Trip Report: Grand Teton in a Day
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Grand Teton in a Day By Nathan C |
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| CLIMBING | 08/14/2026 | ALL |
| Participants: Dalton J, Eric L, Eric W, Kelsey P, Madie K, Nathan C, Tizzy VH Hot on the tails of July's three day trip up the Grand Teton, seven WMC climbers would leave the tents at home and go all-in on a car-to-car attempt of the iconic peak. By the numbers, a trip up the Grand by one of the two standard routes makes for a 13+ mile and 7000-ft elevation day, with several hundred feet of technical climbing needed to reach the summit from any angle. Beyond the numbers you're considering logistics, weather, team composition, and all manner of other factors that have to align in your favor...many of which you only learn about once you're up there. In contrast to the July trip, on which we enjoyed three days of clear skies, we rolled into GTNP under storms, hail, and an iffy yet optimistic weather forecast. One of the best ways to succeed in the mountains is to choose your day - a flexibility offered by three nights in the AAC climber's ranch. For most, night one didn't even happen due to the weather, with several folks driving up on Friday - a day later than scheduled. By then, Sunday was looking to be our hail mary, and we locked Saturday in for a modest day of multi-pitch climbing on the Guides' Wall of Cascade Canyon. A short boat ride and a slightly less short hike put us at the base of the granite wall that makes up the North side of Cascade Canyon and the the South side of Symmetry Spire. As we were gearing up, we were treated to a dance of clouds across the canyon - a silver lining, knowing storms were likely on their way in the afternoon. A team of three ahead of us cleared their first pitch, and we got right down to business with our small army of club members. The first few pitches proved an opportune chance for the parties to further familiarize with each other, a process which had already been playing out for several weeks, as well as familiarize with Teton granite. Those of us on the Tetons trips last year joked about the Club's tradition in the Tetons - that is, getting stormed off on exactly the fourth pitch. With prophetic precision, storms would inundate the canyon at the same exact spot as last year's outing on Guides' Wall, chasing all ten climbers (7 of us, plus 3 others) off the wall in a collaborative and largely uneventful bail effort. By the time we got back to the Jenny Lake ferry the skies were, par the course, blue again! Following the tactical retreat, we enjoyed a chill evening in town before heading back to the ranch. Perusing the wares at Teton Mountaineering, Nathan would bet Eric one single dollar that he couldn't place a #14 Wild Country stopper, roughly equivalent to a #3 cam, on the Grand. Challenge accepted! 3:00 AM came early as always. A slam of instant coffee and a short drive to Lupine Meadows kicked off the push. We made good time up into Garnet Canyon and to the Meadows, the easiest parts of the hike. From there, a 1600-foot slog to the moraines treated us to a beautiful sunrise over the fog-laden valley below. A bounce up the headwall and a short stop to refuel at the Lower Saddle, 5000 feet above our starting point, and we were back on our way. Unfortunately, Kelsey experienced altitude related issues above the Lower Saddle and would choose to stay behind. A thousand feet above the Lower Saddle is, you guessed it, the Upper Saddle. This marks the start of technical climbing on the Owen Spalding route, with an airy traverse across the Belly Roll and The Crawl, up into the Double Chimneys that deposit one at the base of the Owen Chimney. Eric W. and Tizzy went first and quickly pulled away from the main group - barely slotting in front of several other parties as they arrived. The rest of us patiently waited in the shade, wind, and cold for almost an hour. Amidst the boredom, Nathan had bet Eric L. another dollar that he wouldn't climb the Belly Roll in sandals. Dalton, also feeling sporty, upped the ante another dollar on Eric. Challenge accepted! Soon an opening in the line presented itself, Nathan and Eric L. blasted two pitches across a much slower party's line, Madie and Dalton following closely behind. The next obstacle presented itself at the base of the Owen Chimney. Here, climbers have the option of bypassing the 5.4 crux by walking across the Catwalk up to Sargents Chimney - but a solo climber advised the Catwalk was impossibly iced up with verglas (Note - a fall on the otherwise trivial Catwalk slabs can lead to a several thousand foot fall into Valhalla Canyon below). The Owen Chimney wasn't far off of that, and the route's "only 5.4" reputation shifted focus into an excellent alpine adventure as we finessed our way through a high-angle mix of ice, water, and rock. The remaining climb up Sargents Chimney and the summit slabs went by uneventfully, save for Eric finding a coveted placement for the #14 stopper. The summit is where things got even more interesting. Not only did Eric arrive $3 richer and still in his trademark sandals, but also a local baker and climber had packed an entire cake to the top! The scratch-made construction of raspberries, buttermilk, and chocolate would have been delicious in town, but tee up a group of hungry climbers summiting at nearly 14k feet, and we were in heaven. Props to Windy Woman Cakes of Jackson for the flawless carry and the generous summit sugar bump! Our bellies full and hearts content, we began our descent. At the main rappel, we ran into several solo climbers who had come up the Upper Exum. Without ropes or harnesses, and faced with the aforementioned ice rink that was the Catwalk, they found themselves in a proverbial pickle. Understanding this, we lent our equipment and shuttled harnesses to help get them down to the Upper Saddle. The descent from there was uneventful, if not long, until we strolled into the trailhead some seventeen hours after we started - beating last year's time by fifteen minutes! The fun wasn't yet over with though, and several of us settled into the long haul through the night to make work commitments in SLC on Monday. |
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