The Teton Grand Traverse - Sending in Style

Ryan Maitland on top of Teewinot. 5400' of elevation straight out of the parking lot. We need to get to this point in 4-5 hours or we are not moving fast enough to send!

Five years of guiding in the Tetons and I'm still in the honeymoon phase. These mountains have a way of drawing me back day after day. So many amazing ski lines, climbing lines, summits, and adventures to be had. My favorite route by far is the Grand Traverse. It's the granddaddy of them all; linking Teewinot, Mt Owen, Grand Middle and South Tetons, Spalding and Gilkey Towers, Cloudveil Dome, and Nez Perce in a 15.9 mile skyline ridge that gains roughly 13,400' of hiking, scrambling, and climbing.

Jason Charlton climbing to the summit of the East Prong, day one

It is understandable that many climbers are interested earning this proud feather in their hat. To be able to look at one of the most icon skylines in the country from the valley floor and think, "Ah yeah, I climbed along all of that." That feeling is incredibly rewarding.

View of the Grand Teton North Face from the top of the Koven Couloir 

Yet that reward does not come easy. The biggest hurdle to completion is the complex route finding. Hours can be lost with one wrong turn. The sheer number of bivy corrals sprinkled across these mountains is testament to how many people have "epiced" on this line.  The weather is another factor. Afternoon thunderstorms can turn the North Ridge of the Grand Teton into a wintery ice-covered nightmare. Just ask the climbers that recently called in a heli rescue after enduring days of suffering on the Grand Stand!

Jason Charlton tip toes across the snow at the top of the Koven Col. With the small amount of snow here it is hardly worth it to bring crampons or an axe. Just use two rocks in your hands as you walk carefully

Weight is another big factor in success vs failure. "Nothing weighs nothing" is what Jediah Porter says while packing. Be ruthless with what goes in your pack, or more importantly, what stays out of your pack.  The difference in effort carrying a 25 pound pack vs a 35 pound pack has never been measured scientifically, but I'd guess it's significant. If the forecast is not good, don't go. If the weather is good you can leave all that extra "storm gear" behind. Ask around and see if climbers are still using ice axe and crampons. If yes, bring micro-spikes instead of crampons over your approach shoes. Don't climb with mountain boots, as sticky rubber approach shoes are ideal. If you are a 5.10 lead climber, you can probably lead 5.7 in approach shoes. All these little subtractions will keep your pack light, and keep you moving fast.

Jason Charlton on the summit of Mt Owen. At this point you still have a few hours of moving to get to camp

The final common reason for failure on the Grand Traverse is simply moving too slowly. This is a LOT of ground to cover. You have to be okay simla-climbing, running it out, building super fast anchors, and making about 1000 route finding decisions in rapid succession. When I guide the Grand Traverse we do it in three days. The first day takes about 13 hours, the second 12 hours, and the third roughly 11 hours.

Getting from Mt Owen to the the Gunsight Notch is the most evolved route finding section. There are several raps and key areas you need to hit to get to the Gunsight Notch in a timely fashion.

Many climbers choose to do this objective with a mountain guide. As a guide, I take care of the route finding, carry more of the group gear, will not waste time on transitions, am able to climb fast and safe, and take some banger photos of you while in action (like all the images seen here).

Jess McMillan pulls through the first moves out of the Gunsight Notch. This is one of the best pitches on the entire Grand Traverse

Does all this info make your heart flutter with excitement? Ready to jump on this objective with an IFMGA certified mountain guide? This year is full but I have four openings to climb the Grand Traverse with me next summer. If you are interested in partnering with me, and we have not climbed together before, please send me an email with your climbing background. Once we decide that this is a good fit, you will put down a deposit and that will hold your place on the calendar.

Jason Wolfe chillin' at one of the many bivy corrals on the Grand Stand, night one.

Then the training begins. The Grand Traverse is a great motivator to get super strong. I'm talking like "beast-mode" level of strong. Give this objective the respect it deserves by training at least 4 days per week. That training will look like long hikes with heavy packs, box set ups, lunges, climbing gym sessions, outdoor climbing sessions, multipitch rock climbing, and developing your crack climbing technique.  Another form of prep is justified gear spending. Lighter harness, check! Lighter sleeping bag and pad, yes please. New 40 liter pack, let's do it! All this prep will get you ready to SEND!

Morning two starts when the sun comes up

Due to the technical nature of thisI only guide this objective 1:1. If you want to climb with another person we will need another guide. Two guide and two climbers is totally doable, and can be really fun to climb together.

Jason Charlton pulling to the top of the crux pitch on the Grand Teton North Ridge. This section is so much more fun to climb in the sunshine. Moving quickly will allow us to do just that.

Couples Climb: August 21-23 is reserved for a husband wife duo that want to climb with Janelle and myself. We think this will be a very cool bonding experience...through thick and thin. Janelle and I have climbed together for 11 years and know the power it has forming a strong bond between us. If we can facilitate a similar experience for you and your sponse, we are stoked!

My office view ain't bad 

Taylor Workman at the top of the North Ridge of the Grand Teton. From here here are a number of ways to the summit. Choose your own adventure!

When you pop up from the North side, everyone on the summit of the Grand Teton asks, "Where did you come from?" It's awesome. Jason Charlton and I on the summit of the Grand Teton, day two. 

Taylor Workman making his way to the top of the Middle Teton, day two

Jason Wolfe topping out on Ice Cream Cone Peak, day three 

Jason Wolfe on Spalding Tower, day three, with S. Teton in the background and our second bivy location just out of view to the right of the photo

The final day traverses this skyline plus Nez Perce (not shown). A lot of training, a light pack, and good guiding is required for you to feel stoked on the morning of day three to get'r done! We will send.

Available 2018 Dates:
August 15-17
August 21-23 (couples climb)
August 27-29
September 1-3

Interested in a guided trip? It's easy to reserve a spot.
Step 1) Email me with your climbing background mark@smileysproject.com
Step 2) Pay a deposit
Step 3) Train
Step 4) Send

All trips are run through Exum Mountain Guides. Availability will run out before March 30th. A packing list, a cool video, and more info can be found on my website. www.smileysproject.com

Grand Teton, North Ridge via the Cathedral Traverse

Mounting the snow horse

After our time in the Bugaboos, Canada, we headed south, back to the Motherland. Driving through Montana we were excited to easily interpret the speed limit signs, have working cell phones, and buy “half-priced” gas.

Before long we were in one of my favorite places, the Tetons! Janelle and I have traveled here at least once per year since we meet 6 years ago. The Upper Exum Ridge was one of my first alpine climbing experiences. We honeymooned in Jackson. Janelle became the US National Ski Mountaineering champion at Jackson Hole ski resort. Needless to say, I have many fond memories from being in these mountains.

I first heard about the “Grand Traverse” during one of my early visits.  This Traverse links all 7 major mountains in the range (with a handful of smaller peaks in-between).  I hoped that one day I would be strong enough to tackle such an endeavor, and on August 24th that day came.

Last year we climbed the North Face of the Grand, and the only classic climb remaining was the North Ridge on the Grand. The glacier to get to the route can be broken and nasty this late in the season, so we concluded doing the Traverse would be the best/most fun way to approach the ridge.

Having climbed in the area my fair share, I knew that route-finding was going to be a crux of the experience. There is a lot of terrain to cover during the Traverse, and getting off-route would simply burn precious daylight. We collected quality beta from pataclimb.com, some Exum guide friends, and other friends that had done it before. The best tip was to take only one 70-meter twin rope, which helps with the long rappels.  We took our Sterling Ice Thong 7.7mm rope....super thin!

The other major crux is getting your pack as light as possible. We simply wanted to climb fast with a light backpack. So we bribed our friend, Rob, into porter-ing our sleeping bags, pads, and extra food to the Lower Saddle campground on the South side of the Grand Teton. He was cheap, so it worked out well. =)  

Porter Rob

The plan was to climb the “Cathedral Traverse” (Teewinot, Owen, the Grand) day one, sleep at the Lower Saddle, then finish the Grand Traverse on day two. We left the parking lot at 4:00AM with happy (light) packs, amped and moving fast. There were several forest fires in the area, and the air was thick with smoke, which made breathing a little difficult. Halfway up Teewinot we got above the smoke layer just as the sun was rising. It was amazing.

Reaching the top of Teewinot in a few short hours we were rewarded with the most spectacular view of the Grand Teton’s North Face.  

From there the terrain is fairly easy 2nd-4th class until the first rappels. At this point another “traverser” caught up with us. He was doing it solo. I offered him our ropes to rappel, instead of using his own. From there we moved together to the top of Owen, crossing mostly broken rock, some quality rock climbing, and a little snow.

Some say the crux of the route finding is getting from the summit of Teewinot to the Gunsight Notch.  Last year, Janelle and I climbed the Serendipity Crack on Owen, so we had seen this terrain. That experience helped keep us moving quickly. From the Gunsight Notch up to the Grand Stand is the highest quality climbing on the North Ridge, in my opinion.

Once we got to the North Ridge proper there are two main ways to go. The Italian Cracks or the Chockstone Chimney. The Chockstone Chimney is the route listed in “the book” so we went that way. There was a small section of ice to chop through, but compared to Mt Hunter it was cakewalk. The climbing in the chimney was really good too.  We decided to pass on taking rock climbing shoes, so pulling the 5.8 crux in my guide tennie approach shoes helped keep it real.

From the top of the chimney the climbing is straightforward. All paths lead to the top. On top, we hung out for a while, soaking in yet another Grand Teton experience. This route was way more enjoyable than the North Face, which doesn’t take much since the N. Face is a big pile of crap!

We arrived at the Lower Saddle campsite around 5:00PM. Rob had delivered the goods, and we were eating dinner that he carried up for us shortly thereafter. We wanted to be as nice as possible to him, so we did not have him bring up a tent. Well, that backfired on us. At 6:00AM the next morning we awoke quickly to rain drops hitting our sleeping bags, then hail! We threw all our stuff together and ran for shelter.

There were thunderclouds to the West, approaching fast. Our plan to complete the Grand Traverse we getting washed out. Janelle and I looked at each other, wondering what the other person was thinking. Should we keep going? Should we bail? Just then a big flash of lightening in the distance sealed Plan A’s fate. We reluctantly decided walk down and get breakfast in town.

I hate bailing on my plans in the mountains, especially when the ski clears halfway down to the car! I couldn’t believe it. At 6:00AM it looked like Zeus was having lightning bolt target practice with the Tetons, and then at 7:00AM it was bluebird. I was pissed to make the wrong decision to bail. Regardless, we kept walking downhill, back to the van. At 8:00AM dark clouds rolled back in and unleashed a rainstorm full of lighting. Standing under a big pine tree, out of the rain, I was smiling ear to ear. We had made the right decision. Amusing isn’t it, how the same decision can be good one moment, bad the next, and then good again.

The Cathedral Traverse is by far the most fun I’ve had in the Tetons, and I recommend it to anyone interested.