4,000 vert of climbing, 14,000 vert of descent- in 2 days- 28,000 vertical feet

12 May 2007: The Grand Teton’s Stettner, Chevy, Ford Couloirs, Climb and Ski

For the past two years, a group of us lady skiers/climbers have been chatting about trying to ski the Grand Teton.

Finally two weeks ago, Karen Kingsley and I, both from Telluride, found our timing to pull the trip together. Karen, a top-three randonnee circuit racer, and I headed up to Jackson, WY on May 10 to attempt the second female ascent/descent of the Grand Teton, after just discovering a few days prior that the first descent had been done by two Jackson local ladies a fews weeks ago. Also on the list was Mt.Moran’s ultra classic- the Skillet.

Karen and I arrived in Jackson on Friday afternoon and began prepping for our 1 a.m. departure.

A fellow top notch randonnee buddy of Karen’s, Chris Kroger, with whom we were staying, decided to join us at the last minute and so the three of us found ourselves hiking up the trail towards Garnet Canyon at about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.

With packs heavily loaded with ropes, ice and rock gear, med kit, crampons, skis, boots, clothing, food and lots of water, we felt prepared for our guestimate of a 15 hour day.

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