I'm planning on climbing the grand this summer with a friend. I'm an experienced sport climber and backcountry hiker and was wondering what skills/equipment I should develop/acquire to be ready. I was planning on just doing the OS or UXM. I've read the Ortenburger guide and reviewed all the info on the Wyoming whisky site and feel comfortable with both routes.
I'm pretty well equipped with sport climbing gear and have a pretty basic trad rack (full set of nuts, and bd cams from .5-3). My longest rope is a 70m Mammut Infinity Classic which I understand may or may not be to short for the main rappel but is a bit of a beast at this point anyway so I'm considering getting an 80m beal opera.
I'm comfortable using established anchors/gear, leading and rappelling. I've done some practice placing trad gear on the ground but not on lead at this point. I'm planning on hiring a guide to do some trad climbing and instruction to help me get comfortable placing trad gear on lead on pitches up to at least 5.7.
I wouldn't drag an 80m single rope to the Tetons. Kinda too much for a single. Might be right if you're doubling it, but, I'd rather have a set of twins or doubles which are also easier to split for carrying with a partner. Opera is a nice rope but kinda heavy for easy alpine, IMO.
Get a bunch of mileage with a mentor (sounds like you've got a good plan to have a guide with some teaching). Especially route finding in alpine terrain.
Wouldn't hurt to do a shake down cruise to the Tetons ahead of your Grand trip. Maybe a scramble route or a lower, easy fifth class gig.
You can rap off the grand with a single 70. Don't sweat the climbing, but do worry about the routefinding, (particularly from the lower to upper saddle) the physical effort, (7000' of vertical) and timing. (you want to be on your way down by noon unless the weather is perfect)
Did the Grand last summer as my first alpine climb via UXM. 2 days - hiked up to the Moraine day 1 (guy in front of us got the last Lower Saddle site haha), and summitted, hiked down day 2.
We had a lot of confusion about the raps as there is a bunch of conflicting information online. Here's the tea: - You can do all standard raps (including the big overhanging one to the Upper Saddle) with a 70m and no fuss. - You can do all raps with a 60m, but for the big overhanging one, you will have to throw the rope (edit: SKIERS LEFT) to land on a ledge (the landing kinda slopes up and edit: SKIERS LEFT) as you can't make it all the way to the bottom, and do a small very trivial down scramble to get to the Upper Saddle. It is imperative that you do not forget to knot your ropes if you do this. - There will 99.9% be someone who is willing to tie ropes with you if you are doing it in peak season.
So take a 70m if you want to be totally self-sufficient and don't want to think twice about anything, take a 60m otherwise.
As someone said above the climbing is easy (maybe one/two 5.5 moves on the Friction Pitch), routefinding is a little harder. Depending on your soloing head most people will be comfortable roping up for minimum 4 pitches (Wall Street step-around, Golden Staircase, Friction Pitch, V-pitch) but rope up for anything you feel like you need to rope up for. Remember though the clock is ticking to afternoon thunderstorms so it may be worth it to develop some scrambling comfort before.
The Chockstone Chimney is almost literally immediately after you get up the Black Dike from the Lower Saddle, don't miss it! We got a little lost after the Chimney and ended up finding our own way to Wall Street, I think we were a little low getting into that rocky couloir before WS but it worked out fine.
The crux is definitely the approach, honestly. 5000' of vert hit me hard on approach day. I was almost glad we couldn't get the site at the Lower Saddle because my heart sank when I saw the headwall.
I would highly recommend the UXM over the OS. It's still obviously awesome and I'm sure the Belly Crawl is rad as hell, but the UXM is just frickin' epic. It was probably my favorite day of 2018 and one of my life highlights if only for the V pitch. We had to make the same choice and I'm so glad we chose the Exum.
Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions.
Route finding, the approach, moving fast and altitude were the hardest parts for us.
Approach: Do not take the hike in lightly - it's a total ass kicker and seemingly never ending. There's also a miserable boulder field you must navigate with a backpack on. Keep both of these things in mind when you pack.
Route finding: It's so easy to get off route up there. We had several arguments about which direction to go. I couldn't believe we found the keyhole first go, we got super lucky. Study this section (Chockstone Chimney) because it's not obvious. The most helpful thing for us throughout the route was having physical photos of each pitch that we could use for triangulation.
Moving fast: Learn how to comfortably simul-climb vs. pitching the full route out. There's only a handful of moves over 5.5, so learning how to move quickly through alpine will save you a tremendous amount of time.
Altitude: I have issues anytime I'm above 12,000 feet so took Diomox. Super helpful if you have known issues with altitude. If unsure, plan on acclimating over the course of a few days (one day in JHole, one day at base camp, summit).
If you're looking for a great option to prepare, the CMC Route on Mt. Moran is incredible. Kayak in, beautiful high camp and 1000 or so feet of easy route finding on 5.5- terrain (choose your own adventure).
Definitely get comfortable being on lead on your own gear. After working with a mentor get as many leads under your belt as you can so that when you actually have to be on lead for a few of the exposed sections you can be comfortable and move quickly and efficiently.
Route finding, like everyone said, study up, it is most certainly the crux of most any route on the Grand.
Jaren Watson wrote: What’s the elevation where you live? That tends to be a show stopper for many people not prepared to go to 13.7k.
Build a bunch of anchors.
The actual climbing on OS and upper Exum is the easiest part of the trip.
Route finding, elevation, exposure, building anchors you have to trust with your life—these shouldn’t be underestimated.
I’ll second the idea of a practice run up an easier peak.
The Middle and the South are good candidates and are quite enjoyable in their own right.
Good luck!
I live in Idaho Falls so about 4700 feet. I've spent a fair amount of time in the Tetons I've done table mountain and did hurricane pass last summer and didn't have much of a problem with the elevation. I was snowshoeing up Teton canyon last Saturday and figured I would probably do some challenging stuff up there as I prepare.
The crux is definitely the approach, honestly. 5000' of vert hit me hard on approach day. I was almost glad we couldn't get the site at the Lower Saddle because my heart sank when I saw the headwall.
I would highly recommend the UXM over the OS. It's still obviously awesome and I'm sure the Belly Crawl is rad as hell, but the UXM is just frickin' epic. It was probably my favorite day of 2018 and one of my life highlights if only for the V pitch. We had to make the same choice and I'm so glad we chose the Exum.
I climbed UXM about 25 years ago. I'd agree that the approach hike is tough. We started mid-day and it was really hot, Got dehydrated and got leg cramps but made it to the lower saddle and summited and hiked out the next day.
Attempted it again a couple years ago (at age 60) and the approach kicked my butt. Spent the night at the Meadows and then baled due to mild altitude sickness.
Best to start early morning to avoid the heat if climbing in July/August. Gives a little more time to rest up before the summit climb.
You guys should just solo it. Go do some scrambles in the mountains to get used to route finding on ridges and you'll be fine. The climbing is really easy and not having a rack and rope makes the hike there much more enjoyable. Pack a webbing harness and someone will be kind enough to let you rap their line.
Mounir Fizari wrote: You guys should just solo it. ... Pack a webbing harness and someone will be kind enough to let you rap their line.
I don't solo. It's a risk I've decided not to take and promised my wife I wouldn't. I'm also not sure how I feel about going up and just hoping someone will be there and will feel like letting me freeload.
Good point, guess I misinterpreted what he meant by "experienced sport climber"
More context I suppose, I've been climbing a couple times a week for a couple years and feel comfortable leading up to about 5.10a top rope to 5.10c/d. And have a good enough feel for my capabilities that I've never had a problem telling when a climb is over my head. Use your own judgement as to if that qualifies as experienced.
Weather and altitude will be your biggest concerns (get acclimated first), OS can get icy even in summer, that coupled with monster exposure doesn't translate into 5.4. Try and camp as high as you can, get an alpine start (2am) if you're camped at the Meadows (I summited at 9am from there, was back at camp at 1pm). In route finding to the Upper Saddle, it can be tricky to find the path of least resistance, up and down. A 60m rope will be sufficient - small diameter. Don't take a kitchen sink rack. Watch the weather beforehand and as you climb.
More context I suppose, I've been climbing a couple times a week for a couple years and feel comfortable leading up to about 5.10a top rope to 5.10c/d. And have a good enough feel for my capabilities that I've never had a problem telling when a climb is over my head. Use your own judgement as to if that qualifies as experienced.
Well I stand doubly corrected then, thanks. Fair enough that you don't solo, but just letting you know that there are really only a few exposed parts of the climb. And if the weather is good at its a reasonable time of day, there will be tons of traffic
I'd go for the EU for sure. 60m thin rope and tie into the center and use as half or twin (whatever rated for). You will only need it for a few 10-30' sections. A rack of 6-8 nuts and a few small cams, and a few slings is plenty. Practice building anchors in shallow cracks and slinging horns, etc. Do NOT worry about the actual climbing, just route finding and weather and hiking when tired.
If you are in decent hiking shape, I'd certainly do it in a day. I've done it several times and never camped, and every time i see the poor folks with huge packs... so much more work. Bring a light rack, a little food and you don't need much water (plenty along the way) and a headlamp and a warm layer. The hike is great with a light load. I'm not super strong (and lived at 3500ft) and have done it in just under 8h car-to-car. First time was 15+h, but we got permission to go from our wives pretty late, so we didn't leave the TH until almost 10:30am, and got a little lost in the moraine in the dark on the way down. Was perfect and we only had to share the route with 1 other person (soloist)! I wouldn't recommend that. For a normal quick trip, I usually leave the car around 5-6am and am back drinking beer at my car by early dinner.
Weather can change quickly in the Teton's and it might be worthwhile having a plan in case of rain or snow. I've never regretted carrying a light bivy sack and a LOT more water that I think necessary. Don't assumee that the rappels will go smoothly and quickly. Consider double ropes and the flexibility they could provide. Have fun and consider posting a trip report.
Thanks for all the advice What kind of rack do you usually take for the UXM? What time of day is best to start from the saddle or the morains if you want to beat the guides?
Don't worry about beating the guides (they'll be way faster and long gone anyhow).. Scout the approach in the daylight. Start early enough to get light above the needle's eye.
Continue with onX Maps
Sign in with Facebook
