpine. After 700 ft of simul-solo vertical gain, we were near top of the couloir. Here's a pic of what lay ahead. I had stayed a bit below Keith, and off to the side, to dodge the falling ice; later, I found out it wasn't his ice falling, but another party's, that was falling from a "bypass" pitch of ice (WI2) to get past the head of the couloir. I got up to him, and he had the anchor set. We got out the ropes, and he was ready to tackle the ominous pitch of ice. Here's a pic of the ice, and of the belay position, which was spectacular. After getting halfway up it, the ice turned out to be very wet, and the pillar wasn't as well attached at the top as he'd have liked, so he downclimbed and pulled the screws. He found a squeeze hole underneath a huge chockstone; this is the most interesting climbing I've ever seen. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it. He protected it with a #3 Camalot, and a red Alien. After some grunting and shoving his pack through the hole above him, he popped through, set up an anchor, and I cursed and groaned my way through it after him. After this was an hour long suffer-fest to the summit; I've never postholed up to my ass at 13,000 feet before. Quite the workout. I didn't have the energy left to take a summit pic; I only wanted to get down before the weather came in. If Keith took a summit photo, I'll post it as soon as I have it. We followed another party down snowy ledges to the Owen-Spaulding descent. After two rappels (one single, one double) we were at the upper saddle. Thankfully, Keith knew the descent down scree and postholing snow slopes, to traverse back around the mountain to get back to the lower saddle, and where we'd started. I can see someone getting lost, or off route here, if one weren't familiar. I felt bad that I hadn't had time to look into the descent info, but he didn't mind finding the way down. In hindsight, I could have figured it out; it simply a traverse to where you stared from. The hard part might be knowing where the rap stations are, if you haven't been there before. On the way down the trail, there was one more treat to be had. As our minds were filled with thoughts of beer and pizza, a black bear stood in our way. Eventually, it meandered away, but none too soon. Hooray! The next day, we were to climb on the Guide Wall to get in some rock, but the forecasted weather decided to come in. Even with weather over them, the Tetons are beautiful. My initial impression of the Grand is that it's similiar to Stuart, in that there's something on it for every type of climber. I'll be looking forward to going back! Thanks to Keith for being patient with a Cascadian climber's first time out there. Approach Notes: The Lupine Meadows Trail is mostly melted out in the lower portions; the upper part is still under snow. Gear Notes:Two tools, pons, some screws (almost used), small rack of cams and stoppers (used), half ropes.

Good job, Jaime. Looks like you had a great time! -Chad

Thanks for sharing, Josh. Very scary for sure. Also, sorry to hear about Larry; I guess that stuff can happen to experienced folks at any time. This thread reminds me of my first trip to Stuart a couple years ago. Stewart and I were heading in to do the Ice Cliff Glacier; unfortunately, instead of following Nelson's approach description, we ended up following tape markers on tree branches. This lead us high onto the granite boulderfield, way too high. Rather than go back, we decided to stick it out. Scrambling along the boulders wasn't bad at first, but then we ended up jumping and hopping across car sized granite blocks. I fell once; mostly frustrating, and some cursing. The second time I fell, a rock hold on a slope pulled off, as I was scrambling up a steep section to get on top of another granite block. I fell, somersaulted 30-40 feet down this steep slope, lost most of my pack contents all over the place, and ended up with my head downhill, mere feet away from another rock that would've crushed my skull. I brushed it off as best as I could, but wore my helmet the rest of the way. I still have a nasty scar on my right wrist from the fall. A year later, I did that approach again, and followed the trail next to the stream. Lesson learned- don't blindly follow taped trees, and follow a guidebook description!

Here's some of Nate's pics; just received them yesterday. Why does this not look so bad now? It felt a helluva lot steeper than this...but maybe that's because of the runout below, and the sugar collapsing beneath my feet.

Here's some of Nate's pics; I just received them yesterday. Thanks, Nate!

Oh, suuurree...."it's not like I own one". Ha! Just don't ask to spoon with me on Baker this year

4 out of 5 dentists recommend What the FUCK, Roger? Jesus. You're all quiet and calm at breakfast...then I get online and see you've posted a chastity belt with a Penis on it. It even has the Urethra defined. I'm starting to wonder about you.

Wow, I've been wanting to do that one. Very cool. Kudos to you guys!

Good job by Joe, and it was fun meetin' y'all.

Very, very cool Oleg! Kudos to you. Nice TR!

Whoa, cool, I'll look that up. I'm sure that's a lot cheaper than hiring an advisor.

This is what I'm suffering with these days. With respect to Otter, and not to get too far off topic, if not real estate, then what's a good way to invest? I know the stock/bond option, but you really have to know what you're doing; real estate, from what I'm told, is a much more reliable return.

Wow, very nice pics. That pic of your camp has a great view of the Moonflower Buttress and the Lowe Kennedy route on Hunter. Beautiful! Though, it's easy to see the 'schrund that's formed on that thing that's shutting people down. Thanks for posting the TR. Sounds like it's been a rough spring up there, from what I've heard. Kudos to Seth and Tyler!

Yeah, it was a great day to be out. That route went silky smooth. Really alot of fun, and aesthetic. I hope to spend quite a bit more time on Dragontail

Oh, yes, I will be there.

Ugghh...the "sugar snow traverse"

Well, Stewart beat me to it! That's fine, you're a better writer than I any day. I must say I was happy to have that nausea pass...I never thought I'd have such a nasty case of the screaming barfies in May. Funny how falling spindrift can freeze your hands and arms so quickly.... Here's a few group pics, and one of the bend leading to the upper couloir. Olyclimber kicks ass for taking those stellar photos of us; thanks much for that.

Here's the pics that I have (not too many). We were moving quite along, so we didn't take the time...wish we would have. Nate and Stewart in the Hidden Couloir. Stewart checking the rap anchor before the rappel into the second runnel. Stewart coming out of the fun section of the second runnel. Nate above the second runnel. All three on top. A couple of the Enchantments Expanse: A great team to be out with. Stay tuned for the TR for the NEBC... -Chad

Absoulutely awesome, Rog! Very cool. Good to see you finally got it done. I swear those ice chunks are guided missiles sometimes. Ouch!