Cathedral Traverse

A traverse that climbs Teewinot, Owens, and the Grand. Aptly named for the sacerdotal appearence of the three prominent peaks that rise in the skyline.

Description taken from the Grand Traverse page:

"Begin by climbing Teewinot's East face (12,324', cl4). Nearly 6000' of elevation gain here serves as your warmup.

Return to the high col, then barely descend west, before scrambling south, gaining the sunny side talus and tundra.

Scramble down a loose couloir on the west side of Teewinot to gain the ridge that connects it with Mt. Owen. Negotiate this ridge, passing two major downclimbs ("Peak 11,840" and the East Prong) along the way (loose 5.6).

The most direct line would be to ascend the East Ridge of Mt. Owen (12,928', 5.6). This may require crossing a snowfield or two. An easier alternative is to traverse under the south side of Owen, and then ascend the Koven Chimney, on the west side of the summit block (5.4). Either way, descend the Koven.

Rejoin the ridge leading towards the Grand. Stay on the east side of the ridge until a notch allows passage to the west side. Downclimb here to access a system of large ledges (5.6). Follow these ledges all the way into the bottom of the Gunsight notch (the very deep, prominent notch between Owen and the Grand).

Climb straight out of the Gunsight, via fun steep cracks (5.6), then skirt around to the east side of the Grandstand, and gain it's top via easy scrambling.

Climb the North Ridge to the summit of the Grand Teton (13,770', 5.8). As with much of the traverse, the difficulty is largely dependant on the amount of snow and ice on the route. If the standard route's chimney pitches are icy (or even if they're not) the Italian cracks provide a high quality and somewhat drier variation. Descend the Grand via the O-S"

Start at the Lupine Meadows Trailhead