After not making it even close to the summit a few weeks earlier due to blizzard conditions, we saw what appeared to be a better chance for another attempt and decided to give it another go. We left the Bradley Taggart parking lot around 6:15 under clear skies and comfortable temps.
We arrived at the Meadows at 9am and although there was a cold wind blasting down off the peaks, everything was still looking good.
Ascending up to the base of the SW Couloir. The NE flank of the South Teton is in the background.
Just below the SW couloir. It was cold, but we were comfortable. Wispy clouds blew around us creating a veil through which we could see the peaks.
This is looking back at the South Teton from around 11,500ft. The view of the summit was there one second and gone the next.
The crux of the route really isn't much more than a few steps through this pinch towards the top of the couloir. The snow was fairly solid and we had, for the most part, been following the boot steps of the party that had been there in the days prior.
One or two hundred feet below the summit.
Climbing up to the summit. 12,804ft.
First turn on skis after hiking down the majority of the couloir due to the many prevalent rocks. And this turn still had a few.
Skiing the slope out of the SW Couloir and heading down to a point just below the east side of the South Teton/Middle Teton saddle. The surface was hardpack crust up higher, but then turned to frozen marbles in most places down below. The whole upper canyon had been scoured of snow for the most part so we diced our way through the rocks.
This is Disappointment Peak on the east side of the Grand. A few weeks later, we would ski the couloir visible in the right side of the photo here.
Back in the Meadows and heading out of Garnet Canyon. Another amazing day in the mountains.
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