Grand Teton Free Solo

Hell yeah! Soloing is awesome! You should totally go do it!! One less eagle nest belaying, graffiti leaving climber sounds just fine to me.

Eric Engberg wrote:What have you got against ropes?

Everyone knows that ropes breed careless climbers; climbers that don't think twice of the risk of falling, climbers that attempt low percentage moves, climbers who presume that falling is acceptable.

Matt Wilson wrote: Everyone knows that ropes breed careless climbers; climbers that don't think twice of the risk of falling, climbers that attempt low percentage moves, climbers who presume that falling is acceptable.

Hah! ... there's a wee bit of truth in that. :-)

It's not complicated - you simply don't have the knowledge and experience to Climb the Grand with ropes in July/August, let alone solo in very early season.

To illustrate, I was taking a long time climbing partner up the upper Exum ridge the last week of July. There were three climbers from Texas camped close to us on the Moraine. They had very similar (lack of) experience as you. My friend and I both commented after speaking to them that they were in way over their heads.

We heard them leaving their camp 2 hours before we left (3 am vs 5 am). We caught them at the start of Wall Street. (we're no spring chickens - I was 52 and my friend was 61). They took over an hour to get across Wall Street! Fortunately for us, they immediately got off route by traversing farther east instead of heading straight up the Golden Staircase. We headed up the Golden Staircase and never saw them again that day.

We finished our climb and were back to the Moraine camp by 1 pm. The typical thunderstorm hit around 2 and there was a great deal of lightning on the Grand as usual.

I was a volunteer on Teton County SAR at the time and was sure they were caught in the storm. I told my friend that we would have to go to the ranger hut on the saddle to report them missing if they didn't return.

The next morning they were not in their camp so we headed up to report them missing. Fortunately, they were at the base of the cables on their way down. They said they spent a very cold night on the mountain. They also got struck by ground currents during the thunderstorm but were not seriously injured. They said the altitude kicked their butts and routefinding going up AND down was way more difficult than they thought it would be.

AND, since they did not have a camping permit for that night, they had to pack up and hike out tired and exhausted!

There was no snow to deal with in July... Do not underestimate the difficulties of steep snow and ice. Many of the accidents in the Tetons are falls on snow. It takes practice and experience to be proficient with ice ax and crampons. You can't believe how quickly you get moving VERY fast on steep snow.

Do yourself (and the Jenny Lake Rangers!) a favor and choose something within your abilities!

I didn't read this entire thread thread but after making summit of the Grand on the last day of September last year I highly recommend NOT free soloing the Grand. We took the Upper Exum and had a helluva time with route finding and ended up having to add on an extra night of bivying because of our late return to base camp (Peitzoldt Caves) and general exhaustion. My biggest concern of going ropeless would be the descent as the rappels were a huge time saver and I would hate to of had to scramble back to the Lower Saddle. Additionally climbing in boots with a pack addss a whole other degree of difficulty you will never find in a gym.

Arlo F Niederer wrote: Fortunately for us, they immediately got off route by traversing farther east instead of heading straight up the Golden Staircase. We headed up the Golden Staircase and never saw them again that day.

That right there should have been enough for them to bail.. They were very thick headed and unbelievably lucky..

The routfinding on the Exum is pretty straight forward. Maybe I'm just saying this because it was not my first climb by far.. and not my first alpine climb so I was a bit more familier with the scale. However if you can't figure out where the golden stair is you don't belong on a climb of that magnitude period!

Thank god for the jenny lake rangers who no doubt save many many ignorant fools every year. ( as well as some experienced people with some bad luck.. It does happen to the best of us)

I hope this person is a troll I really really do... I hate thinking people like this exist..

For someone with gym climbing/sport climbing experience, but who is not proficient with trad climbing/moving through 4th and low 5th class terrain efficiently, a great option would be to go with Exum guides in July/August and have them take you up one of the more sustained routes (Lower Exum or Petzoldt).

You'll be able to do a great route that most guided parties can't do, and you'll learn the basic framework of the skillset needed to do alpine climbs without a guide.

When I think of the Tetons in May, I think ski mountaineering, not solos of the Grand.

I dunno, I can think of a lot of places closer to a road to learn multi pitch trad, why go way the fuck up there?

Vonney wrote:We have rock climbing experience although it is mostly from our gym...

I realize the "Can Do" Texas attitude is used liberally for all kinds of endeavors, but this is one case where that attitude is fixin' to get you dead.

rgold wrote:the Grand in May is not suitable for anyone who isn't experienced at alpine climbing.

Wise words, bears repeating and should be heeded, with or without a rope.

For those more experienced and realistic, here is a good source for info on soloing the Grand:

wyomingwhiskey.blogspot.com/

If you're going to be in the Tetons in late May, consider setting up camp in Garnet Canyon and doing some stuff on Middle Teton. You'll get some experience with snow camping and snow travel, you'll get to try out your new ice axes and crampons, you'll get a feel for how well you deal with altitude, and the view from the summit of Middle will give you an idea of what you're up against on the Grand. The SW Couloir of Middle is a fun snow climb, and the Dike Route and Buckingham Ridge are good easy technical rock routes. If you want to test your endurance and acclimatization, try to do South and Middle in a day. You could also head up to the Headwall and the Lower Saddle to check out the approach to the Grand. If things go well on Middle, and if time and conditions permit, you'll be in place to try something on the Grand, although a May ascent is a pretty big undertaking. If not, you can always make a second trip to the Tetons and the experience you gain on Middle Teton will have you better prepared for the Grand.

Thanks you guys for all of the other awesome alternatives to the Grand and thank you for educating me on the subject. As much as I tried to research, I could not really get a definitive answer as to what to expect out there since there are a ton of posts that basically contradict one another. I honestly had no clue and wanted to just flat out ask because I didn't want to go unprepared and put myself or others in danger. As for the others that were complete jerks, you are in fact what is wrong with this world.

Vonney wrote:Thanks you guys for all of the other awesome alternatives to the Grand and thank you for educating me on the subject. As much as I tried to research, I could not really get a definitive answer as to what to expect out there since there are a ton of posts that basically contradict one another. I honestly had no clue and wanted to just flat out ask because I didn't want to go unprepared and put myself or others in danger. As for the others that were complete jerks, you are in fact what is wrong with this world.

The Grand, by whatever route you choose, is an awesome experience. Hope you do climb it this summer but, as many have pointed out, a solo ascent in May is not a good choice for a first alpine climb.
Have fun and be safe

Vonney wrote: As for the others that were complete jerks, you are in fact what is wrong with this world.

Welcome to MP...

Pretty typical for MP forums (or any internet forum, really)

Vonney wrote: As for the others that were complete jerks, you are in fact what is wrong with this world.

Post silly questions get silly answers.. however I believe even people who were rude were in fact giving you sound advice. Like don't do what your proposing!! don't do it until you get way better and more experienced.... welcome to M.P... don't be so sensitive on the internet..

Were whats wrong with the world? really? psh

Allen Sanderson wrote:Yer gonna DIE!!!!!!!!!

hahaha yep.

Just go for it, whats the worst that could happen.
When your experience runs out, your ignorance will kick in, then the rangers will have to go to work.

Maybe they're what's wrong with the world but they may have just saved your life.

Besides, a real Texan would have done the solo in cowboy boots.

Vonney wrote:As much as I tried to research,

Uh, yeah...

mediocre wrote:Besides, a real Texan would have done the solo in cowboy boots.

• almost, except for the rescue.

mediocre wrote:Maybe they're what's wrong with the world but they may have just saved your life. Besides, a real Texan would have done the solo in cowboy boots.

Paul Petzold climbed the Grand at 16 in cowboy boots.

"It was awful. We did everything wrong... If we had known what hypothermia meant, we would have frozen to death!"

"This experience set the direction of my life. I knew that if I wanted to live to be an old mountaineer, I could not take such chances and be so uniformed about dangerous activities." Paul wrote years later in his book The New Wilderness Handbook.

nols.edu/alumni/leader/95fa…