South Teton Snowboard Descent

Skinning away from the truck at 4:30 in the morning can be rough. It’s dark. It’s cold. And it’s 4:30 for god’s sake. Doubts creep in, and I find it easy to invent reasons we should turn around, get back in the truck, and make the hour drive back to my warm bed where my wife lies sleeping. But then I look up at the massive starry sky and at the craggy shapes of the Tetons I love, snowfields subtly lit up by the half moon, and I find it easy to anticipate magnificent things to come. So I keep moving forward, away from the truck and the warmth it could offer, and choose the unsure experience ahead. Embracing the cold and dark I skin up towards the days objective, today’s being the Southeast Face of the South Teton, and I enjoy the work and sweat and mild discomfort of it all. At least until the coffee wears off.

Yesterday brought a break in the storm of the past week, but Alex and I knew that the cold temps up high had maintained the snow quality while the sun had started the stabilization process. The sun rose as we passed the Platforms in Garnet Canyon, and a biting cold wind blew in our faces for the last three hours of our climb. We walked the summit ridge under bluebird skies 7 hours after leaving the parking lot, with a stiff breeze blowing us along and unobstructed views in every direction. Amazing.

The view down the Southeast Face was surprisingly frightening, at least initially. An initial 300′ of 60-degree turns led down to a more moderate, wide open 45-degree face that ran 1200′ before ending abruptly in an 800′ cliff. Traversing left would bring us into the cirque below the South and Matternaught Peak, and down through the narrows into Avalanche Canyon. Hand shears showed 15cm of warming powder over a firm base–we couldn’t have asked for better conditions! I led down the first pitch, making controlled, confident turns on my new Wagner board. (I’ve been astonished at how fun this board is, and was further impressed at its stability and power in steep terrain.) The surface sluffed behind me with every turn, causing a bit of vertigo as I rode down a face that seemed to be moving with me. I stopped near our intended traverse and called for Alex to join me. He whooped as he carved through the firm pow, and after meeting up we swapped leads down through the narrows and to a sunny picnic spot on the edge of Lake Taminah.

The snow got wetter and stickier as we finished our descent out of the canyon, and we stripped down to t-shirts for the glide across Taggart Lake and through the moraines to the parking lot. Today was a phenomenal day in the mountains, successfully making a big descent of a big peak with a great friend. Awesome.