questions on the Tetons pour vous

[Fromage]

Hey gang, I am headed to the Tetons for ten days at the end of this month, and having never been before I would like to know if anyone has any info on the following topics:

 

1. Where is a good place to slog up to and make a high camp from which to do most of the classics on the Grand (Exum, O-S, Petzoldt, etc.)?

 

2. Anyone ever had any problems with wildlife? Especially the non-human kind, but I guess the question lends itself to smartass answers.

 

3. Has anyone been there late season before? Your thoughts and recommendations?

 

Any other beta or suggestions for a fun, pleasant, safe trip are appreciated. Merci-

 

Fromage

[ryland_moore]

1) You will need to get permits from the Jenny Lake Ranger Station. Very difficult this time of year since August is the peak climbing month in the Tetons. Plan on camping on the front porch the night before to get your permit and stay as long as you can. Try and get a permit for the Lower Saddle. If this is full get a permit for the Moraine. If you plan on climbing S. or Middle Teton, Cloudveil, etc. Then stay at the Meadows. Much longer approach for the Grand but offers easier access for other mountains in the area. If the Lower Saddle is full, think about a permit for the Meadows the first night or two, climb some other peaks, and then get a permit for the Lower Saddle next. It breaks up the approach, which can be hell if you are carrying full packs and planning on being up there for a while.

 

2) Think about doing the Petzholt Ridge instead of Exum Ridge. Same degree of difficulty with a lot less traffic. Next ridge to the right (East) of Exum. If you are planning on climbing Owen Spalding, skip the "belly crawl and the bottleneck created by guide services and head up the chimney jsut before it (5.9) with fps in the cracks. Fun, but short pitch (50ft.).

 

3) Snafflehounds are worse on lower saddle, Moraine, and Meadows than Boston Basin! No way to really hang your food except some large sticks that people have carried that you must balance with large rocks on top of huge boulders and hang bags off the side. Marmots are large and can grab the bags and they are experts at getting on top of boulders and knocking the large sticks (4 ft. long, 2-3 in. diameter)down to get at food. Make sure the boulder you are using has at least a V2 problem as easiest access to the top or snafflehounds will dine on your horsecock for sure Don't worry about bears. In the entire 3 years I lived there, I only heard of one black bear near the meadows and he was pretty harmless.

They aren't huge fans of late summer alpine areas where very little food or water exists.

 

3)If you climb in the Tetons and don't go to Death Canyon and jump on some of the classics like Caveat Emptor or The Snaz, then you might as well not go (personal opinion). Also, think about doing the CMC on Moran (not Moron). Classic line with the best high camp in the Tetons. Some use a canoe (preferable) to get across the lake, but you can hike around it too.

 

4)After your climb, go to Moose, walk into Dornan's, go upstairs on the porch, get a nice Teton ALe or something from Otto Brothers and watch the sun set behind the Tetons. It is good if you can time this when Steam Powered Airplane is playing (local bluegrass band with a guitar player who won best picker at the Telluride Festival 3 years ago.) They sometimes play at the Silver Dollar Bar and Grill on Broadway near the town square. Have a blast!

[Alasdair]

Skip the crowds, leave the car early pack light and do the Exum in a day. That way you can be back in time for 5:00 beers the day of the climb.

[Lambone]

1) Camp pretty much wherever the rangers tell you you can. The higher the better.

 

2)I saw a big moose on the trail once. He looked pretty mean.

 

3)Bring good rain gear and watch for lightning.

 

4)Leave the cell phone at home.

 

oh yeah,

Irene's Arete is one of my all time favorite routes.

 

[ 08-02-2002, 04:01 PM: Message edited by: Lambone ]

[klenke]

I seem to remember a hat rack up there at the lower saddle for hanging food on. At least it reminded me of a hat rack. I remember taking a nap at the saddle and waking up to find this snafu-hound perched on a rock a foot above my head peering down at me. If he'd had a runny nose...

 

You probably know this but the Climber's Ranch is the place to stay at the foot of the mountain. Cost is $8 per night to stay in a shack. Good comraderie there...or people showing off with their climbing stories of how cool they are (read: how much of a loser YOU are). It depends on your frame of mind, I guess.

 

Regarding cell phone usage: I was able to make a call from the summit (to see if I could), but there are so many people on the mountain all you have to do is shout for a rescue. Guides and Rangers galore.

 

Wildlife: We actually did see a bear (a little one) on the approach from the Climber's Ranch. It wasn't interested in us. The volunteers at the Ranch told us to watch out for the bear and sure enough we saw it.

[To_The_Top]

The rangers at Jenny Lake are way better than the ones around here, well except a few and of course the climbing rangers at Rainier.

The animals are very bold, lower down we had a buck nose through our base camp at night, a mouse drink itself to death on wine that was left in a open Nalgene, Moose (2) blocking the trail the next morning, and they were mean.

Oh yes the lightning for sure was a hazard up high, it actually started a forest fire a quarter mile from us. Someone got struck on the Exum the day after we got out. Absolutely beautiful though, and make sure you eat ribs when in town.

TTT

[David_Parker]

I like the morraine better than lower saddle. Much less windy and only about 800 feet lower. Don't know conditions this year, but you might/should find alpine ice on the middle Tit and always ice on the Black Ice. Beware of tourons on the OS knocking down rocks though. Check out the less popular mountains. The Grand is good, but so are others.

[IceScrewed]

Lucky you. I'll throw in another vote for Petzoldt Ridge on the Grand (could be the best route on the mtn--according to a friend who's guided there for decades) as well as Irene's Arete (one of the best in the range and can be done car-to-car-and-in-the-bar-by-6): a don't miss. You can camp in the Meadows, as suggested, and do lots of climbs (Cloudveil's got a nice face with good technical routes and Irene's is right there) including Petzoldt's. I encountered a bear there a month ago on the trail when we were hiking out. Happily for my partner I was not forced to sacrifice him to the bear--he, in fact, just shooed the bear away (not recommended for grizzlies...but you'll probably never be lucky enough to encounter one). Don't forget to get acclimatized well before doing the Grand...13k's a bitch if you're used to sucking Seattle air.

Have fun and come back safe.

[glen]

Was in Teton three weeks ago. That place is amazing. I second rylands comment on Dornans. Get a pizza while you are at it. If you can't get a permit to camp, you could plan on a looong day and hike up to the base of your climb in the morning. We made it to the saddle south of middle teton in 3 hours, for reference.

 

If you are at all into geology, the rocks up Garnet Canyon will blow your mind.

 

Bring your camera. Super-photogenic.

 

G

[freeclimb9]

quote:

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Originally posted by Fromage:

1. Where is a good place to slog up to and make a high camp from which to do most of the classics on the Grand (Exum, O-S, Petzoldt, etc.)?

IMO, the lower saddle is best, but go light or suffer. The other camp spots --meadows, caves, moraine-- are good, too. They just require an adjustment in departure time.

 

2. Anyone ever had any problems with wildlife? Especially the non-human kind, but I guess the question lends itself to smartass answers.

Lower elevations are where the megafauna are encountered.

 

3. Has anyone been there late season before? Your thoughts and recommendations?

Late August is not "late season". The "season" really starts in mid-July and runs through September. September can be the best month for rock climbing since there's no one around and there's minimal snow. For the ice routes, the ice gets fairly black as the season ends (depending on the year). This year was almost normal, so there's plenty of snow. The Black Ice couloir was all snow as of July 4th.

 

Any other beta or suggestions for a fun, pleasant, safe trip are appreciated.

There's free camping if you drive into the Grand Teton National Forest east of the range.

The view from the Jackson Lodge makes the drinks that much better.

Moose falls --about a mile from the entrance into Yellowstone (there's a bridge that goes over them)-- features warm water for a nice place to swim in the current and into the falls themselves.

There are a lot of other climbing routes that are great, but aren't listed as "classics". Victims of classics-myopia might suffer long waits in line.

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[Fromage]

Thanks for all the great ideas, guys. This helpful cornucopia of feedback will make my trip smoother. Cheers!

 

Fromage