Reviving the blog and a quick recap of a 26 hour, Bozeman-to-Bozeman adventure

It's been almost two years since I've last posted on here, and to be honest I don't exactly know what is inspiring me to start this baby backup again... I think part of it might be a growing disillusionment I have with social media, and the false or fake feelings of self worth that are wrapped up in it...

I have also realized however, that writing for me can be a cathartic, almost meditative outlet for sorting through the seemingly endless, racing thoughts which fill me with anxiety... so screw it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

All blog motivations aside, one fact that is certainly true is that since moving to Bozeman two summers ago, a lot of great things have happened. I have been incredibly fortunate to develop close friendships with some good people and have also gotten to explore many, many incredible new places... a lot of which are pretty close to home! 

Currently, I have a couple of future blog ideas/posts that are in the works, but for now here is a summary of a very ridiculous 26 hour trip to the Tetons a few weeks ago: 

Skiing the Ford-Stettner Couloir with Jack and Taylor 

My friend Jack and I had on and off been talking about doing something down in the Tetons before winter was up. The first idea that came to mind was to try and climb the north face of the Grand from the Teton Glacier, but since that was a climbing objective, the stoke inevitably never materialized itself...  

Eventually as time went on and we continued to sleep on our North Face idea, two friends of Jack's successfully skied the Ford-Stettner on the Grand and Jack mentioned that he and his room mate Taylor were going to try and go for it that coming Sunday. I had a problem-set due that Saturday and an exam the following Monday, so time was a bit of an issue for me... as a result I proposed we try and do it in a push from Bozeman Saturday night and all suffer/suck it up a bit :-) 

After some minor convincing on my part, Jack and Taylor both warmed up to the Bozeman-Bozeman style and our plan was set. We briefly discussed group climbing gear/tactics Friday and then drove down to Jackson the following night.  

The Boys: Riding the stoke on our way out of town at 7:30 PM

Jack kindly volunteered for the first leg of the drive while Taylor and I (unsuccessfully for me) attempted to catch some Zzzs. Before I knew it, we were already in Ashton, ID and I was wide awake so I bought a Redbull at the gas station and drove us the rest of the way there... finally pulling into to the Taggart Lake trailhead a smidge past midnight. 

The Line: Ford, Chevy and Stettner Couloirs (Photo from Chance Ronemus)

About 15 minutes later, after the requisite bathroom breaks and last minute packing we took off into the night, skinning towards the entrance of Garnet Canyon. 

Admittedly, while I do have a bit of a track record for bumbling the approach to objectives like these... amidst the maze of skin tracks at zero-dark:30, Jack, Taylor and I all got helplessly lost while getting into Garnet Canyon. After much and needless side-skinning without ski crampons on steep, bullet hard snow, we slowly made our way into the mouth of the canyon and from there getting to the base of the Teepee Glacier was pretty straight forward. 

Taylor and Owen booting up the Teepee Glacier

By the time we reached the top of the Teepee Glacier, we were completely socked in with clouds and also were encountering pretty high winds. We elected to chill underneath a big rock at the Teepee Col for a solid half hour hydrating/eating, sleeping, and waiting for signs of improving weather. Eventually the sky cleared enough for us to easily make out the top of the Gencloe Col, so we continued up some easy but exposed snow climbing which brought us up and around to where we could see the base of the Stettner Couloir.  

Owen descending from Glencoe Col on his way to the base of the Stettner couloir 

Since conditions seemed to be gradually improving still, we continued climbing up the Stettner and into the Chevy couloir. While we (mostly me) had some minor reservations about warming snow conditions and falling ice/wet avalanche potential as the day got warmer, we actively were paying attention to the temperature and how it was affecting the snowpack the whole way up as we climbed.   

Owen past the first ice step in the Stettner

The squad still booting up... this time high in the Ford

As the day drew on, I became increasingly less stoked (i.e. tired). It was a long slog up to the top of the Ford... but the wind, which we were initially worried about, ended up keeping the snow decently cool and made most of the couloir good "névé" in the shade (definitely preferable to post-holing... however hundreds of feet of it over the course of the day also completely destroys one's calves).  

Finally at the top of the Ford, another 100 meters still to the summit...

Eventually we reached the top of the skiable terrain and had good shelter from the wind below the summit ridge of the Grand. At this point, I was very unmotivated to hike the last 5 minutes up to the summit proper... but quickly after Jack and Taylor headed off for the top, I succumbed to peer pressure/knew I would regret not going to the tippy top... and arrived there shortly after.

Cumbre... finally!

Jack, feeling himself on the summit

Taylor about to ski off the top of the world...

Owen making extremely gripped turns down the Ford

Slowly approaching the top of the Chevy (we ended up putting our crampons back on and down climbing to where we stashed the ropes. For future parties, I definitely recommend rapping through the Ford-Chevy transition part...)

Since we got a first hand trip report from Jack's buddies, we knew exactly the condition of the ice in the Chevy which allowed us to skimp a little on gear... basically less screws and no rock pro but a decent amount of tat for fixing up some of the anchors. For reference: in the condition that we climbed it in, and if you are a competent WI4 leader, 3 yellow screws will be plenty sufficient!

Additionally, I have heard conflicting reports on the amount of raps most parties do. I think most of this is conditions dependent as well, but after descending back to our ropes at the top of the Chevy, we rapped all the way until we got past the short, first technical ice step in the Stettner. For this reason I'd recommend bringing a rope system that enables you to do full 60m rappels (we took a 60m half rope and a very skinny 5mm tag line). 

Taylor rapping down the Chevy

After the raps, we scrambled back up to Glencoe Col and clicked back in. From Glencoe Col, one last relatively easy but very exposed pitch of skiing takes you back to the top of the Teepee Glacier. Then, it is pretty smooth sailing in terms of consequence all the way back down to the car... Where all that was left was a quick drive back to Bozeman!

Throughout the day, and especially once entering the Stettner Couloir, I was on very high alert. The reality is that skiing these types of lines is incredibly dangerous. As good as a person thinks they are, shit can and does happen. 

I am definitely very glad to have ticked this one off (skiing the Grand has been something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember...) but I honestly don't know how much I am into "steep skiing"/ski-mountaineering objectives overall. As a result, the Ford-Stettner is likely a one and done typa thing for me... but I honestly could not have asked for a better experience with competent partners and good friends. Lastly, I also wanna give some credit to Jack Taylor for all of the great photos (all of the good ones are his...)!  

Adventure is still happily alive and well in the GYE