The Grand Teton

---

---

To celebrate my 30th birthday, my sister convinced me to do "something big." After a few months of procrastination, we (Chris, Danielle and myself) decided around Christmas of 2013 to climb the Grand Teton on my birthday weekend. Climbing to an elevation of 13,775 was going to take some work for all of us, not only because of our lack of mountain climbing experience, but also due to the difference in oxygen levels for my Sea-Level-Living siblings. Their training and conditioning was enough to overcome the physical challenges that we expected, but we really were not sure what we signed up for.

---

Photos

The Target
The view of the Grand from our temporary home base just outside of Jackson.

Planning Meeting
Pregame meeting to check hydration levels and come up with a plan of attack for the adventure at hand.

Support Team
Every great feat has a great team behind it, and ours was no exception. Thank you to the entire Bryce family for being there to support us on this adventure.

Exum Mountain Guides
This is where our training classes, and ultimately our Grand Adventure, originated.

Training
2 days of Climbing School taught us everything from basic bouldering techniques to free-hanging rappels.

Lesson 1
It's all about the looks.

Lesson 2
Sound Effects help propel you up the mountain

The Falls
Beautiful Waterfall that provided a wonderful cold breeze at the end of our Climbing School days.

Rappelling...
...like a boss.

Novice? I think not
We practiced with our packs on in order to prepare us for the real thing. Hard to focus on the task at hand with that scenery behind you...

Game Time
Clean and Ready to climb. Let's do this!

Team X
We morphed from Team Casper to Team X. Our fearless leader "Hound Dog" is on the right.

Let it Begin
We passed our exams and were given the opportunity to climb the Grand Teton. "Hound Dog", a guide of 20+ years, agreed to take us up the mountain...and more importantly vowed to get us back down.

Progress
There were different sections of the 7.6 mile hike up to the Lower Saddle. Some were beautifully groomed trails, others were giant boulder fields. Each section had it's own beauty to add to the landscape.

Break Time
"Hound Dog" was nice enough to let us a take a few breathers on the way up. Here Chris can be seen taking in the light breeze...while those downwind of him had to sit down.

Camping
There were a few different places one could set up a tent on the way up. While the snow fields seemed impressive for late July, they have decreased in size significantly over the years.

Still hiking...
The Grand never really starts to look small...

Strong Roots
The tree has died, but the avalanches and rock slides have yet to uproot this Beauty

Glacier
1 of 8 glaciers in Teton National Park.

Preliminary Objective Accomplished
After 7.6 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain, we made it to the lower saddle. Here we will camp for the night and wake up early (3AM) to prepare ourselves for the summit bid.

4 Star Accomodations
Even at 11,000+ feet, you can still find a place with sleeping pads, sleeping bags, and even some hot water. I was surprised with some dehydrated desert to celebrate my birthday...which was very thoughtful, if not delicious.

Comments

[MargAndRob]

The Grand Teto
I loved your photos and story. Well done.