Congratulations - Grand Teton Team!!!

Reach the Summit


Grand Teton Trip Report

July 17-20

The entire RTS team—five participants and a staff person—summited the Grand Teton on Monday, July 19, 2010! Participants were Brian Coble and Jeannie Keller of Helena, Montana; Brandon Kelley of Bozeman, Montana; Diego Irizarry of New Jersey; and Eric Bersen of Florida. The staff person was Alison James, from the ALA in Montana/Wyoming office. She replaced Jennifer Baldwin who could not make the trip due to a death in the family.

Friday, July 16:

Alison and Eric met for breakfast and then went to the Jackson Hole Mountain Guides office at 8:30 a.m. so Eric could meet Rob Hess for a day of climbing training. The Montana participants had trained earlier in the week near Helena, with a guide from the Base Camp outdoor store. Alison, Brian, Jeannie, Brandon and Eric then met at the JHMG office in the afternoon for the gear check. The JHMG staff went through all the gear the participants planned to bring on the climb, checking to make sure everyone was adequately prepared, and that no one packed a family-sized tube of toothpaste. The staff made gentle—and sometimes not so gentle—suggestions on what to bring and what to leave behind. Puffy down jackets were strongly encouraged (to Alison’s delight)! Each participant was provided a sleeping bag liner (sleeping bags, tents and climbing gear are provided at Corbet High Camp).

The team did some last minute shopping at the local thrift store and the local outdoor store and then had a delicious pre-climb celebration dinner at the Snake River Brewing Company. Diego arrived around 8:00 p.m. Unconfirmed reports indicate further celebration at the Snake River Brewing Company.

Saturday, July 17

Diego went to the JHMG office at 8:30 a.m. for his gear check, and the rest of the team met at the office at 9:00 a.m. to carpool to the Lupine Meadows trailhead. Rob Hess once again led the Reach the Summit team, along with Lauren—who guided RTS two years ago—and a new guide to RTS, Mark Postle. At the trailhead, each participant was given a bag of food for their packs and a handful of Rest Stops—the Corbet High Camp waste management system (pack it in, pack it out).

A beautiful 7 mile hike, with 4,000 feet elevation gain, led us to the high camp. Highlights of the hike were the spectacular vista across the valley, hillsides of alpine wildflowers, and drinking icy, cold water straight from source at the side of the mountain.

Once we arrived at camp, we were assigned tents and got a tour of the kitchen and toilet facilities. More fauna was present at the camp this year, including a pack rat, a pika, a weasel, and a marmot. Dinner was guacamole and chips, followed by “microwave” meals steamed in the camp’s big steamer. We visited with the guides and talked about all our reasons for participating with the American Lung Association’s Reach the Summit program. We went to bed before dark, to be ready for an early morning of climbing training.

Sunday, July 18

After a breakfast of omelets from the steamer and Rob’s extremely strong coffee, we convened outside the kitchen hut to get gear and practice basic climbing on the rocks around camp. We then split into teams of two to practice on the sling ladder and do some multi-pitch climbing and rappelling near camp. Unusual snow drifting this year dammed in the glacial melt and created an aqua blue pool tucked in behind the cliffs. Though the wind blew us around a little on our ropes, the sun was shining and we had a spectacular day of climbing.

We returned to camp for another delicious dinner. Several more climbers had joined us at high camp, and we enjoyed visiting with them and their guides. We went to bed around 7:30 to get ready for an alpine start up the Grand.

Monday, July 19

The guides roused us around 3:00 to 3:30 a.m. to get ready to leave between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m. After chowing down on breakfast burritos (some more reluctantly than others), we hit the trail. The climb to the lower saddle required ice axes and crampons, which we stashed once we made it through the snow. As we approached the lower saddle, the sun slowly began to illuminate the valley, though we were still in shade.

We climbed up above the lower saddle, where the Exum guides’ and climbing rangers’ huts are located, to “the black dike,” where darker colored rocks mark the beginning of the more serious scrambling. Teams were short roped or provided belays across the more technical and exposed parts of the climb. Patches of snow and ice sometimes made the route more challenging. Mark, Eric and Diego hung the sling ladder, just past the Upper Saddle. Though considered the most difficult part of the climb, all the climbers made it past the sling ladder and technical climbing above it. From there, the summit was just around the corner! The guides expertly navigated the snow and verglas (ice on the rocks) to help everyone arrive at the top safely. From the summit, we could see four states—across Yellowstone Park, and across Wyoming to the Wind River Range, and Gannett Peak, the tallest mountain in Wyoming.

As each team reached the top, we congratulated each other, attempted phone calls, and took photos. Then, it was back down for the second half of the climb.

The highlight of the descent is the rappel, which drops 120 vertical feet, with all of the Teton Range behind and below you. The cliff drops away about 70 feet down, so that climbers have to lower themselves to solid ground without the psychological security of having their feet against the wall. If you’re lucky, the rope will start to spin, so you can see the glaciers and the mountains and the bright blue glacial lakes laid out before you as you dangle in mid-air. Touching your feet to the ground below the rappel is almost as exciting as reaching the summit. From there, it’s many hours of down climbing and scrambling, back to the lower saddle. Then we strapped on our crampons and grabbed our ice axes and shuffled our way down the snow, to the moraine campground. Finally, after passing many fresh-

faced campers getting ready to climb the next day, we started up the rocky trail back to high camp. Though we felt like we might never arrive, high camp finally appeared behind the rocks. The first group to arrive—Mark, Eric and Diego—were able to grab a nap before dinner. When everyone returned, we gathered in the kitchen hut and told stories about the climb and our amazing day. We were all so pleased that everyone made it to the summit, and back, safely. Rob promised us we would sleep well that night, and we did.

Tuesday, July 20

After more omelets, breakfast burritos and oatmeal, we packed up all our gear and headed down the trail. Our guides continued to keep us safe across the rocks and the snow. Once we hit the trail, we kept up a quick pace all the way to the parking lot. We passed many hikers who looked and smelled a lot nicer than we did, but we wore our dirt and sweat proudly. We ate oranges at the car and took more pictures. Then we said goodbye and many thanks to our guides, who were ready to get home too. The Reach the Summit team then went to Moose for pizza. We took a group photograph with the ALA banner with the Grand and the rest of the Tetons shining in the background.

Many thanks to our guides—Rob, Lauren and Mark--as well as to the staff at JHMG. Patrick, Mark (the other Mark) and Doug, especially, answered all our questions with patience and respect. We were also all thoroughly entertained by JHMG guides Nate and Greg; though they weren’t officially part of our team, I know their stories and anecdotes will be almost as memorable as the climb itself.

We had a really wonderful, supportive team this year, and I feel like I have made some great friends in Eric, Diego, Brandon, Jeannie and Brian. I’m so glad each of you took on this challenge and were a part of this amazing trip! I’m so sorry that Jennifer wasn’t able to be a part of the climb this year, but I’m honored that I had the opportunity. Congratulations to all of you!