Teton photo TR: 5 days, 4 peaks, 14k vert | January 17-21, 2013

[pappag]

Lots of photos here, so I'll try to cut down on much of the wordiness. Last Wednesday, I headed up to Driggs, ID with Fritz to visit a friend of ours that recently moved to town. Me not currently working and Fritz only pretending to work made the trip an easy decision. As we got closer to the Teton-Bridger range, it was very clear we were in for a treat. It was also clear that if you're serious about skiing tons of big shit with a better snowpack and with thousands of options, you don't live in Colorado ... that much is certain. Shit, you could spend years in a single isolated basin and still find new stuff to ski. Our jaws were floored the entire time and it's no wonder this area is very special to so many. Over our four ski days, we had nothing but blue skies, warm temperatures, and absolutely zero wind ... a complete 180 from what we are so often used to along the Front Range.

Our agenda:
Thursday, Jan 17 - Beard Mountain
Friday, Jan 18 - Taylor Mountain
Saturday, Jan 19 - Table Mountain
Monday, Jan 21 - Twentyfive Short



Day 1 - Beard Mountain

Sunrise in Driggs





View from the end of the 3-mile sled tow





Token hoar photo





Working on the up





Fritz gains a view of the Grand





North face of Beards offers guaranteed admission to the Century Club





I wanted to hit this area so bad







Pano from the top





Getting amped







Now we can ski

















Reward

[pappag]

Running theme on the trip was eating minimally at breakfast, small quick snacks on the uphill, and polishing through 1st, 2nd, and often 3rd dinner at the end of the day. Since we had quite a big plan set in such a short period of time, something we're not accustomed to in Colorado (at least not this early in the season and certainly not our group's usual style), eating enough to sustain ourselves the following day was fundamental to our success. Where a 2k day might be the norm here, pushing well north of that required large stomachs to refuel quickly and keep the legs and body from fatiguing.


Day 2 - Taylor Mountain

Topo of our route





From the TH, we skinned into the basin between Taylor and Mt. Glory following the normal track. But at some point, we continued to far bypassing the normal ascent up the southeast ridge. Fortunately, we found a skin track not too far away. Unfortunately, it was a nice challenging staircase straight up towards the summit.



View from where we started to climb





Views to the south as we got closer above treeline







Almost there





Tasting it





Continuing up





Such a sweet-looking face ... if only the snow in the middle wasn't so baked and crusty





Looking down our line choice





And then we skied (like everyone else, we stayed skier's right in the shade where the snow was very soft and considerably deep)











About sums it up





A look back at all the damage





Our reward

[pappag]

Friday night in Driggs, we ran into Mayor Dan and told him about our trip as well as ask for a suggestion on what to ski Saturday. His choice? Without hesitation? Table Mountain. All of us were certainly feeling our bodies start to get soar after 2 ambitious days, but when the Mayor tells you to ski something, you do it ... without hesitation.



Day 3 - Table Mountain

Our objective just below the grand





Topo of the route (orange/sled, red/up, green/down)





Enjoying the sun after the 6-mile sled tow and just before the slog can begin





Insane mountains to the south and east











Skintrack stoke













Do. Want.







View of the north face of Beards





Feeling significantly tiny








Near the top







Now negotiating our way down

















Finish line





And enjoying 1st dessert





Warplane porn

[pappag]

Sunday was our day of rest and day to get weird while watching the football games at Grand Targhee. Keeping up with the theme, we skipped breakfast and went straight for 1st and 2nd lunch before 1st and 2nd dinner to allow for proper refueling for our last peak grabbing adventure ... 25 Short.

Day 4 - 25 Short

Mountain views of our objective as we approached the trailhead











Climbing up









Land of Gnar









Summit stoke













Looking down the zone







And we did a little skiing, too













And soaked in some sun









Topo (red/up, green/down)

[shafty85]

Friday night in Driggs, we ran into Mayor Dan and told him about our trip as well as ask for a suggestion on what to ski Saturday. His choice? Without hesitation? Table Mountain. All of us were certainly feeling our bodies start to get soar after 2 ambitious days, but when the Mayor tells you to ski something, you do it ... without hesitation.

Sweet pics. Skinning switch

[_Aaron_]

West slope stoke. Nice!

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[homemadesalsa]

And you might not know that Mayor Dan is aka Panchosdad here on TGR (and my husband); he rips!

Glad you had fun up here in Teton-land!

[lynchdogger]

The TR is back! Time for a trip to the Tetons. So good. Thanks!

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[schwerty]

Looks like you guys had some fun!

[TomCrac]

Looks like a fantastic time.... Thanks for sharing the stoke! Congrats.

[criscam]

excellent shots and stoke!

[Slaag Master]

thank you stoke masters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[panchosdad]

Nice to see someone listens to the Mayor.

[9922]

Great camera work! Thanks for sharing.

[Zeedashbo]

Wonderful Stoke. Thank you.



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[spankthepow]

Way to get after it gents!

[BFD]

sitting here trying to decide between Jackson or Rogers Pass for last 2 weeks of February. Last night pretty much decided Rogers but these photos remind me how much skiing there is in the Tetons. These tough decisions.

[Shadam]

damn that was some big lines ... everywhere !!!

nice work dudes ...

[BFD]

so how does it compare to Rogers for big lines?

[leftfield]

Looks rad, thanks for sharing

[adimmen]

good stuff

[sqikunst]

Way to get after it. Great TR. All the photos were a definate plus looks like you guys scored on the weather!

[jSki]

Nice TR, way to get it.

[Fritz]

Nice to see someone listens to the Mayor.

Thank you Mr. Mayor! Good meeting you. Although we were cursing your name and calling you a sadist towards the end of the slog

Thanks for taking the pics Tom!

[PointOfRelease]

Way to get after it!