South Teton Summer Surfing - Skiing

South Teton Summer Surfing – Skiing June 22, 2011

The Teton range from summit of South Teton

                                                                               

The summer solstice greeted us June 21, 2011 and with the Solstice came the sunshine. I believe I read in the local Jackson Hole paper that the average temperature in May was 46 degrees. The early part of June followed the same weather pattern – a lot of clouds and rain with not much sunshine. This weather has helped the snow pack remain intact in the high country of the Tetons and other local mountain ranges.

                                                                             

The alarm was set for 4:00 a.m. and I woke about 15 minutes before the chime sounded. I looked out the window and walked outside to check the weather and get a feel for the temperature in the darkness. It was cold enough and the skies were clear for a summit attempt and ski. With the longest day of the year being two days ago, I knew the sun would be rising early over the Gros Ventre range and spreading warmth on the peaks of the Tetons.

Morning light over Jacksons' valley of green

                                                                          

I knew the day could be a long one, so I ate a big breakfast and made a cup of coffee for the 25 mile drive to the trailhead in Grand Teton National Park. Driving north to Lupine Meadows, the usual characters were mulling around in the darkness – Elk. As I entered the Park, I tried to sneak a look at my objective in the mountains, but the abundance of elk just off the side of the road had my attention. Elk cows weigh from 450 – 600 pounds while the bulls weigh in at 800 – 1,000 pounds. I always enjoy seeing them early in the morning and focused not to take my eye off of the road.



Ice Cream Cone and South Teton



                                          



Upper Garnet Canyon



                                                                       

I started into Garnet Canyon solo. I had called one friend the day before to see if he was interested in joining me, but found out he was in Colorado guiding. I moved at a steady pace and soon saw evidence of people ahead of me. Fresh foot prints in the trail and wet rocks assured me there were people ahead of me. As I reached the Meadows of Garnet Canyon I saw 3 separate groups of skiers. Two groups were already heading up the South fork, the direction I was headed. The other group watched as I approached quickly. A friendly voice asked a few questions and asked my name – we had crossed paths ski mountaineering before and he is a well known strong ski mountaineer. He was leading a group up towards the Lower Saddle in Garnet north fork. We agreed it should be a nice day and we set off in different directions at the canyon fork. I pushed the pace up a little to see if I could catch the others ahead of me. After an hour, I had made contact and we exchanged greetings, then I was skinning out ahead, but I was tired. I arrived on the summit of the South Teton a few minutes after 9 a.m. alone. There are three peaks that are central to the range – The Grand Teton, Middle Teton, and South Teton. This was my 51^st summit between the three of them and the 15^th  summit of the South Teton.

South Tetons' East Ridge (on Right) and corn skiing below

                                                                                

The views from the top were spectacular. The views towards the valley 6,000 feet below showed a wild Snake River approaching high water levels. The valley was green and the peaks across the range were still well covered with snow. Looking towards the West I could see far across Idaho. I soaked in the views for awhile as I prepared for a summer ski from the summit. I choose to ski the East Ridge off the summit towards the Ice Cream Cone notch. The ski off the summit is steep and I was focused on my skiing. After reaching the col between the South Teton and the Ice Cream Cone the steepness backed off and I continued on down the north glacier. The ski off the summit of the fifth highest peak in the Tetons was another great day in the mountains.