Packing List for Alpine Climbing

Climbing direct exum on the Grand Teton in the second week of August. Any ideas as far as a packing list goes? I'd love a second opinion on ALL the things...so seriously--everything from clothing, to shoes, to gear, to water/snacks, etc.

Excessive beta is appreciated. hA.

THANKS!!!

A good approach shoe works great on the upper Exum. Also, don't forget warm gear. It gets cold on that ridge in the morning.

You can use and modify this list of mine that I made for the grand traverse...

Have you done any backpacking or alpine rock climbing before? Can your partners or guide service provide this for you?

Ty Falk wrote:You can use and modify this list of mine that I made for the grand traverse...

Good list, just a few questions.

3x chords. What chords did you choose and what music did you make with them?

Extra socks are on there twice. Good to have extra, running out of space in the 30L pack.

Light rain jacket and RAB rain shell. Decisions.

Duck tape. Gotta catch what you can in the alpine. Roasted duck sounds good after a day of climbing.

On a serious note, what of your gear list did you leave and wish you had? What did you have that you really used? Anything you thought would be great while there? I always find it hard to pack light.

Thoughts from a not very experienced climber:

It will be colder than you think above the lower saddle... bring a down style puffy.

Bring gloves with good dexterity, you may very well be climbing parts of the Lower Exum in them in the early morning hours.

Watch out for verglas.

Approach shoes are essential in my mind, both for the ascent of the Upper Exum and the maybe even more importantly, the descent back down. You want to minimize slips up there - I've always thought that the descent and 3rd and 4th class scrambling is the most dangerous part of a climb up there. There's no reason to switch in and out of rock shoes on the Upper Exum.

A lot of the guides wear Patagonia Sunshade hoodies (or something similar) to keep the sun away on the approaches down low. The sun is strong in Garnet canyon.

I lot of people don't treat any of the water sources in the canyon with the exception of the spring with the hose coming out of it on the lower saddle. No need to bring a big filter, aqua mira tablets will work fine if you treat anything at all.

Consider bringing at least a single hiking pole for the approach hiking.

Also, this site has great beta.. particularly for the Upper Exum and the descent.

wyomingwhiskey.blogspot.com/

This is my standard for anything on the grand (usually), around that time:

- Approach shoes (You'll likely want to climb the entire upper portion in them, for comfort)
- Climbing shoes (for the lower)
- Puffy
- Rainshell
- climbing pants
- mid layer top, like an r1, pref w/hood. (I usually wind up wearing this most of the time above the LS)
- Wind shell
- Running shorts for the approach in/out
- Helmet (might as well be mandatory in the tetons)
- Gloves (something insulated, even a little)
- Whisky (important)
- Teton rack w/ cordollette (cordollette is usually sufficient if need to backup bails on the trade routes, there are a lot of established bail points)
- Light 60m (check wyomingwhiskey for beta on the OS raps, this is very very important with a 60!!!)
- bleach/iodine (or your chosen alternative) for water treatment anywhere in the NF thats NOT the Lower Saddle spring, or in an out of the way area. IE, anywhere that has camps above it = potentially, and probably poopy. Lots and lots of people everywhere in the NF this time of year.
- Super small emergency kit (trash bag and space blanket usually for me).

- Food and water obviously. I normally bring a collapsable nalgene, and "camel up" at the spring before rolling up.

- snow gear likely not necessarily by whenever you go in august (most aren't bringing now, except maybe an axe for the HW) , but double check.

- Add bivy gear if not doing in a day

Hope this helps, and second that wyomingwhiskey has more beta on the trade routes of the grand than you could possibly ever need.

Cheers,

Dan

The mysterious Teton Rack:

mountainproject.com/v/teton…

We may be in the area in a couple weeks between 5-14 August. ISO guidebooks.

Exum guides Grand Teton clothing list:

exumguides.com/grand-teton-…

JHMG Grand Teton clothing list:

jhmg.com/equipment-lists/gr…

For a rack I'd guess a set of nuts and a set of cams up to blue camalot size would be more than sufficient.

Inquire about OS conditions when you go. If it is iced, a set of microspikes to go over your approach shoes might be useful.

My list, not including the clothes I would have on:

ROPELESS
beta/topo map
approach shoes
climbing shoes
chalk bag (non-marking chalk)
insulated jacket
rain jacket
hat
gloves
sunglasses
headlamp
food
electrolytes
water
mp3 player(s)
camera
Spot/PLB
ibuprofen
hydration bladder
water treatment
climbing tape
emergency blanket
sunscreen
lipbalm
mosquito repellent
TP/hand sanitizer

+ RAPS
6-7mm tag line
harness/belay device
webbing/rap rings/nuts/knife
harness/belay device

+ ICY CONDITIONS
Kahtoolas
ice axe or tent stakes

+ MULTI-DAY
bivy sack
bag
sleeping pad
Dromedary bag if need to melt snow for water
(no stove)

+ ROPED
alpine rack
8-9mm rope
helmet

Just to confirm, this is the Exum, correct?

mountainproject.com/v/upper…

Looks fantastic! Per our updated vacation plans, we will be under the Grand Traverse backpacking up to Surprise Lake or somewhere close on Saturday 6 August for the weekend. If anyone is close and wants to make a run of it, please shout. I have all the gear necessary, but the gear will remain at home unless someone can commit to it.

ShOUT!

Clint White
Usernameabove (aht) the googlesmail dhot chom

ChrisN wrote: It will be colder than you think above the lower saddle... bring a down style puffy. Bring gloves with good dexterity, you may very well be climbing parts of the Lower Exum in them in the early morning hours. Watch out for verglas.

Would ditto these comments - by second week of August, the nights and mornings will be cold - often below freezing. In 2008 2nd week of August any trickles of water were frozen for a few days - so there was verglas in places.

Ty's protection list is good - Tetons tend to have smaller, discontinuous cracks in places - and what I remember on the crux pitch of the direct. If you are used to bolts at your waist, you won't find the protection to be plentiful. I like to have a few smaller DMM offset nuts - I find there are placements that take offsets better than standard stoppers.

When we climbed the Exum direct, we unroped at Wall Street and free soloed the upper Exum.

Be sure to study the beta on the rappels - with one rope it is more problematic and the rope is easily hung up. The Grand is so crowded you can often share ropes with another party to do a single rappel. Helmet is essential here - loose rock at the rappels and I've had people knock rocks down on us at the rappels.