Grand Teton Exum Ridge

July 2019

Grand Teton Exum Ridge

3 years ago, Laura and I climbed The Grand Teton via the Owen Spaulding route with our friends Isaac and Ethan. This year we would go back with the intention of summiting the same mountain via the classic Exum Ridge. Very high snow levels from the past winter and early spring would make conditions difficult. While the route is generally clear by mid-June, this year there were zero reports of anyone attempting the climb by the time we arrived in the park. Not sure what to expect, we figured we’d at least go take a look, so off we went to the ranger office and obtained permits for the following day.

We decided to pack in to the Petzholdt Caves and camp there at about 9,000 thus allowing us to get an early start on the route the following day. Hiking into Garnett Canyon is beautiful and the views of Nez Perce, South and Middle Teton are incredible. Entering the canyon and above the Meadows, the snow became continuous.
Eventually we made it to the caves above Spaulding Falls and set up camp. After establishing camp we decided that we’d head over to Disappointment Peak and climb Irene’s Arete, but when we reached the base of the climb we realized that we had not brought Laura’s rock shoes! Bummed out, we returned to camp and relaxed the afternoon away, passing out around 7 pm.

Waking up and getting moving at 2 am, we put on crampons and boots in camp and Laura lead the way through the steep snowfields up through the Moraine and to the Lower Saddle between Middle and The Grand. We moved quickly and had some time to spare before daybreak so we huddled behind a rock shelter for 45 minutes before moving toward the lower portions of Exum Ridge. As we began up the rocky slope to our cutoff, we could see lightning in the distance. We knew this would be bad news if it headed our way and it began what would be a doubt stricken morning.

We would move toward the route but then see clouds move into the valleys and high up on the mountain. “Let’s turn around, it’s not safe”. Back to where we were and suddenly it’s nice again. “Let’s go for it”. Back and forth we would go, eventually getting on what we thought was our ridge at 7 am. We did exactly what many have done before us and climbed the first pitch of Petzholdt Ridge. Eventually we chose to bail off and go find our correct start. We rappelled down and headed back across the snowfields. It was now 8:30 am and we were still going back and forth about what to do for the day. I knew we would be disappointed if we didn’t at least give the mountain a shot, so around we went once again and found the proper gully leading to Exum Ridge. Passing under a running waterfall, we reached the first pitch of the climb, a 5.7 chimney.

As expected chimney was wet so I chose to climb the face to the right. It provides ample opportunity for protection and was a decent first pitch. It’s now 9 am and finally we’re off and it feels good! All of the climbing on the Exum Ridge is somewhat moderate. Mostly 5.7 or so, Laura and I moved quickly through the first several pitches. Carrying our boots, crampons and ice axes would prove to be problematic when we reached the upper chimney pitch because they were attached to our backpacks and would get hung up on the narrow walls. We worked through the lower pitches and on to the black face past several pitons – probably placed by the first climbers on the ridge in the 1930’s – and on to the Wall Street ledge. It was now noon and we thought weather would allow us to make the summit. We had quite a bit of easy climbing left but we thought we could make the summit within a few hours. We climbed the first several sections of Upper Exum Ridge in mixed rock, ice and snow conditions and when we reached the friction pitch, we chose to bail off the mountain. Weather had turned and we knew it wouldn’t be safe up high long enough for us to summit and get down safely.

We down climbed and then rappelled back to Wall Street, eventually making our way back to the main gully leading down to the lower saddle. As we descended, the rain started and by the time we reached camp, thunder and lightning were prevalent.

We packed up and made a run for tree line. Hiking the 6 miles out of Garnett Canyon, we knew that we had made a smart decision. Our indecision and poor route finding in the morning had cost us today. Laura and I talked about how we would be back soon – but next time it would be Petzholdt to Upper Exum. See you soon Tetons!