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On the traverse from Teewinot to Mt Owen, somewhere between Peak 11,840’and the East Prong.
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Scary 4th class down-climbing on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch. There are a couple of different ways to do this section, all involving steep, loose, exposed climbing and a few rappels. Last time we took a different line. I’m not sure that the way we did it this time was any better.
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Martin on Teewinot summit, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and Mt Owen in the background. One down, another eleven to go.
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Our first night’s bivy site on the E side of the Grandstand, below the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. We weren’t sure what to expect here, as Kevin and I had bivvied further back on Mt Owen last time we tried the traverse. We were pleasantly surprised to discover some nice grassy ledges, sheltered from the wind, with a trickle of running water from snowmelt.
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Traversing across exposed ledges on the W side of Mt Owen, en route to Gunsight Notch.
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Kevin and Martin at the top of the Grandstand, with Mt Owen in the background.
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Martin and Charles on Spalding summit.
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Kevin at the top of the first Italian Cracks pitch on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton, with the Teton Glacier far below.
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Scrambling up to Spalding summit. We got a bit lost between Ice Cream Cone and Spalding, traversing too low across rubble-strewn ledges on the S side of Gilkey, then having to back-track from the Gilkey/Spalding col to summit Gilkey before continuing on to Spalding.
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Willem rappelling down into Gunsight Notch. The climb up the other side onto the Grandstand was the toughest part of the traverse. It was gloomy, chilly and windy down in the notch, we’d already been on the move for 14 hours, and now we had to climb a couple of 5.7/5.8 pitches with heavy packs, cold hands and sore feet.
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Down-climbing into a notch on the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, with the Grand Teton behind us. The N Ridge is mostly a scramble with a short 5.6 section.
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George, Charles and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Charles, George, Martin and Willem on the Ice Cream Cone summit.
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Charles just below the summit of Mt Owen, with the N Face of the Grand Teton and the Enclosure in the background.
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At the American Alpine Club Climbers’ Ranch the evening before the climb. From L to R: George, Charles (displaying his inimitable organizational style), Willem and Kevin.
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George on the summit of the Grand Teton.
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Scrambling up the E side of Mt Owen from the Koven Col .
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Willem and George starting up the Italian Cracks (5.7) on the N Ridge of the Grand Teton. (No idea why they’re called the Italian Cracks, they were climbed by a pair of Americans). This was much more pleasant than the previous day’s climb out of Gunsight Notch; it was sunny and warm, and we’d all had a decent night’s rest.
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Kevin on the summit of Mt Owen, with Teewinot in the background and Jenny Lake far below.
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Descending from the East Prong to the Koven Col, en route to Mt. Owen.
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Hiking down the Garnet Canyon trail. Only 3,000’ to descend between here and the beers waiting for us down at the Climbers Ranch.
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Martin at our bivy site below the Middle Teton. Another luxury bivy with running water not too far away.
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Kevin on the S Teton summit, with the Middle and Grand Tetons behind him.
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Higher up on the E slopes of Teewinot. It’s hiking until half-way up, then mostly 3rd class scrambling.
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Looking across from the Upper Saddle to the N Ridge of the Middle Teton, our next objective.
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Looking E from the S Teton. It’s a bit confusing but from nearest to furthest the peaks are the Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey , Spalding, Cloudveil Dome and Nez Perce.
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Descending the SW couloir of the Middle Teton, with Icefloe Lake down below.
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Martin and all the peaks of the Traverse.
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Looking back at the East Prong and the Koven Col. A rappel allowed us to avoid down-climbing the steep snow.
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Kevin, Willem and Charles on the summit of the Grand Teton, looking down at the rest of the traverse.
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Taking a break for tea at the Lower Saddle before starting up the Middle Teton. We weren’t in too much of a hurry that day.
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George on the descent of Spalding’s E ridge. Supposedly it’s a 3rd class descent, but lower down we found ourselves on distinctly 4th class terrain with scary exposure. From the base of Spalding it was a 3rd class scramble across to Cloudveil Done, then more 4th class down-climbing and a rappel down to the connecting ridge between Cloudveil and Nez Perce.
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Traversing across the Second Ledge to the W side of the Grand Teton. From here we took the Owen-Spalding route to the summit (a couple of 5.4 moves, then 3rd class scrambling).
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George and Willem on the Middle Teton summit.
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Fore! Charles teeing off from the summit of the S Teton.
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Charles climbing a 5.7 pitch up the W side of the Ice Cream Cone. After he did the hardest section we noticed an easier traverse ledge coming in from the right. The rock at the top of this pitch was pretty `rank`.
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Sunrise from our bivy site on the Grandstand. We didn’t have as far to go as the previous day and we had the luxury of lying in our sleeping bags until the sun warmed us up.
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Slogging up the E slopes of Teewinot. Only 5,600’ from the valley floor to the summit.
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Next day’s objectives as seen from the descent of the Middle Teton. From R to L: South Teton, Ice Cream Cone, Gilkey Tower and Spalding Peak. Cloudveil Dome is just out of sight on the L. We bivied on the broad saddle between the Middle and S Tetons.
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All done! Martin, Kevin, Charles and Willem on Nez Perce summit. We had to hunt around a bit before finding the route up here. It turned out to be a fairly well-marked track, mostly 3rd class with one short 4th class section.
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Rapelling down from the Grand Teton to the Upper Saddle. This is the standard descent for the Owen-Spalding route and the rappels can be quite crowded, but luckily we didn’t have to wait long.
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Showered and clean (some of us, anyway) and happy to be back at the Climbers Ranch. From L to R: Martin, Charles, Kevin, Willem and George.
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The Grand Teton and the peaks of the southern part of the traverse, as seen from Teewinot.
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The Teton Range from Jackson Hole (elevation 6,700’). In order of the traverse the peaks are (1) Teewinot 12,325’ (2) Unnamed 11,840’ (3) East Prong 12,000’ (4) Mount Owen 12,928’ (5) Grand Teton 13,770’ (6) Middle Teton 12,804’ (7) South Teton 12,514’ (8) Ice Cream Cone 12,400’ (9) Gilkey Tower 12,320’ (10) Spalding Peak 12,240’ (11) Cloudveil Dome 12,026’ (12) Nez Perce 11,901’.
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George and Kevin posing for a final photo before we headed back to Colorado. From L to R: Nez Perce, Middle Teton, Grand Teton, Owen and Teewinot.
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The view from the Climbers Ranch the next morning.
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From our bivy site it was an easy scramble to the top of the Grandstand and the base of the N Ridge of the Grand Teton.
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Looking back at the S shoulder of Mt Owen from our bivy site on the Grandstand