Up Teewinot July 15, 2025. I couldn’t find any interest so I went solo, again, the sixth time. Slow going due to lingering winter snow and heavy rain on the descent, which made the down climbing much more complicated and scary. Should’ve taken crampons and ice axe, all I had was a rock key, which I used to self arrest when I slipped and immediately shot down the steep snow. It likely saved me from serious injury.
Anyone see the video of those assholes who Cowboy’ed Teewinot two weeks prior to my ascent and had to be life-flighted off? Is that assessment too harsh??? I don’t think so in todays’ world where young folks are constantly self-broadcasting every Goddamn thing they do, even if its a total embarrassment. And they should be embarrassed . . and ashamed. They got schooled on a big, easy Teton peak, all the while showing off with Instagram posts before, during and after a near-miss of death. Good God! They were even broadcasting during the helicopter rescue and then again during their treatment in the emergency room. Yes, I’m sticking with it. Assholes for sure. They chose to do something above their abilities then they put the Teton Search and Rescue and Life flight into harms way, to come hall their asses off the mountain because they were clueless when descending a steep snowy mountain and lacked the skills and equipment to take responsibility for themselves. Their lack of basic mountaineering skills showed when they slid out of control onto a boulder field and were seriously injured to the point they needed to call SAR and get a heli-ride off an easy, yet dangerous, Teton peak. Their videos disappeared quickly from social media soon after their rescue, likely required by Teton SAR and Life-flight, as they don’t want others to get any stupid ideas that these jokers were advertising. The problem is this: incompetent “climbers” get into a life-threatening situation, they slip and fall and can’t self-arrest on steep snow, they slide at high speed into a boulder field, receiving life-threatening injuries, then call SAR who quickly respond with a rescue via a heli-flight off the mountain, and they are “painlessly” flown away to comfort and care. Other will see this as insurance when they also choose to try a climb for which they are not qualified to attempt.
Respect for the terrain, mindful climbing can saves lives. Teewinot looks small compared to the Grand Teton, but it has greater vertical relief than SLC’s Lone Peak (nearly 6k vertical rise), with much more technical terrain on the dog route than Lone Peak’s. It should be approached with much respect.
The East Face of Teewinot is rated as a scramble so it is often deemed an easy route, and it attracts a lot of hikers who really should not be there. The result has been a lot of accidents, a lot of serous injuries, and a lot of deaths that did not need to happen. Yes, there is a scrambling route up the east face of Teewinot, but it is not a simple scrambling route like hiking Utah’s Lone Peak. The route-finding is tricky, it is easy to get off-route, resulting in the climb quickly escalating from a scramble to a serious 5.10 climbing route, and many of those who get into trouble do not recognize they are off-route until it is too late. It’s a basic flaw of arrogant personalities, when climbers think they are better than they are, but are not good enough to realize that they are NOT very good. It is a common mind-bender common in many outdoor endeavors: you need basic skill just to realize you suck, and if you do not have that basic skill, you just do not know that you suck! And accidents will follow.
I’m not the worlds best climber by any stretch of the imagination. And I have been criticized for climbing Teewinot solo, which is a fair criticism, but if I waited for interested partners then I’d never do anything, other than sit on my butt at home and watch Game of Thrones or Stranger Things. If I have one natural skill that I have practiced it is basic route-finding skills, whether it be back-country skiing or climbing a big mountain. In this case, when climbing Teewinot, it is important to recognize when one is getting into technical terrain that is not merely “scrambling,” and when this happens one must have the self-discipline to back away and look for an easier way. Don’t let the ego push you into terrain that you should not be climbing solo and rope-less. I’ve climbing the East Face of Teewinot now seven times solo, without need of a rescue. For some reason I feel comfortable in steep, exposed terrain, and I can hold it together without panicking when I get off-route. A cool head is a basic requirement.
One last thing, the scrambling route of The East Face of Teewinot is the most dangerous route in the Tetons in terms of deaths and serious accidents. Do the math, the ratio of climbing attempts vs. the number of deaths and accidents, tell how dangerous Teewinot really is compared to much more technical Teton climbing routes. Like New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, said to be the most dangerous mountain in North America, the danger is not from physical characteristics for the mountain, rather, the danger is a direct result of the Gumby affect. That is, Gumbies gravitate to easy routes that they simply do not have the skills to negotiate. Mount Washington is deadly largely due to nearby huge populations (NYC, Boston, etc) of non-climbers, out for a good time on the weekend, and they go to semi-technical hikes that they simply are not qualified to negotiate. Throw in some bad weather and the Gumby syndrome escalates by a huge factor.
