WYOMING WHISKEY: Upper Exum & Owen-Spalding Conditions 7-15-17

Grand Teton Climb

1st Boulder Field

The Meadows with the Middle in background & Spalding Falls

The stairs and switchbacks

Just past the snow on the way to the top of Spalding Falls.

The guides were heading up a path to the north along a mostly dry rib and bypassing the summer trail.

We continued to the Caves Camping Zone and the spring at the top of Spalding Falls.

This was the path we took during the ascent which was different than the path the Guides were taking. We are just above the Caves Camping Zone / Spalding Falls and we are on the summer trail. The arrows show a deviation off of the summer trail.

Snow crossing used by the guides. The Caves Camping Zone is center far right.

South Fork of Garnet Canyon

Exum employee with a shovel. He's making a nice 'trail' for clients.

Lower Saddle & Moraines Camping Zone

Lower Saddle

It's dry all the way to the Fixed Rope at center of image

2nd Boulder Field

Lower end of the MCZ

Upper end of the Morainal Camping Zone

Lower Saddle's Fixed Rope

Looking back from the saddle

MT Glacier

Some people were heading down the snow instead of using the Fixed Rope.

It was walkable but it posed a greater risk than the dry trail. It was also faster on a descent.

Looking back down the N. Fork of Garnet Canyon & the Moraines

Looking toward the Grand Teton and Upper Saddle

Lower Saddle

Approaching the Black Dike and the Needle

Looking back at the LS

Chockstone Chimney

These guys were from Mexico

We took the CC to the Eye of the Needle

NE corner of CC

OS Couloir

Southern (south facing) access to the Eye of the Needle.

Go into the natural tunnel.

Lower Crossover to Wall Street

Looking back toward the Briggs' Slab & Chockstone Chimney.

The CC is just an extension of the drainage (white arrows).

'Backside' of the Needle

Gully to reach Wall Street slab

Looking up Wall Street Couloir

Looking back at Crossovers from gully

Ditto

Gully to Wall Street

Wall Street

Looking back down the WS Couloir

Dartmouth Basin

Approaching Wall Street's Step Across

Looking back at the Lower Saddle

Upper ledge at Wall Street's Step Across

Lower Ledge

The ledge disappears as you round the corner.

We took the Lower Ledge.

This is the view of the Upper Ledge from the Lower Ledge.

Upper Ledge - the small handholds for those on the Lower Ledge

The footholds on the Lower Ledge - pretty slim

View of our options from the Lower Ledge

Climbers below us on Lower Exum variation

Climbers on variation of Lower Exum

Looking back at the exit off the Step Across

View back at the Step Across

Golden Stair

GS and cracks variation to NE.

Looking back down the GS

Looking back down GS and back down at the Upper & Lower Ledges at the Step Across

Dittto

The scramble to the Wind Tunnel - go up and over the rock.

Access to the WT on left. Its boulder/chockstone problems on right.

You have to scramble down to the entrance to the Wind Tunnel.

Closer look at the large chockstones at the bottom of the WT's gully

Headwall along the Exum Ridge that you don't climb.
It rises above the WT access point.

Access to the WT

Looking back

Looking back from the WT.

WT Chockstones

You can avoid this chockstone by using a variation to the east but most people climb here.

WT Gully

Friction Pitch Bypass at far right.

We took the Jern to the FP

Ford Couloir

Puff-n-Grunt Dihedral at far left.

Jern Dihedral

Sideways image of the access to the Jern

Looking back

Left side of the Friction Pitch

FP's Vag Line

We do NOT recommend the far right of the ridgeline unless you have very sticky climbing shoes. Even with a rope, you could pendulum swing into the PNG if you slip. Alex Honnold would probably do this blindfolded in combat boots but we'll stick to the 'easy' line. We usually go left at the knob if we are on a Knob Line. We took this video of a climber in climbing boots taking a slip here. The climber before him had no problem taking the far-right crest line.

At the top of the Crux of the Friction Pitch.

ditto

FP Crux - looking back

PNG Dihedral to the east of the FP

Notch Gully - just above PNG and the FPB

Opps. Someone lost their bottle

The Enclosure

V-Pitch at the top of the ridge.

View to the west

View from ridge

MT - view toward Jackson

West-Leaning Lieback / PL / WLC

Boulder Problem In The Sky's jam crack

A quick cold swim is just what we needed. It was 88° in Jackson on Saturday.

Approaching the BPITS

Looking north along the summit ridgeline - The Horse at its end.

The summit is just north of the Horse. Most climbers do not climb the Horse. You can climb it but it's faster to just go under its eastern aspect and make a short scramble to the summit on the north side once the you pass the stepper aspect of the Horse.

Looking back southish at the BPITS

Zoomed view of climbers heading for the BPITS

Summit Views

View toward Jackson Lake

Cascade Canyon

Table Mtn

Teewinot

Delta Lake etc...

Mt Moran

Delta lake

Surprise & Amp. Lakes

Descent path off summit - heading SW

Slabby Wall - descent

View toward Jackson Lake by SW

Directly below the Slabby Wall it's a straight shot toward Sargent's

The SW's center crack points toward the summit and back toward Sargent's

Top of Sargent's Chimney area

Line between Sargent's area and summit

Sargent's Rap

Sargent's main chimney

Top of the alternate exit from Sargent's

View of the start (bottom) of the Hidden Exit (Alternate)

Upper exit from the Hidden Exit is this crack

Looking toward the Main Rap Overlook - square shaped rock feature at upper left

View from middle of Sargent's

Looking toward the Main Rappel Overlook from inside Sargent's

Looking toward the the upper exit from the Owen Chimney from inside Sargent's

The ledge below Sargent's that runs from the Great West Chimney all the way toward the UXM's V-Pitch's exit.

Cascade Canyon

Owen Chimney

View of the exit from the Double Chimney - seen from the Owen Chimney.

OC Bypass Crack

Catwalk

Exit from the Double Chimney at center

Scramble to the Catwalk (behind photographer) from the top of the DC (top right)

Tiny bit of snowy ice at the bottom of the Owen Chimney

You can access the top of the Double Chimney from the center or from the north.

Northern access

Looking at Valhalla Canyon

The middle of the DC: Open-V and Tunnel variations.

Icy tunnel

Looking down 2nd Entrance

ditto

View southish toward the 1st Entrance to the DC, and toward the Crawl.

1st Entrance - crux if you take it.

The Crawl

Looking back northish from the Crawl

Looking south toward the Belly Roll & the Upper Saddle

Belly Roll

The Main Rap line to the Upper Saddle

View from the upper eastern side of the Upper Saddle

View toward the MT

One variation off the upper eastern side of the Upper Saddle.

Owen-Spalding Couloir - western side of the Central Rib

Access to the Central Rib's Black Rock Chimney - U-shaped opening at center right

Looking back northish along the Central Rib from the top of the BRC

Black Rock Chimney

BRC

Steppy ramp off the BRC
- heads west

Central Rib, its bench, and Needle at southern end.

Lookin' back at the access to the BRC by smooth slab.

Zoomed view toward the Eye of the Needle

Lower Crossover to Wall Street

Looking toward the Chockstone Chimney
& EOTN

Looking back up the OS Couloir

WalMart's version of climbing shoes.

These are actually steel-toe (or plastic-toe) work boots. We weren't sure how well they would do on the Friction Pitch but they worked just fine. We don't recommend them for other climbers and we doubt that anybody actually wants to climb in them — other than us.