Marte is Open!

It is always important to remember to bring your patience to South America. I have been in Las Lenas for almost a week. The wind has been blowing at 50 km/h and the infamous Marte chairlift broken indefinitely. Rumors have been circulating about when the chairlift might resume operation. It was rumored to open in a couple of days or not all for the rest of the season. As the frustration rose, gringos vented in a few different ways. Some put on their skins and headed to the top of the mountain while others retreated to the casino for late night gambling and dancing. Everyone was checking the weather forecast for the Andes; tentatively making plans to travel somewhere else.

I have to admit, even after 5 years of skiing Las Lenas, I was also entertaining the idea of fleeing. Luckily, I didn’t forget my patience. After five days of battling the wind and multiple days of skinning, Marte opened. It was worth the wait. Game on in Las Lenas!

I spent the first couple of days cruising around the lower mountain. The skiing was good, but not worth the 8 hour plane ride and the overnight bus ticket that it takes to get here. Day three I decided to skin to the top and was pleasantly surprised to find great snow. Above is the footage from Cerro Martin. Always feels good to earn your turns!

Skis Back on the My Feet

It takes a few planes, trains, and automobiles to get to Las Lenas, but it is worth it.  Lenas received 9 feet of snow last week and the coverage is really good.  The only problem is that there seems to be a giant fan blowing full blast on the Andes.  And this is what it feels like.

Despite the gail force winds, the Las Lenas Big Mountain Competiton is going off. I was disappointed to hear that it is for men only, but Griffin Post and Drew Stoeklein are representing for the USA. Griffin skied into second and Drew fourth yesterday. The boys have one more run today, hopefully for the win!

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A Grand Birthday

As we left the parking lot at 3:30am, the sky was filled with flashes of lightning and the ground was wet from the evenings rain storm. The storm was supposed to move through the Tetons before sunrise, but there was another storm scheduled to hit the Tetons in the afternoon. As we started hiking, I warned the group that today was probably not the best day for trying to summit the Grand. We had been planning the birthday summit for a couple of months and no one was willing to abandon the mission in the parking lot. We decided to at least hike to the lower saddle. We would then check out the weather from there and if we had to turn around, at least we gave it shot.

We reached the Lower Saddle at 8:00 and were happy to see blue sky in the horizon. We knew we would have to hustle to the summit, but we were confident that we could summit and make it back to the Lower Saddle before the afternoon thunder storm hit the Tetons.





We made the summit at 12:30. It was crystal clear at the top. We could see the storm building in the south and decided to high tail it for lower ground. As we hiked down to the Lower Saddle, the sky grew darker and golf ball size hail started to attack the Tetons. We were so happy to see that the Park Service shelter was open. We made it inside before the storm really hit and enjoyed lunch while the storm pounded the Tetons outside.


We arrived back at the parking lot at 7:00pm. It was one of my favorite birthdays I have had in a long time. Thanks guys! Happy Birthday!

South America!!!!!!

I leave for South America in 10 days. It has finally starting snowing down there and I am getting super stoked to ski some powder. Before any big skiing trip I immerse myself in skiing videos and photos. So I thought I would also stoke everyone else out with photos from last year.

Top of the Grand, 13,770

 

It has been 13 years since I stood on top of the Grand Teton.  I have a list of excuses why, but so does everyone else.  Earlier this summer, I was visiting with a childhood friend who had never climbed the Grand.  As a Jackson Hole local, he felt that standing on top of the Grand was a right of passage.  After a few glasses of wine, I decided we should do it for our birthdays because they are only a few days a part. As the set date, August 6th, grew closer, I started to get nervous about my commitment.  It had been a long time since I was up there.  Would I remember the route?  Was I qualified to take my friends up?  With doubt on my mind, Eric and I decided we better do a trial run.

The Owen-Spalding is the easiest route to climb to the summit when conditions are good, meaning dry. The route is named after William Owen and Frank Spalding who along with Frank Peterson and John Shive first climbed it August 11, 1898. After talking to many friends and Exum guides, I learned that OS route was finally dry and good to go. Eric, my husband, and I decided the OS route would be the best choice for us because we are not exactly mountaineers. Yes we are familiar with climbing gear and know how to use it, but we would never claim to be bad-ass mountaineers. We enjoy being in the mountains.

I asked a friend if he would take us up, but he thought Eric and I would have more fun if we figured it out ourselves. So I bought the book, A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range, and photo copied the description and photos of the route. My buddy gave me a list of the gear we would need and Eric were off on our adventure.

We started hiking a 3:45 am. The sunrise in the Meadows was incredible; the rays bouncing off the Middle Teton were breath-taking. It was one of those moments when you feel lucky to be alive and witness such beauty. From the Meadows we hiked to Lower Saddle which sits at 11, 600+ feet. Exum has a base camp set up in the Lower Saddle. We met an Exum guide on the way up. He was really nice and invited us in to warm up giving us a lay of the land before we headed to the Upper Saddle. We reached the Upper Saddle by 10:00.

The “Belly Roll” and the “Belly Crawl” are the first obstacles to catch your attention. According to, A Climber’s Guide to the Grand Tetons, it is where most parties rope up. If you talk to some Jackson Hole locals there is no need to rope up and it is possible to free climb the entire route. When Eric and I saw 18 inch wide ledge and the 2000 foot verticle drop, we decided to rope up. There was a traffic jam at the “Belly Crawl.” This was not surprising being August first and the route was finally dry. We sat at the “Belly Crawl” station for almost an hour and half. I was freezing. The clouds were rolling in and out and the wind was chilly.

Once we were through the “Belly Crawl,” we climbed up the “Double Chimney” to the “Cat Walk.” The “Cat Walk” is a very exposed 150 foot series of ascending slabs. It was, in my opinion, the easiest part of the route. It was really easy to walk along, but it can be deadly when icy. From the “Cat Walk” we climbed “Sargent’s Chimney” and then scrabbled to the top.

We were so lucky. We were the only people at the summit for 20 minutes.

It is easy to let your guard down once you have reached the summit, but it’s not truly over until you are drinking a beer at Dornan’s. The descent involves a 120 foot rappel. The rappel is much faster than down climbing because you are able to avoid down climbing the “Catwalk, Double Chimney, Belly Crawl, and Belly Roll.” Not too mention it is really fun. Eric and I had doubled checked with many people to make sure the rope we brought was long enough for the 120 foot rappel. We have a few friends who haven’t had a long enough rope and had to be very creative when they reached the end of their rope. At the belay station our fears of not having the right length of rope surfaced. There were two other climber’s from Montana at the belay station who also had the same reservations. So we decided to attach our ropes creating a 140 meter rope. We were confident this would plenty of rope for the rappel. Eric dropped off first.

The two ropes together was more than enough, but better safe than sorry. After the rappel we headed back down to the lower saddle. From the lower saddle, it is a long walk out.

Eric and I had great day. I think my favorite quote of the day was, “Wow Jess! That was really intense! I didn’t think we were going to do so much rock climbing.” And this from the guy who likes to run 100 foot waterfalls!