grand teton exum ridge

my partner and i are looking to climb the grand via the exum ridge (lower and upper) in later august and i have some questions for people who have been up there.

first, can the climb reasonably be done car-to-car in a day? or do most parties bivy? how high is the parking for the trail that leads to this route, and how long is the approach?

second, what kind of conditions can we expect on the peak in late august? will there be much ice and snow?

third, how committing is the route? can we bail if we see a storm rolling in? assuming we summit, how tricky is the descent?

Jon Ruland wrote:first, can the climb reasonably be done car-to-car in a day? or do most parties bivy? how high is the parking for the trail that leads to this route, and how long is the approach? second, what kind of conditions can we expect on the peak in late august? will there be much ice and snow? third, how committing is the route? can we bail if we see a storm rolling in? assuming we summit, how tricky is the descent?

Could be done car-to-car by fit folks with an early early start. On sight? As your first climb in the Tetons? Not knowing your experience with that kind of gig makes it hard to judge whether it would be reasonable for you to do it or not. By an easy route its a fairly big day for most folks. Late August you won't have a gob of daylight, but, with a very early start, you could have enough for the up and down up high in light for sure.

Parking lot is what, 6800 feet? Approach is 7+ miles and around 5k feet of vert?

Conditions in late August? Will depend on recent weather. Very common for a late summer season storm to take the whole summer rock climbing season out in one shot. In other words, its a crap shoot, but, it always is up there.

Baring any new accumulation of snow, shouldn't be any residual left over that would effect your route that time of year.

Route isn't super commmitting if you are saavy and know where you can bail. You could easily escape down to the Wall Street area.

Decent isn't that tricky. Again, depends on how saavy your are at reading that type of alpine terrain and following a route description.

My first route on the Grand was the Direct Exum in '85 (mighta been my first route in the Tetons). July I seem to recall. Fairly serious snowstorm on the summit. We took a bit longer but made it down to our camp that night. So, for us, in "fair" shape, but, first route on the Grand, three days. Altitude seemed to get me a bit back then too, so, was slower due to that.

No harm in trying. You should know when you hit the black dike whether it'll go well or not...tick tick tick... And, you can always reload to the O-S if you think you're not feelin' it. Or, just hike up to the Enclosure.

Jon Ruland wrote:first, can the climb reasonably be done car-to-car in a day? or do most parties bivy?

I've done the upper exum in a day and think it took us around 16 hours. You'll be worked when it's all said and done.

Jon Ruland wrote:how high is the parking for the trail that leads to this route, and how long is the approach?

I think it's at 6700. The approach to the to the lowere saddle is almost 6000' vertical.

Jon Ruland wrote:second, what kind of conditions can we expect on the peak in late august? will there be much ice and snow?

It was a big snow year, but I'd guess it should be dry by then. Probably won't need an axe. You could call the ranger station when the time gets closer.

Jon Ruland wrote:third, how committing is the route? can we bail if we see a storm rolling in? assuming we summit, how tricky is the descent?

Bailing off the route would be a pain. Just move fast and plan on being on the summit by noon. Descent is cake.

The Jenny Lake Ranger Station keeps pretty good up-to-date route info and other resources like permits, etc on their blog.

tetonclimbing.blogspot.com/

If you're doing Lower and Upper Exum, I highly recommend camping at the caves or the moraine. It's not as far to haul your heavy camping gear as the lower saddle but still gives you a head start on the approach. It makes for a super long day to go from the car to the saddle early enough and even then you're likely to be stuck behind at least one party who was camped up high. This might not be terrible, but it could hinder your attempt at the complete ridge.

We've shot for the Lower + Upper from the car in perfect weather and ended up behind two very slow parties which made summitting unlikely due to the late hour (1pm ish) we hit the start of the upper. Despite bailing at Wall Street, it was still an 18+ hour, 6000+ vert, 15+ mile day by the time we crashed at the trailhead.

On a subsequent trip we went just for the Upper Exum car-to-car at the beginning of August only to find Wall Street covered in a layer of ice coupled with cold temps and hail stones falling from the sky.

The Lower Exum is well worth doing, with its great rock and fun movement -- things which are lacking on the Upper. My suggestion is that you bivy, get up super early to give yourself a cushion for route finding and afternoon storms, and climb the direct route in its entirety. Have a blast!

Did the upper exum camping in the meadows last year, it was a little low to camp but was luxuries as we passed people still sleeping in the morraine.
We went mid August and the exum only had patches of ice but the belly crawl and the raps off the summit were ice. Made for a 12 hour day summit to car camping from the meadow.

I wouldn't suggest a car-to-car plan, especially since it will be your first time. I would suggest following a modified protocol of what Exum guides uses. High camp night 1 (minimal gear), wake early, pack and stash tents sleeping bags etc, climb up, then high tail back to the car picking up your stash on the way.

I can't speak directly for the area, but this year has been much wetter/colder than years past so I would expect more snow than usual. Right now in the Winds, paths that have been clear in recent years have several feet of snow on them. I would expect snow or ice.

You can bail, remember this is one of the most travelled and guided class 5 ascents in the US. The descent isn't too tricky, just know your maps and topos and don't forget a WATERPROOF copy to bring up.

I would suggest going to the Exum Mountain Guides in addition to the ranger station to get more up to date conditions. If you sweet talk them they might also help you with any other questions.

The record from the meadows (parking lot) to the top of the Grand and back is a tad over 3 hours, so yes it can be done in a day. Whether it can be done reasonably in a day by you (or me!) is another question. The altitude will definitely take its toll, so if you are coming from Tuscon and haven't spent much time there, expect to feel the effects.

Not knowing you, I'd recommend two days. Hike up to the Saddle area the first day and enjoy the scenery. Borrow someone's binoculars (both the rangers and the Exum guides have a seasonal tent there) and scope out the beginning of the climb. As Will notes, you can leave your camping gear below while you are climbing, which makes for a pleasant experience.

As others have pointed out, know the weather before you go. The Climbing Route Conditions and the Mountain Weather page found through Eric's link above are of tremendous help. The Mountain Weather site is maintained by a local weather forecaster and is very specific to The Tetons.

And as others have said, stop in at the Jenny Lake Ranger station to hear first-hand the conditions and to get any beta on the route. The rangers are incredibly helpful and spend their off days climbing the routes. They know the climbs!

Have fun!

Sorry to chime in but how does the snow pack this year compare to previous years? I'll be up there the second week of August and just wondering how things are melting?

thanks John

TIME
If you just wanted to do the upper, I would say car to car. The whole ridge is a lot of climbing to after a long hike if you not used to alpine approaches. I also ENJOY spending an extra day up there. You can party the night before in Jackson, be at the trailhead at the crack of noon, and make it up to to the meadows or caves with plenty of daylight left to shoot the shit and cook some dinner. up early, climb, descend, pack up camp and be home in time for dinner.

CONDITIONS
Bring an ice axe a piece. You wont regret it. Even if you don't need it for to oft snowy approach, a glissade (sp?) down from the saddle is the best roller-coaster ride there is (make sure to get in a deep groove) and saves tons of time.

BAIL
Pretty committing, once your on the lower, you kinda have to take it to the upper. you can bail at wall street. If you don't bail at wall street, and you are strong enough for the lower you should fly up the upper.

DESCENT
Can be hard to find the raps, only a few slings. Should be like a highway at the summit by that time of year though. don't COUNT on following other parties, know the beta, but you can usually get bailed out.

When me and partner did the Lower and Upper we started out at sometime like 4 in the morning and we're back at the tent by a little after noon. I think we did it in September with no snow at all. We simul climbed a lot of it. I think the only thing we pitched out was when I was leading the Black Face. The routefinding on the upper was a little tricky but it's all pretty easy. If you pitch out everything then I would say no on the CTC. We hiked up to the Lower Saddle the previous day and I found it to be pretty grueling compared to the climb. I'd also injured my knee a little before that and hadn't really been in great shape. What others have said about the distance and elevation gain seems right. I don't know if I agree about camping at the Caves or Moraine. I felt the hardest part of the hike was the last bit before the saddle.

We identified Wall St. as our bail point but you could rap off the Lower from many points if you had to. We snagged plenty of gear to that effect. Once on the Upper you're pretty committed to finishing at that point. We found the descent pretty straight forward with two ropes for rapping. Just two rappels and some gully scrambling to the tent. Hiking to the Upper Saddle isn't a bad idea if you want to scope out your descent a little and you can also see the ridge from the side. We did not bring axes or crampons because there was no snow. Conditions will be more of a determining factor on that. We had a pretty sparse rack with just five or six cams and a set of nuts.

CTC would be pretty hard even for fit partners without a real early start and some knowledge on the route. You might have more fun to do the route in a day and the hike on the previous day. If you cruise it you can always link it up with something else.

It certainly can be done in a day car-to-car, but you have to be very fit and fast. For the mortals amongst us, a bivy makes it more reasonable. The approach to the lower saddle gains about 4500 ft in elevation if I'm not mistaken, so it's pretty burly.

Make sure to jump on Irene's Arete before or after the climb if you bivy. It's not too far from the approach trail. We did it on our way down and made for a nice ending to the trip.

I was there in August 2 years ago and we got a full on winter storm in the high peaks. The descent was icy about 72 hours after the storm, but we managed it without an axe or crampons. Route was mostly dry. With the high snow pack this year, I'd bring them just in case and then search for more specific beta from climbers or rangers prior to heading up there. If it continues to melt quickly I doubt you'll have too much of a problem in late August. Plenty of beta can be obtained at the climber's ranch.

I've bailed from the middle part of the lower exum, so it can be done. We rapped down a loose gully. Bailing from Wall Street is easy. Beyond that, you're more committed but the upper exum can be climbed quickly if you solo or simul climb.

Good luck and enjoy the Tetons.

Wow! I would find it easier to do the Direct Exum in a day compared to bivying and then doing the Direct Exum PLUS Irene's Arete in a day.

In any event, I would suggest if it is your first climb in the Tetons that you go for a 2 day ascent.

George Bell wrote:Wow! I would find it easier to do the Direct Exum in a day compared to bivying and then doing the Direct Exum PLUS Irene's Arete in a day. In any event, I would suggest if it is your first climb in the Tetons that you go for a 2 day ascent.

Maybe I wasn't clear on that one. We did it the day after doing the Direct Exum on our way down the canyon. 3 days total. Yes, linking the direct and Irene's arete in a day would be a long day. But if you've already got all the gear up there, it's a nice bonus if you have the time.

whatsupdoc wrote: Maybe I wasn't clear on that one. We did it the day after doing the Direct Exum on our way down the canyon. 3 days total. Yes, linking the direct and Irene's arete in a day would be a long day. But if you've already got all the gear up there, it's a nice bonus if you have the time.

Ahh ... gotcha!

thanks for the info all. the exum ridge appears to be quite serious so we will probably end up doing the owen-spalding route if the weather permits. has anyone done that route? how did you go about it? e.g. did you get up at 2am, camp up high, etc.?

Don't bail in the entire route! just do the upper, not a as awesome climbing as the lower, but till a more engaging route than owen-spalding.

If you want it to be casual get a campground, if not leave early,

hmmm, we'll see. the owen-spalding seems cool but pretty brain dead technical climbing. the ridge looks awesome.

Another problem with the OS route.... It's COLD! While climbers on the Exum ridge (direct or upper) are basking in the early morning sun.... those on the OS are in the shade until basically the summit.