We had a great adventure climbing for 2 days at Hidden Falls in Teton National Park, and then climbing the upper Exum on the Grand Teton. These guys picked up on the climbing quickly and we were able to do some harder climbing!
Wind River Range! Cirque of Towers!
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]We hiked in and set up camp early on September 2nd and the weather was so nice we were able to go climb the south buttress of Pingora peak including the beautiful K crack 5.8 that can be by passed 5.6. We were glad we didn't pass it up, as it was a really fun crack! The afternoon views are amazing from here. One side drops off steeply and stares directly at the East ridge of Wolf's Head our objective for day two.
As fall is approaching the days are a bit shorter, and the temperatures a little cool. We got up at 6am the next day and headed up around 7am to Wolf's Head. We did the grassy ledges approach. Just as we were almost to the ridge, it snowed for about 10 seconds. We waited a bit to see what the clouds were going to do, and luckily were able to continue our climb.
On the narrow ridge we kept our eyes focused on our feet and not the steep drop to both sides! The climb traverses the ridge sometimes to the north and other times to the south. It is about 10 pitches of airy 5.6 climbing that takes some grace to stay connected to this peak. The climbing is exposed but mostly easy! There were a few spots that made your think carefully about your next move. The north side had snow and ice on some of the ledges. We had a blast! The weather threatened but held for us, and we stayed dry and happy.
Day 3 we ventured up to the Overhanging tower which was easy and fun climbing. We managed to find a few cracks that were more challenging along the way to test our skills. We rapped toward Sharks nose to climb it as well, but threatening dark clouds made us think twice. Instead we circled back around the west side of Overhanging tower, found another fun ridge to climb, and headed up and over to the Cirque again. One challenging move required a big step across and open gap to top out on a large boulder! Not as hard as it looked. Breathtaking none the less!
In the 4 days we were in their fall came swooping in with lots of wind, changing colors in the tundra, and cooler temperatures reaching below freezing at night. I think we saw one mosquito the whole time!
Grant is a natural and picked up the climbing skills quickly! We had a blast, and did a little yoga too! I have to say this is one of my favorite places in the world! Hope to climb with you there next year!
By: Winslow Passey
Mountain guide and Yoga instructor
This trip was run through Exum Mountain Guides! Thanks to all the crew who helped me put this together!
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