Sitting on a barstool is usually not the best place to be at 8:15 the night before you attempt to ski the Grand Teton. But that’s exactly where I was, hanging out at the Knotty Pine thinking I’d have a relaxing evening and maybe catch up on some sleep. Then a text came in from the Teton Valley Power Couple (TM) @trees2ski and @anikalofts , “hey want to join us on the Grand tomorrow?”
“Sure”. Its not like I had much to drink (though I am a lightweight), but I had nothing ready and the pickup time was 12:45 (that’s AM). Weird things happen when you know you are going to try something that stretches you in the mental toughness category. While I knew I was physically ready, its tough to prepare yourself for an adventure like this off of 90 minutes of sleep following a week of high intensity workouts and limited recovery. I found myself meditating on David Goggins’ voice when the alarm hit. “Navy Seals feel worse than this for days during BUDS, I can handle one morning of this”. (amid a string of expletives’ on repeat in his voice)
I hadn’t been into the park for a bit, but it was pretty cool to do something so different than my normal ski mission, skinning under headlamp for the first 4 hours until we were greeted by this shot, first light nearing the top of the headwall. Though I had my camera, I didn’t bring a tripod which meant zero star shots, which is a bummer considering how incredible the night sky was.
We climbed efficiently and worked well as a team only to get turned around by the most insane wind I’ve been around all year coupled with a couloir that was a never ending river of moving snow. I literally could not open my pack for fear everything would have flown from the bottom of the Ford Stettner all the way to Eastern Wyoming. The skiing back to the truck was anything but good, but I enjoyed the mission, learned a few things, and am looking forward to a weather window where I can actually tackle this one successfully. (next time with a hair more sleep…and a mini tripod)#type2fun#ownyourtime @k2.skis #goggins
So what will I change the next time?
- Lighter and bigger backpack. I ordered a 50L from Patagonia. My 32L avy pack is great, but honestly in spring conditions an avy pack isn’t really going to help much. I need space and weight.
- Actually, you know, sleep the night before. ‘Nuff said. (and no beers)
- Lightest socks I can find. I broke my ankle 20 years ago. Still have hardware. I could feel it poking through during the icy skin up (that goes and goes)
- Tripod for the camera
- Do not watch TikTok obsessively the night before. This song was stuck in my head… IT WAS AWFUl
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNN0E7dZiis
