January 9, 2013

 Cruised up Disappointment Peak to Surprise Lake with Will. Warm temps, sticky snow on the way up. Stayed North of East on the way down. Very fun powder turns. It's about to dump.

A Farewell Ski in GTNP...

   Yesterday I got the chance to say goodbye to a friend in a very fitting fashion. The friend was JR Jenkins, the fashion was skiing the Sentinel Couloir in Grand Teton National Park.

    Noah picked me up at a casual 8am. JR was dropping a friend's car at the airport, so we picked him up on the way. We got skinning around 9:15 AM and were at The Meadows in Garnet Canyon in around 2 hours. Upon gaining the flat ground at meadows, the wind increased significantly. Snowfall had increased as well.

   We basically followed the summer trail lookers right of Spalding Falls. Where the trail would normally cross the drainage to the Petzoldt Caves, we tossed our skis on our backs and started booting up to the base of the "South" Sentinel Couloir. The booting was easy enough, although a breakable crust was slightly annoying. Stopping every so often share our thoughts on the situation, we made our way up the chute. While turning around was of course an option, none of us wanted to ski a nasty breakable crust in blowing snow and high winds. Our hopes hinged on decreased wind and increased visibilty once we dropped into the Sentinel Couloir proper.

  Once we gained the top and crossed onto the north side of the couloir, the winds decreased and visibility increased a little. The snow seemed wind affected but very skiable. None of the breakable crust that the south side had. Noah dropped in first, then me, then JR. We skied it to the moraine above Delta Lake, then got some nice powder turns down to the lake itself. After crossing the lake, we traversed skiers right to the East Face of Disappointment  We were surprised to get some AWESOME pow turns down the face until we had to traverse right again to Bradley Lake.

  After the standard kick in the nuts skin/sidestep back to the car, cold beers were enjoyed and tired, clumsy high fives were given. A good end to another good day in Jackson Hole. Claaassic Jackson. Take it easy out west, JR.

VIDEO HERE:  Skiing the Sentinel


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IT'S A TERRAIN TRAP!

   Been SO damn cold lately. Did a couple of laps on The King on Thursday (1/3/13). Skinned up to the top of the S-chutes to check things out. Mainly just for something to do. Then went back up and hit Scotty's Ridge on a second lap. Mainly just to get out and enjoy the awesome sunset. Tried out some Volkl Shiros at the Village yesterday. Went up Taylor this morning with Thomas. East Face. F'ing terrible. There about a 2 inch breakable crust right now. Things got creamier with any northerly aspect. Hopefully the crust doesn't stay and this little bit of snow we're supposed to get on Monday with bond nicely. Stay on Northerly aspects. Getting the itch to get back in the park. Soon.


   In my boredom, I created this Star Wars dork backcountry skiing meme. I thought it was funny.



   Get it??


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Taylor, Taylor and Taylor. And New Year's on Taylor.

December 27: South Face of Taylor in blower powder

 December 30: East Face of Taylor in fast-as-you-want powder

 December 31: East Face of Taylor in fast-as-you-want powder

 January 1: My 27th trip around the sun, and another Taylor lap. South Face birthday bash. It's been pretty good.

 Between skiing everyday and Christmas week at the restaurant, I'm in desperate need of these next 3 days off. 2012 was pretty incredible. I'll recap that year at another time. Here's some pics from recent trips up Taylor Mountain.

Will negotiates the crux of the skin track.

All smiles back at the parking lot.

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Winter so far...

  It's been quite a while since I've updated this thing, and since I wanted it to start out as a ski journal of sorts, I guess I should write something about the great winter we are having in JH right now. I was a little skeptical about the upcoming winter when my plane landed after Thanksgiving and it was pouring rain in the valley. Not exactly the kind of weather I was hoping for upon my return. It rained, and rained, and rained. The good thing was that it was frequently cold enough up top to turn that moisture into snow. Great early season turns were had on The Pass when there was absolutely no snow on the valley floor.

 It kept getting a little colder, the snow line kept creeping down, and the skiing kept getting better and better. I feel like I've skied powder every time I've clicked in this December. I would say I've skied more good snow this December than in all of last years funky winter. The snow has been steady and consistent, with a few big storms dropping a couple of feet at a time. By all accounts the snowpack seems bomber. I need to start keeping up with the dates of things skied, but this month has been a haze of powder, work, and Lost Continents. You know how it is. A few highlights off the top of my head:

- First over-the-head blower pow on Four Pines a few weeks ago.
- Dawn patrol on Glory. Sunday morning after a storm. Cold and clear. One of the most beautiful sunrise/alpenglow sessions I've ever experienced. Dropped into the NE facing aspect of Glory Bowl and skied untracked, run-of-my-life type snow.
- A single untracked run down Laramie Bowl at JHMR makes the list.
- Endless to Mile-long in Granite Canyon of Christmas Day was pretty awesome.
- South Face of Taylor yesterday (Thursday, December 27) in great conditions.
- Presumably first tracks down the Spoon Couloir on Disappointment Peak a little over a week ago. Someone obviously could have skied it before us, but we saw no tracks and no signs of a previous booter set up the chute. The chute itself was wind affected, but the entire E Face of Disappointment was INCREDIBLE all the way to the bottom. A few pics from that trip follow:

Bill skins up the East Face of Disappointment Peak

Nearing the top of the Spoon Couloir

Near the top of Disappoinment Peak. Grand and Owen in background.

                                            Sunset from JHMR on Christmas Day.

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Cracks and BASE...not drug related

  In Jackson Hole, once the leaves start changing colors and the tourists start thinning out, off season trip dreams start coming true. I've got friends currently in  Yosemite Valley, Nepal, Thailand, Chile, and a girlfriend in Honduras. While those destinations sound awesome, I opted to keep it (relatively) close to home this off season and do some desert climbing.

  The trip started with a few days in the always incredible City of Rocks, Idaho. I've climbed in the City quite a few times, but there is SO MUCH stuff to climb there that it never gets old. It was particularly good to get back to the City with a bit more confidence placing trad gear and try a few harder lines. Bill and I mainly stuck to the 5.9s, which in the City can mean old school, physical, grunt climbing...at least for me. Best climb was probably the Yellow Wall, a sporty 5.9 classic lead with excellent protection. We camped next to some cool guys from Washington who were on a month long climbing trip. Coincidentally (or maybe not considering the season) their next destination was the same as ours: the crack climbing mecca...INDIAN CREEK, UTAH.

  Indian Creek is a special place. Located about 75 miles south of Moab, the Wingate sandstone formations tend to crack vertically, resulting in world class crack climbing. Bill had been here a few times but never lead anything, while I was a full-on Indian Creek virgin. I knew the basics of crack climbing, but as they say, if you wanna learn to climb cracks you go to the Creek. And learn I did. It is amazing how what only a year ago would have seemed desperate and terrifying, now seems SO secure.

  The great thing about the Creek is that is helps you build so much confidence in so many different ways. First off, get ready to lead 5.10 cause that's as easy as it gets at the Creek. There are some 5.9s, but they are really just shorter 5.10s. However, the "harder" grades are complimented nicely by the fact that you can basically plug gear wherever you want. Getting tired on Supercrack? Plug a #3 wherever you want and sit back and enjoy the scenery. Not only is the protection abundant, it's bomber as well. It IS sandstone, so it's not like sinking gear into granite, but it's still solid. Also, as added bonuses the camping is free and there are numerous Native American paintings/dwellings/etc. to enjoy.

  We quickly made friends around camp and enjoyed climbing all the classics.

Marriane van der Steen on Scarface; 5.11    She's sponsored

Me leading the uber-classic Supercrack, 5.10

 After a few days in the Creek, I realized I'd found the American equivalent to Tonsai, Thailand. Unlimited climbing, and a ton of dirtbag climbers loving life. I've always said that climbing bums are by nature the dirtiest of the bums. At least being a ski bum you have to have a roof over your head, so that  usually means you need a job. In the Creek, the camping is free and the weather is perfect, so you can REALLY be a true dirtbag. If the parallels to Tonsai weren't already enough, my friend Scott Patterson happened to be in Moab on a BASE jumping trip. I met Scott in Tonsai, Thailand a year ago. While in Tonsai, we did some AWESOME climbs together, often dragging Scott's BASE rig to the top so he could jump off while I shot the photos.

Scott jumps off the Crystal Flame in Tonsai, Thailand 

  We took a rest day from climbing and met Scott and some of his BASE jumping buddies in Moab. After an excellent lunch at the HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Eklecticafe in Moab, we watched the boys do couple of jumps... but we also had something better in mind. Bill and I had already been talking about climbing Ancient Art, a crazy sandstone tower formation near Moab made even more famous in THIS Citigroup ad. In true Tonsai fashion, we pitched the idea of a climb-to-BASE jump to Scott, and in true Scott fashion, he excitedly accepted. 

 We met for coffee on a clear Sunday morning, then made the half-hour drive to Fisher Towers. There would be two teams of two. Bill would lead up with Adam Krum following, and I would lead up with Scott following. The climbing up Ancient Art isn't particularly great, but the summit is amazing. After dealing with the logistics of getting two BASE jumpers in position, it was time for the show. I'd been with Scott on several jumps before, but my heart of still racing. With the GoPro rolling, and my Nikon ready, Scott did his thing in pure style. I'll let the pictures do the talking here:  

  A stellar summit, and a stellar exit point. Scott and Krum styled it. As usual, Scott threw the gainer and made it look easy and fun. The day-hikers down below couldn't believe their eyes. Bill and I quickly rapped down the formation and we all enjoyed a cold beer back at the truck. 

 We spent one more night around Moab and left the next day headed back to Jackson. Another incredible trip in the bag, with the added bonus of seeing a friend from the other side of the world. I'll leave you now with one of Scott's BASE jumping videos.

 Hope to see you again soon, Scott! 

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Blood bath on the Grand Teton!

  I've been back in the dirty south for the past 11 days, and I'm flying back into Jackson tomorrow. Been doing a little reading, a little drinking, a LOT of driving (football games, weddings, seeing family/friends, etc.) and a LOT of sleeping. I guess my last update was the trip report for the Cirque of the Towers. Soon after that, my brother and father came to visit and I got to show my brother the place that I have been hiding out for the past 3 years. One of the scenic Leigh Lake campsites allowed us to get into GTNP without doing any strenuous hiking...and afforded us the luxury of dragging along a beer cooler. Just before they arrived I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in the mountains with Katie and friends. It went as follows:

  Left Lupine Meadows TH at around 7:30 AM. The 3 week, soul sucking, eye drying, lung burning, smoke screen had lifted from the valley and it was a beautifully clear morning. As we began the hike, the elk bugling in the distance and the crisp morning air reminded us that fall (always my favorite season no matter where I am) was on its way. The plan was to try to do a link-up of the Middle and the South Tetons on Wednesday with the girls, then for me and Devin to cruise up the Upper Exum Ridge on the Grand on Thursday morning. We realized pretty quickly that doing the Middle and the South in one day wasn't gonna happen, and I couldn't have cared less. As snobby as it sounds, I wasn't too thrilled about the long ass "hike" up the Middle in the first place, but I did want to get the epic view of the Grand from the summit. We took our time cruising up the South Fork of Garnet Canyon to the saddle between the Middle and the South. From there, the Southwest Couloir is obvious and the route scrambles straight up. By the time we'd reached the top, the smoke had moved back in. My eyes started to burn and I was feeling lightheaded so we bailed after taking a few photos on top.

 Soon we were back at the meadows where Devin and I had our camp set up. We begrudgingly said goodbye to the chicks and enjoyed the afternoon in the serene environment of the meadows. Wake up was around 2:40 AM the next morning and we took our time drinking coffee and eating oatmeal. Soon we were making our way to the Lower Saddle. We made pretty good time without busting our ass too hard and were through the Eye of the Needle sometime around sunrise.

 As we were standing on the west side of the Wall Street couloir watching other climbers negotiate the end of the Wall Street ledge, Devin's nose began bleeding. No big deal. Just stuff some tissue in there and keep moving. We reached the end of Wall Street, started to rope up and Devin was starting to get annoyed, but still not concerned. Around the top of the Golden Staircase is where we were both thinking "WTF is up with your nose?!" The entire climb went off without a hitch, except that Devin's nose kept bleeding, and bleeding and bleeding. It literally bled the entire way up the ridge, then entire way down, stopped for a SHORT while back at camp, only to resume bleeding for the duration of the hike back to the car; at which point it promptly stopped so that Devin could slam some victory beers. We chalked it to already dry mountain air, excess smoke and the altitude. It was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect day in the Tetons. As painful as it was to watch Devin suffer through such and annoying ailment, it was rather funny to watch the reactions on the faces of other hikers as we approached them. Devin literally looked like had just sunk his fangs into someones jugular. Blood was running down his face since we had long run out of tissue and paper towels. Most people must have either thought that he'd been in some kind of an accident or that he was a pretty damn good looking zombie.

  I'm super excited to get back to Jackson and enjoy the fall weather in the mountains. Gonna try and squeeze in some bigger routes before I (hopefully) head out to Yosemite on Oct. 1. After that, its possibly some City of Rocks climbing, deep south November climbing, and then....SKI SEASON BABY!

  Here's a picture I snapped of Devin at the bottom.

Way to go Dev!!

I'll upload more from the climb later

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