Grand Teton, Direct Exum Route

By: Mike Sullivan | Climbers: Mike Sullivan, Andy Grieder |Trip Dates: July 25-30, 1998

Photo: Joe Catellani

® The author(s) and naclassics.com | Back to climb page NAC Home page

Beginning with a cancelled Los Alamos Mountaineers' trip last summer, this was my fourth attempt to climb in the Tetons. All the frustration of having the first three trips fall apart made the success of this one taste far sweeter.

I met Andy Grieder at his home north of Denver on Saturday morning. Eight hours later we pulled into the Jenny Lake complex to apply for a bivy permit at the backcountry office. Our first objective was to climb the Complete Exum Ridge on the Grand Teton. We also held hopes of climbing Irene's Arête and Baxter Pinnacle, if the weather and our stamina held out for the four days we had available to climb. Because of our late-afternoon arrival, the choice bivy site at the Lower Saddle was already filled. Instead, we got a permit for two nights at the Moraine (about 800' below the Saddle), and consoled ourselves with the fact that we wouldn't have to lug our full packs up the final headwall of Garnet Canyon to the Saddle. We settled in for the night at Antelope Flats - an area of National Forest along the eastern edge of Jackson Hole, with stunning views of the entire Teton range. We sorted gear and cooked dinner as we watched a beautiful sunset over Mt. Owen. A short while later, a crescent moon set directly into the profile of Exum Ridge, and the local coyotes burst into song. Yow! I took it as an excellent omen for our climb.

At dawn, a lone bison wandered through our campsite as we loaded gear into the car. We drove back into the park as the sun lit up the peaks with pastel alpenglow. A short while later we pulled into the Lupine Meadows trailhead to Garnet Canyon. The Garnet Canyon approach is famous for being a mother-steep hike, but the incredible scenery provided plenty of diversions. The wildflowers were dazzling, with large fields of lupine, paintbrush, and yellow columbines. We reached the snowpatches at the foot of the moraine around noon, and the heat and awesome scenery made us take frequent breaks as we worked our way up the northern fork of Garnet. We found a great camp near the very top of the moraine site, slung our tarp between two Volkswagen-sized boulders, and threw our bags and bivy sacks underneath for a nap in the shade. Later on, we scrambled up to the base of Lower Exum to do a little bouldering, check out the views, and - most importantly - to scout out the approach.

That evening, Andy and I were lucky enough to witness an incredible spectacle just as the sky grew dark. Within a few minutes, thousands of large moths came out from beneath the boulders of the moraine. The fluttering of their wings filled the canyon with a unique and amazing sound. We took several photos, and every flash lit up the night air with countless numbers of dazzling sparkles as each moth reflected the strobe. We dubbed it the Teton Moth Rodeo. It ended abruptly as a sudden rain shower made both men and moths scramble for shelter. It rained off and on all night, and we were completely bummed by the spattering raindrop noises on our tarp when the alarm sounded at 4:00 AM. Andy turned the alarm off and I dejectedly went back to sleep. At about 6:30, a brief glint of alpenglow on the Middle Teton made me bolt out of my bag. Things were still dank, gray, and foggy, but we decided to do the approach and see how things looked from there. We left our camp at 7:00 and were racking up at the base of the climb at 8:00. (The previous day's recon easily saved us over an hour of fumbling on the approach.) The weather was still marginal, but it looked pretty clear over Idaho, so we took off. The sky was completely blue by the time we finished the third pitch. Yee-haw!

We did a seven pitch variation of the route, which never got harder than 5.7 in difficulty. Except for a brief V-dihedral, there was ample opportunity to place gear. Just above that, the "Black Face" was one of the most memorable pitches I've ever climbed. The rock striations, the holds, and the views were all equally beautiful. We topped out onto Wall Street at noon, having taken only about 30 - 40 minutes per pitch. We unroped, stashed the rack in our pack, and started out on the Upper Exum. It was wonderful rock, and the sensations of moving quickly and confidently up this airy ridge were delightful. We passed a half-dozen roped teams on our way up; at these places we picked alternative lines to keep the ridge from feeling too crowded. We finished up on "The Horse" variation, and reached the top at 1:15. The route was over way too quickly.

We stayed on the summit for an hour ... T-shirt weather, photos, high-fives, checking out all the famous names carved into the summit boulders, etc. Some faraway thunder eventually convinced us to bail, so we scurried down to the rap anchors on the Owen-Spalding route. After a brief minute to contemplate the top of the Black Ice Couloir, we headed down past the Lower Saddle to our camp. Five minutes after reaching our tarp it began to rain, then hail, then flash and boom. After a two-hour pounding, the sun came out to illuminate a brilliant double rainbow curving over Garnet and touching down at the bottom of the Middle Teton Glacier. Oh man...