| Grand Ascents log (2003-06-19 -> 2003-07-09)
Leaders: Matt Bowman & Molly Profeta
Students: Ryan Owings, Simone Kastner, Day Griffin, Lauren Houghton, Patrick Fink, Michael Busenhart, Wilson McManus, Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, Abby Samuelson, Evan Feringa, Sylvan Ellefson
Sea Kayaking Yellowstone - June 19th
After the drive north from Salt Lake, the group was all anxious to get started on their adventure as we journeyed into Yellowstone for our sea kayaking section. As our first national park, we wanted to see this from a different perspective than most tourists and to get back into the heart of the park. From the outset, we knew this would be challenging as the weather was throwing a different dynamic into the equation. As the winds picked up and the temperatures decreased, we opted to head back to our put in as conditions were too difficult to continue. Chelsea having spent time on crew back home was one of the strongest paddlers and understood the dynamics of paddling in strong winds. Not to be deterred, the group was eager and excited the next morning as they went on a fly fishing adventure with Matt and Molly. Matt being a well seasoned fisherman, along with several others who have quite a bit of fly fishing experience set out to land a few "trophies". Simone and Ryan served as leaders of the day and kept everyone informed and spirits up. Simone always sees the glass as half full! It was not surprising that Day landed several including a rainbow early. Evan and Wilson had great luck as well. Michael, having a strong interest in science, educated the group on geo thermal activity. Sylvan, with his quick wit had the entire group with side stitches. Looks like another comic on board as Patrick did his sermon on the ingredients of Dr. Brauner's soap. It appears that Abby is quite a cook and prepared a remarkable cheesecake for dessert after Ryan and Sylvan had whipped up a few backcountry pizzas for dinner. There is quite an artist in the crowd as Lauren was busy putting pencil to paper with her drawings of the area.
Backpacking - June 22nd
The group spent the day prepping for the backcountry foray into the Wind River Range. They seem eager to get into the Winds, though the mountains received snow the previous day. Now the real adventure begins. Check back in July 2nd to see how their trip into one of America's most incredible wilderness areas went.
Backpacking, Wind River Range, 6/22 - 7/1
The group had so much fun during their backpacking section. They had at least 1 foot of snow dump on them but the kids loved it and were awesome. They did a lot of day hikes, fishing and bouldering. Then they moved their camp near Island Lake for more fishing, hiking and more Bouldering. They summated Freemont Peak, which was a great accomplishment! They went glissading, built plenty of snowmen and experienced a lot of post holing. Evan is super enthusiastic, a great leader, the Leader of the Day when the group summated Freemont and encouraged the others along the climb.
Sylvan has great EB, he is a future Moondance Leader and he is always there to lend a hand.
Michael or "Busie" is so funny. He is enthusiastic has great EB and is a good friend to everyone.
Wilson has incredible hard skills. He is amazing with the map and compass as he contributed allot to the groups summit.
Day is an avid fisherman and climber. He is also very funny, has great hard skills and is teaching the group Spanish.
Ryan is a great cook! He is really into fly fishing and caught a lot of fish near the waterslide area. He is very helpful to everyone.
Patrick is also very into fishing and bouldering. He is very humorous and a pro at quoting movies.
Chelsey is persistent and battled her own problems with elevation to summit the peak and then cheer the others on.
Lauren has great hard skills, excellent EB and is a great motivator for the whole group.
Simone is very pragmatic and helpful. She practices quiet leadership skills and is known as the brown sugar queen.
Abby is super tough and incredibly enthusiastic. Another dynamo in the group.
After 9 bays in the backcountry the group is now taking a much-needed swim in Freemont Lake.
Rock Climbing, Jackson Hole, 7/1 - 7/6
Greetings from Jackson Hole, Wyoming where the Fourth of July tourists are slowly but surely making their way towards Yellowstone and many of the other beautiful National Parks. It's July 6th, and the Grand Ascents Posse just left at 10:30 this morning to embark upon their journey towards the summit of the Grand Teton at 13, 770 feet. Accompanied by five notorious guides from Exum Mountaineering, the crew departed with the clearest of skies and the sun shining down on them. They are gaining 5,000 feet of elevation to get to the saddle by this evening with an alpine start of 3:00 AM to get to the summit by sunrise.
Prior to their anxiously awaited departure this morning, everyone in this stellar group took part in three days of Grand prep with the guides from Exum Mountaineering. On July 2nd, we woke up with cheesy smiles on our faces due to our excitement to finally get a taste of the rock. We met at Teton Village where we took the aerial tram up la montana for our basic rock school. Everyone had fun taking our knot tying capabilities to another level.speed racing bowlines on a bite. There were a number of rematches between Busie, Matt, Sylvan and Lauren to see who would take the title. As if we had not had enough of each other, we tied ourselves together to practice our rope walking and belaying techniques on some easy multipitch routes which Ryan and Simone led the way on. Evan continued to be our motivating spirit for the day as he congratulated everyone when they reached each pitch. Abby showed off her mantling moves on the crux of one of the pitches followed by the stylish techniques of Day and Patrick. After much practice of the commands and techniques we would be using on the Grand, we ended the day with a series of rappels which would be used on the descent of the big climb. Wilson and Commando Patrick took the job of rappelling to new eights as they are preparing to one day become the national champs of speed rappelling. Back at camp, we had a number of Kemps games with the ruling leaders of Chelsea and Day taking over and earning themselves King Size Snicker's bars.
Day 2 of climbing was our Intermediate Rock School day at the sight of the famous Exum Hut near Jenny Lake in the foothills of the Tetons. Here we took the ferry across to Hidden Falls where we spent the day with more technical multipitch climbs and a few top roped ones, too. Due to the large amount of snow still on the mountain, we decided to forgo our climb of Baxter's Pinnacle and Cube Point to go through snow school on Day 3. Happy Fourth of July! We celebrated the day by meeting yet again at Teton Village to partake in a day of snow school. After another ride up the tram, everyone got a taste of the snow again as we practiced self arresting with the aid of ice axes. It was a sight to be seen as everyone slid down the snow, and it was extremely reminiscent of our glissading day down Fremont Peak in the Winds. To end this spectacular day, we went back into town to watch the sparkly fireworks with the mountains in the background. Yesterday we enjoyed a restful day off in the city of Jackson to regain some of our energy for the summit. After phone calls home, much needed showers, and yummy ice cream, we headed back to our base camp at Slide Lake to get a full night's rest for the BIG day.
Grand Teton Ascent, 7/5 - 7/8
Matt Bowman called to give an outstanding report for the Grand Ascents Grand Teton climb! He said the entire group made the summit!! The entire crew is off the Grand, safe and healthy and back in Jackson Hole. Matt said the climb was quite an exciting adventure. The weather was great but windy. After a long and challenging hike to the Exum Hut on the saddle, the group settled into a brief alpine rest. With the night clear and windy, the sleep was short and nervous but the crew had no problem getting up and getting ready to hit the mountain at 3AM. After a meal, the Exum guides divided them into rope teams of 3 people. They hit the mountain at 4AM and were at the Crack of Doom by 5:30am. After the Exum Ridge and 15 pitches later, they pulled their way to the summit. The day was clear so the views were absolutely spectacular! They enjoyed their moment on top of the world at 13,770'. The hike down was beautiful and everyone covered good ground. Once they got back to Jackson Hole, they were spent and ready for bed. They gorged on some homemade pizza and cal zones before settling in for a long snooze.
Today the crew is heading to Salt Lake City but not before enjoying a quick half day rafting trip down the famed Snake River. After the whitewater, they will hit Salt Lake for their final Banquet. Everyone is excited to get home but sad to leave the group. Three weeks have passed and we cannot believe it time to head home! The trip has been a huge success and we are sad it is over as well!
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