The Outside Life: August 2010

Better start summer off with skiing the Tetons, because it was pretty much the sickest thing I have ever done. Mt Moran, which rises straight up 6000' vertical feet from the shore of Jackson lake, is one of the most iconic peaks in the Tetons. It happens to have an incredible glacier called the Skillet which when filled in from the winter storms becomes an epic 5000' vertical plus line.

I've been wanting this one since I found out I was moving to Jackson and was able to convince Spencer to make the drive up from Fort Collins for the mission on May 30th. There are a few ways to get to the base of Moran; in the winter it's a long skin across the lake, once the snow in the valley disappears you can hike in from the south, or when the ice on Jackson lake disappears you can canoe there.

Being water loving folks (and not stoked about a long difficult approach) we chose canoes, and were just in time for the ice to melt. Canoeing would allow us to set up a comfortable base camp and so it was no surprise that Finn and Kelly decided to join us for the canoe/camp portion of the hike. We loaded our gear into two canoes at Spaulding bay and began the leisurely paddle towards our campsite in bearpaw bay.

The paddle provided ample viewing and scouting opportunities of our line, our anticipation was high. We enjoyed glassy water almost the whole way there and a peaceful night stuffing ourselves with a hardy dinner prepared by Finn the master camp chef.

There had been lots of discussion about what time Spencer and I should leave camp in the morning and feeling confident we decided to get up at 4am to begin the ascent. This decision almost wrecked our mission. We groggily put boots on, strapped skis and snowboards to our packs and set out on a bushwack to the base of the glacier. It immediately started getting light and a small thought of panic began growing in my head. We were still hiking through the woods with only patches of snow and over 5000' steep vertical feet of climbing ahead.

When we finally broke out of the trees and onto the snow field, the east facing Skillet was in full sun and my heart sank, another two hours of sun and we would risk being caught in dangerous wet slides coming down the mountain. However, we were optimistic and kept on climbing, enjoying the early rays of sunshine at our backs.

After a thousand or so vertical feet we looked up to see a cloud growing atop Moran, winter was coming back to the top of the mountain! It was all we needed and with renewed enthusiasm we continued our ascent. Every step took us closer to the top and into deeper and deeper powder.

We booted up the skillet pan and then made a slight right up the handle for the final push. Both Spencer and I fell into mini crevasses created by heat radiating from nearby rocks. We were almost to the top and had broken trail through what had to be 4000' of powder turns all for the taking. At the last 100' the snow abruptly changed to boiler plate and I watched as if a few rungs down on a ladder as Spencer used his crampons to kick steps into the 50 degree plus slope.

Suddenly there was no where else to go, we had summited and had a huge descent ahead! After carefully navigating the boilerplate we opened it up and made big arcing turns down the handle. The fresh snow from the day before amounted to only a few inches and ripped out into mini sluff slides with our turns. It was a thrill to race down the mountain ahead of it, occasionally pulling off to the side to let it by. Snow conditions continued to be great into the pan and it was not until we had made the majority of the descent that the snow began to get sloppy. We made our last turns all the way to the snowline before collapsing exhausted, it had been almost 8hours since we began our hike.

The Tetons are a wild place, from technical mountains to abundant wildlife. On our way back we found fresh bear tracks, reminding us of why our site was called bearpaw bay and why bear spray is an essential part of backcountry excursions in these parts. Sure enough, we drove past an adult and juvenile black bear on our way out that afternoon. It is trips like these that give me the drive to keep pursuing and enjoying the amazing places we are fortunate to have. The friends that come along are another integral part, and I am happy to have had Kelly, Finn and my partner in crime Spencer for this mission.