Grand Teton via the Ford/Stettner: A Dream Fulfilled

With all the success JD and co (and here) had last weekend in the Tetons, I was beginning to go stir crazy stuck at work from 5AM to 6:30 PM every single day.  So when the opportunity arose to take Saturday off, I loaded up the car Thursday night and after work Friday, I drove straight to Jackson.  A marginal weather forecast kept us guessing as to what might be "in", or rather, "doable".  The only sure thing was that I wanted to get up the Grand.  

I suggested to my partner, BH, that we should maybe take a look at the Otterbody Couloir.  He instantly agreed.  An email exchange between Brian and Mark Newcomb left us wary but undeterred....at least from taking a look.  

Warning: This TR is full of excuses and what ifs...

Brian approaching the Otterbody Couloir

At first, the plan was to head up the Stettner/Chevy/Ford Couloirs, summit, and then drop down to the Otterbody if conditions felt right.  On the Teepee Glacier we caught a glimpse of some continuous ice that made me deeply want to climb up the Otterbody en route to the summit.  I love climbing what I intend to ski.  That way, we would know for sure if conditions would even closely approximate "right".  From far, it looked very doable, but as tends to happen with alpine ice/mixed, things look more difficult on closer inspection.  We had planned on a light and fast trip and had neglected to bring any real ropes, carrying only 6 mm cord for the rappels. We did have an assortment of stoppers, pins, and a picket for anchors, but no screws.  Brian sagely decided we probably shouldn't solo the unknown terrain.  Probably a good thing because my dumb ass was ready to jump on.  

Brian thinking about climbing some funky ice at the bottom of the Otterbody

Back to Plan A.  We traversed back past the Teepee Pillar and up to the Glencoe Col.  About this time I began to completely crash.  I think a combination of poor sleep (too much work), deconditioning (too much work), and not enough time in the mountains at elevation (too much work), had left me in rather pathetic shape.  This affirmed Brian's decision and made me grateful to have a partner who was willing to be thoughtful about the day.  

BH on the Teepee with ominous clouds on the horizon

My low continued to get lower and I slowly followed up the Stettner/Chevy/Ford Couloirs.  Luckily, Brian was a champ and was happy to break trail.  I took a short pull in the Ford but was moving a bit too slowly for his liking as he surged past.  The only other times I have felt this badly have been skiing with JD after working a night shift.  I guess sleep matters.  

View down the Stettner Couloir

BH on a short patch of ice in the Chevy Couloir

We soloed up the short icy sections, which are nearly filled in and were very casual as of 06/11/11.  Somewhere in the Chevy, clouds rolled in and the vis went to zero.  Early in the Ford, we decided the Otterbody was definitely out and stashed all our gear since we'd be coming back the same way.  Oh well, it's not like the Ford is a bad consolation prize.  Hell, it's the Grand Teton after all and this was my first time skiing it.  

I like this pic because Brian seems to be beckoning to move along with the summit in view

Clear shot back to the Ford with the top of the Petzoldt Ridge visible at the bottom of the couloir. 

On the summit, the visibility improved and we were catching intermittent views of the surrounding peaks.  Eager to have some vis on the descent, we dropped in right off the summit just as the clouds closed in.  

Brian skiing from the summit into the void

We waited a few minutes and were rewarded by stunning views and great light as the clouds parted briefly enough to enjoy the descent.

BH skiing the East Face to the Ford Couloir

BH in the Ford Couloir with my shadow visible

We found soft conditions up high that transitioned into breakable crust midway down the Ford.  Near the bottom of the Ford, we encountered unbreakable crust that might as well have been ice.  At this point, we were forced out of our skis and back into the spikes for a wind blasted down climb over the small ice bulges.  

BH near the bottom of the Ford Couloir

At the bottom of the Stettner, we transitioned back to skis and traversed back to the Teepee where we found near perfect corn making me really wonder what the Otterbody snowfield was doing (same aspect, maybe 500 ft higher).  

Looking back at the Teepee Glacier with the Otterbody visible as a thin strip of snow on the East Face.  

Wanting to eek out a little more adventure, we skied down the Dike Couloir and into Glacier Gulch since neither of us had gone down that way previously.  The fine corn continued until out in the Gulch proper where conditions began to get a little sloppy.  

BH finding a corn feast in the Dike Couloir with Teewinot in the background

As we were traversing around Delta Lake trying to find a reasonable exit down to Lupine Meadows, I turned around and found the summits again shrouded in clouds.  Reaffirming the decision to act conservatively.  

Glacier Gulch with Gunsight Notch in the center

I have felt for the last few years that being able to ski the Grand Teton would be a life long dream.  What I didn't realize is that these dreams are drugs.  I'm building up a tolerance.  The Grand was amazing.  It's position, history, and beauty make it an all time classic.  My partner for the day was the work horse of the trip and had a great positive attitude the whole time, in spite of just having skied the same line last week.  But, I feel like the climbing, skiing, and emotional high were slightly more mellow than anticipated.  Part of that is due to my brother and friends taking away the mental unknown as they skied it last week.  The other part is due to the fact that this is no long the "biggest thing" that I (and partners) might have a chance of  pulling off.  It was a beautiful thing, but not the biggest.  Adventure makes life more poignant and as I've mentioned before, I think success needs to be uncertain to have a real adventure.  In spite of the mediocre weather, our line of descent seemed "in the bag" (maybe because Brian was strong and was familiar with the route) with the real adventure laying further out on the East Face.  Regardless, I'm psyched! I feel my season is more complete.  I got my fix and can now go back to being a slave for the rest of the month.  But early next month...?

As Bill Briggs once said, "What's the point of living? ....Well gee, it's to have some adventure."

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

Grand Teton

On Saturday, I skied the Grand Teton. I've been after this all year, and I'm happy that it's done . . . for now.

Grand Teton with the Ford, Chevy, and Stettner Couloirs visible. 

Just having returned from a trip to Baker and with some mandatory family stuff on Saturday afternoon, I wasn't intending on doing much this weekend.  But when I found out Brian Harder, Jason Dorais, and Brother Sam had something brewing in the Tetons, I couldn't stay away.  Initially, I resisted and told them I was out.  But by Friday morning, I had succumbed to the Teton gravitational pull.  My plan: get to Jackson late on Friday, sleep a couple hours, start with Brian, Jason, and Sam at 2 am, climb and ski the Grand, and then be back in Salt Lake by 4 pm on Saturday.

We set out to climb the Grand in our style: fast and light.  We wore tight clothing, some iteration of Dynafit's TLT boot, and no ski was wider than 75 mm.  Luckily, the conditions suited that style.  The skies were clear and at Lupine Meadows, the snow patches were hard and frozen.  The splits were roughly as follows:  Meadows at 1:50, top of Teepee Col at 3:__, top of the Grand at 5:15, bottom of the Stettner at 6:12, Meadows at 6:35, lost at 6300 ft at 6:59, Lupine Meadows TH at 7:21.

With ski crampons, I kept my skis on until the top of the Teepee Col.  From there, we switched to crampons and ice tools. The conditions in the Stettner, Chevy, and Ford were mostly breakable crust above top-of-boot to knee-deep snow.  Spindrift poured over and through us in the Stettner.  There were two small ice bulges in the Chevy.  The snow in the Ford was softer and deeper.  We all simul-soloed--climbed and descended without ropes.

At the bottom of the Stettner, I left my partners who were on a much bigger mission (Grand, Middle, and South linkup).

While I'm happy with the time of 7:21, I think that it could be done in closer to 6 hours. . . . something to dream about.

My favorite photos of the day:

Jason Dorais and Brian Harder climbing Tepee Col

First light on ??

Sam in the Stettner Couloir

The crew in the Chevy Couloir

Headwall of the Ford and nearing the top of the Grand Teton with the Tetons at our feet.

Sam, 30 feet from the summit.

Jason Dorais skiing off the summit of the Grand Teton.

Mt. Baker: Up the North Ridge, Down the CD Route

Mt. Baker

On Memorial Day, Brother Aaron and I set out to climb and ski Mt. Baker.  We woke up to rain.  We drove up Glacier Creek road in the rain, and when we hit snow about 2 miles from the trailhead at about 3000 feet, we started hiking and then skinning . . . in the rain.  Although we dared not discuss it, the question that filled our minds was, "why are we climbing a volcano, blind, in the rain?"  But we only had one day, and we climbed with a hope and a prayer that the skies would clear.  And guess what?  By the time we hit 7000 feet, the clouds and mist began to lift!  For a while anyway.

Our first glimpse at Baker's North Ridge

North Ridge beginning to reveal itself.

Top of the Coleman Glacier

 As the skies cleared, we could see that we were just above the Coleman Glacier with its bergschrund (I've always wanted to be able to use that word, yessss.) less than 100 yards below us.  Getting to the North Ridge requires a crossing of sorts across the Coleman Glacier.  Toward s the top of the glacier, it seemed pretty filled in.  Even so, because what lay beneath was a bit unnerving, Aaron and I roped up and did our best to be safe.  Aaron boot belayed me over this crevasse.

As we crossed, clouds rolled in and out, sometimes killing our visibility.  I couldn't shake that nagging concern of whether we should pull the plug.  But the drive to get on the North Ridge and the fear of re-crossing the glacier in low/no vis conditions prevailed.

The north face of Baker was impressive.  The lower face was littered with ice fall debris, and higher hung huge seracs.  I'd heard that the Coleman Headwall, which is on Baker's north face, was a worthy ski descent, but from where we were, it looked more than daunting.

Once across the Coleman Glacier, we front pointed up about 1000 feet of 60 degree hard snow, and soon the notorious "ice cliff" came into view.  I wondered whether we ought to approach via climber's right or left, and eventually opted for left.

Ice cliff on the North Ridge of Baker

Climbing the ice cliff was really cool.  The ice was blue and very hard and brittle.  I was glad that I had some vertical point crampons.  We had 8 ice screws and each of us had 2 tools.  We climbed on one 8.2 mm half rope.  Aaron dodged dinner plates, and I climbed first.  The first 20 meters or so up the cliff were the and once over the cliff, the pitch mellowed out.  The first pitch measured 59.8 meters.  As we climbed, the clouds rolled in again, and the low/no vis significantly bumped up the adventure rating.

Climbing the ice cliff

Aaron above the ice cliff  

Pitch 2: Take!!!

Once above the ice obstacles, between us and the summit was another long pitch of steep hard snow.  To the left and right of us were large hanging seracs.  Soon, the clouds lifted and we could see the summit above us; below us, we had a great view of the Roosevelt and Coleman Glaciers.  As we neared the top, we were blasted with a cold wind.  Aaron was happy.

Fortunately for us, there were ski tracks down the Coleman-Deming route, which we followed.  The descent was relatively casual.  And lucky for us, the exit was perfect.  We were able to descend a solid 7,600 feet without having to hike, skin, or pole.

Aaron skiing off Mt. Baker on the Coleman-Deming route.

Stats:

Gear: Dynafit Broad Peak Skis, La Sportiva RT Bindings, Dynafit DyNA boots, Grivel G22 crampons, Cassin X-Mtn Tools, 8 Grivel screws, 1 8.2mm Edelweiss rope, CAMP packs, BD Whippets.

Time: 11 hrs 32 minutes car to car.

Vertical:  8500 feet

Ski to Sea

Memorial Day weekend 2011 will be memorable. I raced in the Ski to Sea race and I climbed and skied Mt. Baker. First, the Ski to Sea.

S2S is an adventure relay race that starts at Mt. Baker ski resort and finishes in Bellingham Bay, Washington. It travels 100 miles and includes the following legs: XC ski, alpine ski, run, road bike, canoe, mountain bike, and sea kayak. My teammates for this event were pulled together by Billy D and a Bellingham local who had some interest in bidding for the win. In other words, I had the privilege of racing with some accomplished athletes. Our team was called "Tony's Demons" and included Taylor Fletcher (XC Ski), Me (Alpine Ski), BJ Christenson (Run), Sam Krieg (Road Bike), Trevor Robinson and Ivan English (Canoe), Mitchell Peterson (Mountain Bike), and Andrew McEwan (Sea Kayak).

Tony's Demons raced strong throughout the race. Of the 500 or so teams that entered, Tony's Demons finished 4th overall with a time of 6 hours and 27 minutes.  Barron's Heating won the contest and finished in 6 hours and 11 minutes. Team Barrons is apparently a fixture in the S2S and has won multiple times. Because all of Tony's Demons are competitive (maybe to a fault), most of us were slightly disappointed at our placing.  That said, we were very happy with the way our individual legs went and feel like our efforts were good.  As the dark horse, it was fun giving the favorites a legitimate run.

My leg involved a short downhill ski, a ~1000 foot booter, and a fast groomed descent.  It was sandwiched between the XC ski and the run.  Given the relative shortness of the leg, I was surprised when Max Taam, Brandon French, Chris Kroger, and Greg Ruckman--all members of the 2011 US Skimo Team toed the line. Apparently, Bellingham is serious about the S2S.  Ruckman ran the race sans poles and decimated the course record, finishing in 17:58, and earning the "Top Gun" award.    Max (18:17) broke his ski.  Brandon (19:30) was wearing shorts.  I finished in 19:33 with my lungs and legs on fire.  As always, it was fun racing with those guys.

And a big thanks to Tony's Demons.

Full results can be viewed here.

Here are a few pictures taken by Brother Aaron:

XC Leg Start

BJ Christenson at the Run Leg Start about to run 8 miles in 37:25!

L to R: BJ Christenson (Runner), A. McEwan (Kayaker) T. Robinson (Canoe), Me (Alpine Ski), T. Fletcher (XC Ski), I. English (Canoe)

A. McEwan finishing -- he brought our team from 6th place to 4th place during his leg