Well I didn’t try too hard to find a partner last night, so I was skiing solo in the mountains today. I got on the trail before sunrise and was once again amazed by the alpenglow of the morning sun. I seem to have seen a ton of awesome sunrises this year.
I had decided to go back up into Garnet again, maybe up to Teepee Col on the Grand…after some kind of redemption for the past two days of sort of just ‘poking around’. It was only -10 F this morning (feels balmy) and once the sun came up, I was quickly down to my base layer and making good time. The Meadows came in under 2 hours and I followed my ski tips towards the headwall up to the North Fork of Garnet Canyon.
I found a bootpack and used it to gain elevation quickly. The tracks would come and go and I wasn’t sure if someone else was up here or not. The southern aspect felt nice and I cruised up to the JHMG camp and into the basin below Teepee Glacier. As I got closer, I saw a bootpack continue up to the col…how convenient.
It looked like the boot tracks were definitely from early this morning and I wondered who else was on the mountain. Where they skiers? If they were going for a ski descent, I bet they had good conditions. The sun was warming things up nicely and there were pockets of good snow to be found, on top of a hard surface. Good…safe, conditions.
I was skiing from Teepee Col today, though I wish it was from the summit. I felt a little bad poaching these guys
bootpack and then taking what little fresh there was on the glacier…but not for too long. The snow pack felt bomber and I was pretty relaxed. The first few turns were really nice powder…that sloughed down behind me. I continued to turn down the slope and I was able to cut left, just as the slough passed by. The fresh snow was nice, but most of the way you were skiing the firmer surface below. The slough was predictable.
I made it back to the rig and the trip logged in at 5.5 hours…car to car. I began to think of Jimmy Chin’s 10hr assault last winter might be within reach. Teepee Col sits at about 12,000 ft, leaving only about 1800′ remaining to the summit of the Grand. Seems ‘doable’…assuming no lines at the rappels!
Assume you’ve got another two hours to the top, if there’s some actual ice to climb, which, at this time of year, there probably is. Solo? Probably assume another half hour, since you’ll be doing all the punching. So that’s 2.5 hours plus 5.5 hours = 8 hours, so far. Then assume 10 minutes on the top to text your chick, and then another hour to the bottom of the Ford. So we’re now at 9 hours, 10 minutes. Assume you can find all the anchors and they’re in good shape, but you don’t trust that one v-thread down at the bottom of the Chevy, so you replace it. Takes you 15 minutes. Now you’re following protocol and rapping with your skis on, so you don’t have to dick with them at the transitions, and that saves you some time, but you still have to get the rope out again for the next rap over the lower ice/rock bulge in the lower Stettner, and that takes you another 20 minutes, rope packing included, and then you ski down to the Glencoe Col, 10 minutes, and then zip across the funnel of death, 3 minutes, and there you are, on the Teepee Col, 9:58.
You so got that poseur.
Poseur??? Easy Snaz-man.
How about this senario….
Assume that there are 10 people on the Grand Teton that day (like was seen last year), and it has been skied 3 items that week. You have previously stashed some gear at the base of the Stettner, so you can travel light for this speed ascent. It is like a stair master all the way and you are able to reach Teepee Col in 3.5 hrs…cuz you are are in rockstar shape. You are soloing, so you fly up the Chevy and motor up the Ford since since there is a bootpack like on Glory Bowl…plus 2 hrs.
You transition and ski non-stop to the base of the Ford…plus 1 hour. Then you do two raps dwon the Chevy to the Stettner, and then one to the welded stopper on the skier’s left (what V-thread?)…screw it…I’ll just downclimb the last ice bulge…plus 1.5 hours. So that’s like only…8 hours. 2 hours left to make it to the rig from Glencoe Col…doable?
Maybe I’ll give Greg Hill a call…I’m sure he’s up for a try! 😉
Maybe you Teton folk should set up the next Rando Race on the Grand. That would be interesting 😉
Now that would be a cool race!
First things first though. The shop I work for is trying to bring back an old nordic event on the park road this year. Maybe a rando event next season?
Hey Snaz,
You forgot to include 4 minutes and thirteen seconds to burn down the house. So … Jimmy wins…Hoooray for Jimmy… yeah Jimmy!
Okay so the “poseur” thing was not well worded. If the reader supplies a comma where there isn’t one, it sounds like a insult toward the blog’s author. It was supposed to sound funny at the expense of Mr. Chin, who obviously devotes little time to posing. And I don’t think anybody who’s kept up with this blog would call RandoSteve one either. A poor attempt at randohumor.
Sorry about that. I blame our slippery language.
Thanks Snaz-man,
Peace, love and powder!!!!