Thread and Needle



After getting shut down on the west face of the Grand Teton and listening to rain on the tent fly all night, I was pleasantly surprised to wake to a sunny, cloudless day. It's been years since I did any personal climbing in Garnet Canyon, and Irene's Arete was the perfect re-introduction to alpine rock in the Tetons. 

 

The crux pitch was harder than I remembered and necessitated much grunting to surmount. Jaime and I both agreed it was a sandbag. We made it back to camp in a little more than eight hours and I promptly fell asleep, worn thin from a summer of work.

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Skillet: Mid-Winter Skiing in the Tetons

Powder skiing is generally a low-stress outlet for fun. As my aforementioned mishaps with climbing associated high-levels of stress with the venue through which I typically seek excitement I decided to spend my winter learning to ski. Below are a few pics from ski touring in Grand Teton National Park January through February, 2013. Objectives included: Turkey Chute, Chute the Moon, Albright Peak and the Skillet Glacier.

 

 

Landon and Patrick skinning at the top of Ullr's, about to drop the Turkey Chute

Jim fixing his heel and the problem in Chute the Moon

Jim wishing he could free his heel and his mind on the outtrack down Avalanche Canyon

We watched two skiers rip Albright on the way up

Approaching Albright

Evan dropping knees not bombs on Albright Peak

The long skin to Mt. Moran across Jackson Lake

Skinning up the moraine below the Skillet Glacier

In the crosshairs

Ski penetration in the pan handle, AKA faceshots at 12k

Dropping in before the sun sets

Wister in Winter

Back in mid-January my friend Nadav Oakes and I climbed the North Face of Mt. Wister. I wrote a short piece for a local ski harman's website. Read about our ascent here.