Having made plans with Tyler to ski a quick lap in Grand Teton National Park on Monday a few days before, I slowly got out of bed and began to get ready. I was tired from the past two days (The Nugget, West Hourglass), but figured what’s one more schuss! Based on the conditions in the West Hourglass Sunday, I was hopeful the Four Hour Couloir would ski well. The wind had been coming from the West/Northwest for about two days and the temperature has stayed low, so a South-facing line seemed to make sense. With these thoughts in mind, we took off from the trailhead at 8:20am. We made easy work of the up and were at base of the couloir in 2hrs 30min.
(For a more detailed description of the route, etc take a look at an older post – 4 Hour Couloir.)
We geared up, took a look at the couloir and decided it was good to go. There was a noticeable sun crust about 5″ below soft powder, but the couloir looked to have flushed a few times recently. Down lower, the snow was soft and fluffy. We milked the last 800′ of powder all the way to the track out of Avalanche Canyon on the south side (which is in and crossed the creek). We cruised back to the truck at 3hrs 59min, happy with the quick lap and decent snow.
Southern aspect of TeewinotBuck and Wister rising above the clouds
Date: 12/13/2015
Snow Conditions: Powder, mild sun/wind crust 12″ down
Well, here we are……another winter in Jackson, WY. While it has been slow to take off, it appears the storm system that is hitting us now will be enough to open up much of the area for exploring. As for myself, I have been skiing Teton Pass a bunch and had one trip up Mavericks a couple weeks back that didn’t seem worthy of a post (great first 1000′), but then very thin.
Thin down low…
So with a storm approaching and around 8″ of new now over the past couple days, Dane and I set out into GTNP to see what was going on. We didn’t have an “objective”, just figured we would ski something that looked promising and ideally stay away from exposed sage brush. We decided to try and get into Garnett Canyon and ski the Cave Couloir – thinking that it would be a good opportunity to see what the conditions were like. We skinned out from Bradley/Taggart along the road and took the track to the left before the bridge. Following this trail through a large field until eventually it dips left into an obvious drainage. The track wasn’t bad and we made good time up to the lower face of Disappointment Peak. We eventually found the summer trail to Garnett and followed that for a while. We were a little cautious out on the face, but didn’t see any signs of concern. After making it up the face, we cut left and into Garnett Canyon from a little above where the summer trail goes. After skin-skiing down a few hundred feet and one faceplant into a tree well, we were greeted with a grim sight. Garnett Canyon still had massive rocks showing below the Caves and it didn’t look promising.
Not what we were hoping for.
We discussed a few options, but in the end thought that the ski out of the Canyon would be dangerous and not any fun. So, we decided to go up to Surprise Lake and ski the Lower Face of Disappointment down to the valley floor. The snow had looked great on the way up, so we weren’t too sad about the change of plans. We made quick work getting out of Garnett Canyon and then made our way up for about 1500′ to a little pinnacle to the left of Surprise Lake.
Making my way up to the pinnacle. (photo: Dane)
From here we had some views of the Spoon Couloir, Shadow Peak and Garnett Canyon. The Spoon looked to be skiable, although it was thin below the couloir and we couldn’t tell what Amphitheater Lake looked like.
Shadow Peak (North Chutes looking thin)Nez PerceBradley/Taggart from above. They appear uncrossable…
So we geared up and had ourselves a rip. The snow was fun and supportive the entire way down. We took turns cruising down, on the lookout for any instabilities, but didn’t find any besides some minor sluff here and there.
Showoff.
Quality turns even at 7200′.Dane making some light turns.
Overall, it was definitely better than I thought it was going to be and proved to be a fun day in the park. We hit our skin track at the bottom and followed that out of the drainage and then pushed past the cabins and into the big field. We eventually made it to the truck in around 5hrs, happy to have skied some fun snow and get a feel for the snow conditions in the park. With the new snow today (Monday) and a little projected through the week – I imagine the lower faces will be skiing nice, but some of the bigger lines are still a little difficult to access. Until next time…….Keep on Adventuring!
With a small storming dropping a few inches on us recently and a weather window opening, Dane and I decided to tackle a larger line off the South Teton. Amor a Vida, meaning Love Life in Spanish, is a beautiful couloir off of the South Teton. I had booted up it a few years back, but with warming temperatures that day, did not connect the South Face of the South Teton to the couloir. Dane and I got an early start, leaving Bradley-Taggart around 6:20am and made quick work of the skin into the Meadows.
Tetons.Not a bad way to start the day.The Middle, watching over Garnet Canyon.
We worked our way up to the left and into the South Fork of Garnet Canyon, very surprised that the track was in great shape and the wind was calm. As we came up below the Ellingwood and Chouinard Couloirs, we noticed a few guys slowly making progress up the Ellingwood. The snow looked deep, so we were hopeful that pour couloir was holding some similar snow.
Chouinard (left) and Ellingwood (right) Couloirs off the Middle Teton.A look down Garnet Canyon.
We proceeded up canyon, making our way through the mine field of rocks that litter the South Fork. There is enough coverage to skin through this section, which is great, but you have to be careful with each step. We found ourselves below the North Face of the South Teton, with a ramp of snow leading us towards the ridge and the Northwest Couloir.
Dane, working his way up to the ridge and the Northwest Couloir.
Just below the ridge, we switched over to bootpack mode and quickly gained the ridge and made our way into the Northwest Couloir. The snow was pretty consolidated, which made for a relatively easy climb up.
Dane, starting up the Northwest Couloir.Almost to the top. (photo: Dane Etter-Garrette)
Once out of the couloir, we were greeted with sunshine and a calm day in the high alpine. We still had about 100′ of climbing until we were at the summit, but were excited to be in the sun. We made our way through some deep snow and over a few rocks, until we were standing on top of the South Teton. The weather was perfect and we both felt great about the climb and ski ahead.
The Middle and Grand.Mount Wister, with Veiled Peak on the right and the North Face of Buck in the background.Snowfield, skiers left of the summit (funnels into Southeast Couloir).
We geared up and discussed our options for getting to the South Face. Dane had skied the Southeast Couloir last year and thought that we could ski the snowfield directly left of the summit down and then cut hard right to get onto the South Face. We skied two turns down the snowfield to get a look and determined that the coverage was a little low for that entry onto the South Face. We made our way back up to the summit and to the right of a rock bulge separating the snowfield and a scree field that lead to the South Face. After making our way through the snow covered scree, we got a good look at the South Face and the lower entry to the Southeast Couloir.
A look into the Southeast Couloir. It doesn’t look to go through right now.
The South Face looked skiable, but we could tell that the snow was going to be varied; sun crust, wind crust, breakable crust, and powder. Dane skied onto the face and tested out the steep upper pitch with a quick ski cut, then made his way through some rock bands to a safe spot on the right.
First turns on the South Face.“You’ve got a pretty face.”Making my way through the upper rock bands (photo: Dane Etter-Garrette)
From here, we made some fun pow turns down the face and towards the entry to Amor a Vida. Even with the avalanche danger low, the exposure (1000′ cliff) below the South Face makes you focus on your every move.
Staring down the South Face. The entry to Amor a Vida is the first large rock outcropping on the right of the South Face. (photo: Dane Etter-Garrette)Dane, making his way to the entry of Amor a Vida.Decent snow on the South Face.
We got to the entry, but had to double check that it was in fact the Amor a Vida Couloir. After a quick check, we confirmed that we were in the right spot and worked our way down the rock filled entry.
The entry into the Amor a Vida Couloir.
Once into the couloir, we tried to get a look at the tight upper section of the couloir proper (skiers left). It looked like it went, but was barely a ski length wide, so we opted to cross right over a few rock bands and approach the couloir from the snowfields. This exposed us to large hanging snowfields above, but we felt pretty good about the snow and quickly worked our way down through the rock bands.
Dane, cutting across and down the upper snowfield of the Amor a Vida.
From here, we worked our way down and to our left into the main path of the couloir. Amor a Vida is one of the most amazing couloirs in the Tetons, with massive overhanging rock walls, a great pitch and some fun skiing. We had a blast getting down the run, taking it in numerous sections to ensure we were taking it all in. The couloir was predominately powder in the main path, with a few pockets of crust, but overall it was amazing skiing!
Working our way down to the left, into the main path of the Amor a Vida.The Amor a Vida was skiing good!Beautiful couloir. (photo: Dane Etter-Garrette)Slash.Dane, towards the middle of the couloir.Making my way down.. (photo: Dane Etter-Garrette)Dane, nearing the bottom of the couloir.
After making it down the 1600′ couloir safe, we still had about 2500′ of skiing until we hit the Avalanche Canyon traverse. We milked the turns and were just pumped to have skied such a fun run. We made it back to the trailhead in 8hrs and were already looking forward to more adventures in this special place we call home.
Date: 02/20/2015
Snow Conditions: Powder, some sun crust under 6″-10″ of new light density snow.
The return of snow! The feeling of fresh snow returned to us on Friday with the onslaught of fresh snow falling on the Tetons once again. Tristan and I decided last Thursday night to head into the park to try and get some powder turns and a little storm skiing. Leaving the trailhead at 7am we cruised up into the Meadows area in around 2 hours.
It’s Snowing!Tristan and a view of the lower section of the West and East Hourglass
Working our way through the Meadows and into the apron of West and East Hourglass, we made good progress through the spitting snow. There was a persistent crust and some wind packed rollers that became very slick with the new snow. On the way down this made for some interesting / tentative skiing. Switching over to the boot pack, we opted for crampons and soon were knee to waist deep in newly deposited snow in the lower half of the West Hourglass.
Lower sectionAlmost to the top
The middle and top sections were a bit rocky, but to the skiers left, there was plenty of snow for some good skiing. We were happy to be dropping into a storm filled couloir once again. It was a great climb up, and with the return of snow and wind we felt lucky to be there.
Dropping in!Skiing the pow
On the lower section, right at the roll over, I managed to kick off a small soft slap that went roughly 400 feet down into the apron. I had plenty of speed to ski off to the right and get out of the way. It was a reminder that with only a few inches and the right wind, things can get serious pretty quickly. But we were good and happy.
Fracture line right below the roll over.Back in the white room.
Date: 1/21/2015
Snow Condition: Mixed surfaces; mainly consisting of light breakable crust. Some pockets of faceted snow, but warming at mid elevations created isothermal snow and created “grabby”, dense snow.
After an extended period of no snow and some inverted temperatures, Dane, Tristan and I decided for a mellow day on Olive Oil. It is a sub peak of Mt. Hunt directly north of the village and accessible from Granite Canyon Trailhead. We started late, around 10:30am and worked our way out along the Moose-Wilson Rd. until we came to the skin track that takes you up the north shoulder of the peak. While there are many ways to get to the peak, I have found that this way is the fastest and most straight forward. It is noticeable from the other skin tracks in by its location. It is about 7/10th of a mile out on Moose-Wilson Rd. from the trailhead and veers left right before an opening and obvious bridge (stream crossing).
On Moose-Wilson Rd. right before the left turn onto the skin track.The skin track to the north ridge of Olive Oil.
We worked our way up to the ridge and started climbing to the summit. At some point, the snow started to become isothermal and we grew massive globs of snow on our skins. We scrapped this off with our poles/scraper and worked our way up to the summit “block”.
Dane, working his way up to the summit “block”.
We finally made it to the summit in around 2hrs 40min and stopped to enjoy the beautiful inverted day. It was pretty neat to take a close look at Granite Canyon and its many runs from a different vantage point. Some looked big, while others looked smaller than they feel while skiing them. We took some time at the summit to enjoy the day and then geared up for the “amazing” skiing down (breakable crust, isothermal snow, faceted snow).
Granite Canyon from the north. Look at all those runs.Looking up Granite Canyon with Pandora’s in the center.Good vantage of the Banana Couloir.
Turns out, the crust was very skiable and the snow on north facing aspects was soft. We only encountered subpar skiing towards the middle of the run where the temperature inversion was at its greatest. All in in, we were very surprised by the snow conditions and the skiing in general. We took the upper face down to the cliff band and skied through some soft, breakable crust. Then, worked left and skied an open field to some trees which took us down to the gully of the northern ridge.
Skiing the upper face.Magical soft breakable crust.Shot through the cliff band below the upper face.
At one point, Tristan took a nice tomahawk because of a windlip he couldn’t see due to some flat light, but he was just fine. We made our way down the gully, finding our skin track and the way to the truck. We made it back to the trailhead in just over 4hrs and in plenty of time for some hot tubbing.
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