Grand Teton

Grand Teton
Grand Teton in Winter
Elevation	13,775 feet (4,199 m) NAVD 88 [1]
Location	Teton County, Wyoming, USA [2]
Range	Teton Range [3]
Prominence	6,530 feet (1,990 m) NGVD 29 [4]
Parent peak	Gannett Peak [4]
Coordinates	43°44′28″N 110°48′09″W / 43.74111°N 110.8025°W / 43.74111; -110.8025 [1]
Topo map	USGS Grand Teton 43110-F7 [3]
First ascent	1898 by William O. Owen and party
Easiest route	Owen-Spalding Route Class 5.5
Listing	Ultra [4]

Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park,^[2] and a classic destination in American mountaineering.

Geography

Grand Teton, at 13,775 feet (4,199 m),^[1] is the high point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The mountain is entirely within the Snake River drainage basin, which it feeds by several local creeks and glaciers.^[3]

History

Name

Grand Teton's name was first recorded as Mount Hayden by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition of 1870. But by 1931, the name Grand Teton Peak was in such common usage that it was recognized by the USGS Board on Geographic Names. Another shift in usage led the Board to shorten the name on maps to Grand Teton in 1970.^[2]

The origin of the current name is controversial. The most common explanation is that "Grand Teton" means "large teat" in French, named by either French-Canadian or Iroquois members of an expedition led by Donald McKenzie of the North West Company.^[5] However, other historians disagree, and claim that the mountain was named after the Teton Sioux tribe of Native Americans.^[6]

First ascent

There is a disagreement over who first climbed Grand Teton. Nathaniel P. Langford and James Stevenson claimed to have reached the summit on July 29, 1872. However, their description and sketches match the summit of The Enclosure, a side peak of Grand Teton. The Enclosure is named after a man-made palisade of rocks on its summit, probably constructed by Native Americans. When William O. Owen reached the true summit in 1898, he found no trace of prior human passage. In all likelihood, The Enclosure was first climbed by Native Americans, while the true summit was first climbed by Owen.^[7]

Climbing routes

Grand Teton can be climbed via the Owen-Spalding Route (II, 5.4). However, it is highly exposed and experience is recommended. The Owen-Spalding route is named for the climbers who made the first claimed ascent: William Owen, Franklin Spalding, Frank Peterson, and John Shive. There is some debate as to which person made the first ascent, but most agree this group was the first. Their route begins at the Upper Saddle which is reached by walking from Lupine Meadows Trailhead, up Garnet Canyon, to the Lower Saddle.

Grand Teton taken on the Amphitheater and Surprise Lake Hike.

The most popular route up the mountain is via the Upper Exum Ridge Route (II, 5.5) on the Exum Ridge, a 13-pitch exposed route first climbed by Glenn Exum, co-founder of Exum Mountain Guides. The direct start of the Exum Ridge using the Lower Exum Ridge Route (III, 5.7,) is considered a mountaineering classic and is featured in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.^[8] In addition to the The Direct Exum Ridge Route, the classic guidebook also features the North Ridge (IV, 5.8) and North Face with Direct Finish (IV, 5.8), both of which ascend the dramatic northern aspect of the peak. The Grand Teton has the most routes listed in the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America of any peak. The only other to have more than one route listed is El Capitan, with The Nose and Salathé Wall. These inclusions have helped maintain the fame of the peak in the climbing community. Since the Tetons' first ascent, 38 routes with 58 variations have been established.

The Grand Teton has been skied by three routes, each requiring at least one rappel. The first descent on skis was made by Bill Briggs in the spring of 1971 down the Ford Couloir; a route near the Owen-Spalding is now named in his honor.

See also

• 4000 meter peaks of North America
• Central Rocky Mountains
• Mountain peaks of North America
• Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains
• Mountain peaks of the United States

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Grand Teton

• Grand Teton on Summitpost
• NPS website for Grand Teton National Park
• Live Webcam view of the Grand Teton from the Idaho side