MOOSE, Wyoming – The proposed climbing schedule was, in retrospect, a little nuts:  four sea-levelers trying to run up the Grand Teton in a day, unguided, and with no prior experience on the mountain.  The team got close, but ultimately we did not reach the summit.

Wyoming's Grand Teton - 13,770 feet

We bailed at 13,000 feet at the base of the first technical pitch on the Owen-Spalding Route.  A line of six climbers was ahead of us as we sat waiting, and shivering, exposed to 29 degree temperatures with howling winds we could not escape and fatigue we could not ignore.  Nonetheless, I’m proud of our team’s effort given all the attendant circumstances.

Going in we knew our climbing window was short, so we had hoped to get as high as we could to mount our summit bid.  However, when we arrived at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station Sunday to obtain back country camping permits, we were advised that the only opening for Monday night was at a site called The Platforms, at 8700 feet – the lowest of all high camp options in Garnet Canyon.  We retired for the night to the Library at the American Alpine Club’s Climber’s Ranch, knowing we would have to rethink our plans.

Strong Eager and Innocent - Photo by David Weaver

At 10:30 AM Monday we arrived at the Lupine Meadows Trail Head and began our assault.  By early afternoon camp was set and the team set off on a recon hike to 10,300 feet to scout the trail we knew we would be hiking the next morning in darkness.  With high camp at 8700 feet, our summit bid would involve 5000 feet of vertical climbing, followed by a 7000 foot descent back to the trail head.  These were daunting numbers, and following our recon hike, we calculated our summit bid from The Platforms would need to commence far earlier than we had originally planned.

Monday freeze dried dinners came early as did bed, and at 2:30 AM on Tuesday, just sixteen hours after starting from the trail head, we set off for the summit.  The sound of metal ice axe clanging off rock, and Patrick’s periodic “Yo bear” chant echoed thru the thickets of streamside brush as we made our way upward.

By daybreak we had reached the base of the headwall just below the lower saddle which sits at 11,200 feet.  This was our first opportunity to view the most difficult part of our climb on the upper mountain.  I retrieved and reviewed the guide book we had purchased the day before.  The book was not much help, as I could not readily identify critical features described.  The only thing we could do was just climb – and hope things got clearer as we got higher.  In some respects things did get clearer, but route finding in such rocky terrain for a group of Teton virgins proved to be quite the challenge.

Patrick at about 12,000 feet - Lower Saddle Below

It took the team eight hours to gain the 4300 feet to the base of the technical rock climbs leading to the summit.  It was here we encountered the log jam of climbers waiting to get on the first pitch, and after 20-30 minutes, the team decided to retreat.

We were back at the lower saddle around 2:00 PM.  By 5:00 PM, Patrick and I had arrived back at camp and promptly fell asleep.  David and Maraya arrived shortly after and promptly did the same.  We woke up, semi-refreshed, broke camp, and began the march out.

We reached the trail head in darkness, at 10:00 pm, less than 36-hours after posing by our cars full of ambition, full of energy and full of optimism.  All three attributes drained, we wearily made our way in to Jackson Hole in search of real beds, showers and real food.