Mountaineer bros I need your help

Some friends and I (all of us have a decent amount of climbing experience - the group ranges from 5.9 to 5.11 climbers - we have no mountaineering experience though) are looking at a July or August ascent of the grand Teton via the Owen-Spalding route.

Is there any essential gear outside of the standard hiking gear you'd take? Would you recommend July or August? Any tips on training or what to expect?

I've been climbing indoor and outdoor for a couple years (lead climbing and sport), run and lift regularly so fitness probably won't be an issue but altitude might be.

thanks for any help you can provide!

Are you familiar with placing trad gear?

Because if you want to protect some of the traverses and the chimney section you'll need to have a small rack, and a few slings to sling features.

The rest of it is to the best of my knowledge not terrain in which you'd need to rope up (think 3rd or 4th class terrain).

Make sure you know the route beforehand, poor routefinding can land you in some dangerous terrain.

Take two ropes, I believe there's a double rope rappel at one point.

If theres snow or ice in the chimneys it gets much more interesting, I'm not sure what conditions will be like this year. Consider having crampons and an ice axe for any upper snow slopes.

The later in the season the better. I did some hikes there with some climbing involved last June and we actually had to turn back because there was too much snow around 9k'.

Sup

I was in the tetons in the summer of 2013 as part of a long road trip out west

It was probably the worst day of the entire trip. I was there at the warmest time of year (late july / early august) and it was still pretty damn cold even before getting to the real high elevations.

The weather there is a **** show. Super unpredictable and changes quickly. Lots of rain. etc

Not to mention that there are more people there than anywhere else in Wyoming...

The whole area has a snooty resort feel to it. Lots of people decked out head to toe in overpriced REI brands - patagonia pants, marmot windbreakers, etc etc... Is that what you're into?

There are way more interesting places within a few hours... And no I'm not talking about Yellowstone

regarding altitude, you'll be uncomfortable if thats the first place you go from missouri or whatever flatland you live in these days

ideally you could spend a night at 5K and at least one more at 7-8K first to get at least somewhat acclimated

Originally Posted by Tessien

Are you familiar with placing trad gear?

Because if you want to protect some of the traverses and the chimney section you'll need to have a small rack, and a few slings to sling features.

The rest of it is to the best of my knowledge not terrain in which you'd need to rope up (think 3rd or 4th class terrain).

Make sure you know the route beforehand, poor routefinding can land you in some dangerous terrain.

Take two ropes, I believe there's a double rope rappel at one point.

If theres snow or ice in the chimneys it gets much more interesting, I'm not sure what conditions will be like this year. Consider having crampons and an ice axe for any upper snow slopes.

not familiar with trad, no. none of our group really knows trad.

the rappel seems like it can be done with either one 70m rope or two 30mm ropes.

do you think snow will be a concern in august or does it not really matter since the OS route faces away from the sun and doesnt dry out much?

Originally Posted by n9ne

Sup

I was in the tetons in the summer of 2013 as part of a long road trip out west

It was probably the worst day of the entire trip. I was there at the warmest time of year (late july / early august) and it was still pretty damn cold even before getting to the real high elevations.

The weather there is a **** show. Super unpredictable and changes quickly. Lots of rain. etc

Not to mention that there are more people there than anywhere else in Wyoming...

The whole area has a snooty resort feel to it. Lots of people decked out head to toe in overpriced REI brands - patagonia pants, marmot windbreakers, etc etc... Is that what you're into?

There are way more interesting places within a few hours... And no I'm not talking about Yellowstone

sups n9ne

well this video inspired us to start talking about going:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Z1-smRsoU

none of us are killian jornet or anton krupicka, mind you, but after doing some research and seeing that we could experience a real mountain (not many of those in the flatlands) without a siege was pretty compelling

none of us are REI gearbunnies but right now i'd rate the group's enthusiasm as higher than it's competence for sure. there are no experienced mountaineers among us

and when this section comes up i'll be curious to see how they handle it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKbYNNRpqV8

Originally Posted by Glare

not familiar with trad, no. none of our group really knows trad.

the rappel seems like it can be done with either one 70m rope or two 30mm ropes.

do you think snow will be a concern in august or does it not really matter since the OS route faces away from the sun and doesnt dry out much?

Re trad: If you don't know how to place trad gear or build trad anchors then you'll essentially have to solo the climbing sections (not that the grades are that high), but as far as I know the route doesn't have bolted protection, it has a rappel anchor, but no midpoint anchors.

Meaning if you're going to do it you'll need to be very comfortable with exposure and climbing at that grade.

If the rappel works with a 70m that makes things easier.

Snow will depend on the yearly snowpack, if you're lucky you might have no issues with snow, and the chimneys will be clear. The fact that the route faces away from the sun ain't great. Snow can remain much longer on exposures that don't get much direct sun.

Originally Posted by Tessien

Re trad: If you don't know how to place trad gear or build trad anchors then you'll essentially have to solo the climbing sections (not that the grades are that high), but as far as I know the route doesn't have bolted protection, it has a rappel anchor, but no midpoint anchors.

Meaning if you're going to do it you'll need to be very comfortable with exposure and climbing at that grade.

If the rappel works with a 70m that makes things easier.

Snow will depend on the yearly snowpack, if you're lucky you might have no issues with snow, and the chimneys will be clear. The fact that the route faces away from the sun ain't great. Snow can remain much longer on exposures that don't get much direct sun.

ty

the grade seems manageable (rated as a YDS 5.4) but the exposure will be a new phenomenon. if we see thunderheads we won't **** around and get caught out.

i think we'll get a report on the chimneys as the summer comes to determine if we need crampons and the like.

any suggestions on a good trail shoe that could double as a rock climbing shoe or should i just go for hiking boots?

I like shoes like merrel trailgloves if I'm scrambling. They give better tactile feedback than hiking boots.

Alternatively, you could just carry your rock shoes up for the 5.4 sections.

ya i currently trail run/hike in new balance mb10 because they r pretty minimal

u got real good advice man. where do u climb? what's the gnarliest climb you've done?

I'm based out of Vancouver, so most of my climbing is in Squamish, but I also hit up Leavenworth, Smith Rock, J Tree, Red Rocks and the Bugaboos with some regularity.

Gnarliest climbs would be the Bugaboos summer of 2014, snow levels were really low, and all the glacier travel was real sketchy.

so we did a gut check and decided not to climb this as a first mountain. instead we're going to hike the teton crest trail, do the approach to the grand, and get some experience first

in all likelihood it's probably for the best (given our lack of skill) but i feel like we might be missing out on something special too

to train i'm spending a lot of time on my feet with a heavy pack in addition to the usual strength training and running that i'd normally do

Originally Posted by Glare

ty

the grade seems manageable (rated as a YDS 5.4) but the exposure will be a new phenomenon. if we see thunderheads we won't **** around and get caught out.

i think we'll get a report on the chimneys as the summer comes to determine if we need crampons and the like.

any suggestions on a good trail shoe that could double as a rock climbing shoe or should i just go for hiking boots?

The exposure will be crazy up there. I did a guided climb up the grand when i was 12. the climbing and the hiking were both pretty easy, but just thinking about doing the climbing sections without pro is giving me the weebie jeebies.

as for the dual purpose shoe - the guiding company insisted i rent a pair of theirs rather than bringing my own climbing shoes and hiking boots. they gave me brutal blisters - probably the hardest thing about that climb was dealing with the blisters. whatever you decide on be sure to give em a good shakedown before you decide to climb a mountain on them.