Prospectors Mountain, SW Ridge to East Ridge Couloir

Prospectors Mountain. July 18, 2013 (written 8/18/2014).  After my climbs of the Grand and Symmetery Spire in the summer of 2012, I found myself hooked on the Tetons. After all, it a world-renown climbing area with great rock, great climbing resources (guidebooks and guides), and only 5-6 hours from home.  So a plan started to take shape.

To put this in perspective, in 2009 I retired after 30 years with the U. S. Forest Service. I was determined catch up on some lost time hiking and skiing. My first goal was to climb all the named 11,000 ft peaks in the Wasatch Range.  There are 18 of them, and some of the trailheads are less than 30 min from our home. They range from class 2 to some serious class 4 , depending on your choice of routes. Some are quite long efforts too...better plan on 10 - 12 hours for a few of them. I didn't rush out and bag them all in one summer -- I couldn't as I also had the ACLs of both knees rebuilt over the last 3 years.  So even now I haven't finished them all - the 4 southern ones remain.  But I don't figure that is a reason not to start a new goal.  Through time, I've decided my new goal is to climb all the major peaks in the Tetons also.  I am still working on defining the list, but just because the list is not completed is not a reason I should not move ahead.  Fortunately, I am going to count peaks done in the 1970s as legitimate achievements for this goal.  So, as of July 17, 2013, my completed list is:

Teewinot Mountain.  August 17, 1975
Symmetry Spire.  August 13, 1975 & August 28, 2012.
Grand Teton.  August 11, 2012.
Disappointment Peak.  August 30, 2012.

Today I am adding to the list. My objective is at the southern end of the range, and is the 11,241 ft Prospectors Mountain.  This peak defines, for me, the southern extent of climbing (perhaps the word scrambling is more appropriate in this case) in the range. Rendezvous Peak and Mt Hunt are further south....but Rendezvous is a ski area with a lift to the top, and Mt Hunt is a dangerous looking pile of sedimentary choss, and doesn't rise my somewhat arbitrary and inconsistently applied 11,000 ft minimum. There is really no need for me to pursue either.

My plan is to traverse the peak from west to east in order to learn two of the routes that Leigh Ortenburger and Reynolds Jackson cover in their guidebook.  So this is: up the Southwest Ridge (class 1 - 2), across the summit ridge and down the East Ridge Couloir (class 3). I left Death Canyon trail head at 06:45, and made my way to the entry to Open Canyon about an hour later. There are well maintained trails throughout. The Guide book says to continue up Open Canyon to about 8,960 ft and then turn northwest and make your way up to the saddle between Tukuarika Peak and Prospector. I found that if you wait til you get to 8,900 ft, you'll find your way blocked by a deeply cut and impassable gully.  Better to leave the trail about 8,600 ft, contour down to the creek, cross it easily, and then make your way up the far right side of the side canyon that leads to the saddle between the two peaks.This area is not visited often. I apparently moved quietly and at one point, there was some mutual surprise at close quarters for both me and a large mule deer buck....a pretty interesting moment for both he and I.

After my heart rate went back down, I worked my way east as I continued up the last third of the side canyon, so I was actually a couple hundred meters east of the saddle as I gained the ridge. The saddle had a pretty decent snow bank with a cornice on its south side, it didn't make sense to go through that.  At about 11:30, as I popped up on to the Southwest Ridge proper, I was greeted with a stunning view of the major peaks of the range to the north. This was the defining moment of of the day, although the experience with the buck was a close second. About 20 minutes later, I was at the west summit, and I stopped to get out of the wind and get some lunch in a protected spot. Then I moved on to the eastern summit, which is higher, arriving at 12:20. From there, I worked my way further east, looking for the entrance to the East Ridge Couloir. I had taken a pretty close look at it on the way up Open Canyon, and knew there are two places that would look correct as I passed along the ridge. The first, however, had a significant bank of snow at the top, and nasty cliff bands below. So I carefully choose the second entrance, which had no snow bank, and correctly entered the East Ridge Couloir. The next 2-1/2 hours included a bit of everything....scree, a short glissade (I took an ice ax), game trails, low angle cliff bands, brush, brush, and more brush.  When I hit the creek in Open Canyon, I simply went downstream until I intersected the trail after about 15 minutes.  Came across a mule deer buck near the trail. Unlike his kin who I met up canyon, he was quite used to people, and was not the least bit concerned even as I was 15 ft from him. From here, it was a warm hike on the trail to arrive at the trailhead about 5:30.

All in all, this was an enjoyable day -- good weather, nice views, easy route finding. The only negative was the brush at the bottom of the East Ridge Couloir. A better, and probably quicker, strategy would be to reverse your ascent route and descend via the Southwest Ridge.

The Saddle between Tukuarika Peak and Prospectors Mountain.  Avoid this cornice by staying to the right (east).

The Grand and adjacent peaks from the Southwest Ridge of Prospectors Mountain.

The east summit of Prospectors Mountain taken from the West Summit.  Note the peaks in the left background are Static Peak and Buck Mountain (far left).

The Grand from the East summit of Prospectors Mountain.

Symmetry Spire, SW Ridge

SW Ridge, Symmetry Spire. Aug 28, 2012 (wrtiten 8/13/2013)   I tried to climb Symmetry Spire via the Durrance Ridge on Aug 12, 1975. It proved too much for me....seemed like an affliction of altitude sickness. A few days later, however, I summitted via the class 4 northwest ledges.
   But of course, the desire to do a multi-pitch climb on Symmetry never really went away, no matter how many years slipped by. After our success climbing the Grand Teton just a few weeks earlier, my desire to climb some more had resurfaced. Problem was I knew few technical climbers at home in Sandy, Utah, although there are of course many. So the solution was obvious....I contacted Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, and soon was set up with guide. They recommended the Southwest Ridge of Symmetry Spire (10,546') rather than the Durrance ridge -- its more sustained, and a more fun experience. So the morning of Aug 28, 2012, my guide Keith and I grabbed the first boat across Jenny Lake and soon were hiking up Cascade Canyon.  The morning was perfect, and the forecast ideal as well.
    Keith and I had plenty of time to get acquainted on the hike up to the ridge. The difference was large - me the old retired guy, and him not long out of college and strong and enthusiastic. I was happy however, to keep up with him for most of the steep hike up Symmetry Couloir. Or at least he let me think so.  We did, however, catch up with another climber and guide (from Exum Mt Guides) who were hiking up to climb Symmetry as well. Not knowing their objective and wanting to get on the route first, we passed them by and never looked back.
   The Southwest Ridge route is 7 pitches of class 5, and then some class 4 on the summit ridge. It had been a very long time since I had done that much class 5. The crux (5.7) comes on the 3rd pitch as the route moves on the right side of a prominent dihedral.

The Southwest Ridge route on Symmetry Spire.

   We started the climb about 9:30 am, and I was happy it started off easy; good for me to get comfortable with communicating with Keith and belaying the way he asked. We got a good rhythm going; we could get through a pitch in about 35 minutes. The crux seemed a bit impressive at first, but as my turn came, I was able to take advantage of the awesome grip that Teton rock has for a climbing shoe and things went well. The fourth pitch also seemed challenging at first; it included a small blocky fractured roof that fortunately had great holds. About this time, I heard the voices of the climbers we had passed. They appeared to be on the Durrance Ridge. Keith and I were sure to use each others' names on our signals to avoid confusion.

Looking up from a belay stance about half way up the climb.  This is a 5.6 pitch.

   We did 3 more class 5 pitches. One memorable one was probably at the 5th pitch, where the best holds are found by stepping left above a particularly airy face with (I think) an slight outward bulge. I found this short move to be as exciting as the crux, although it was easier climbing. Soon we were done with the fifth class work, and changed into approach shoes for the scramble along the ridge. There was a spot or two, however, where the exposure was impressive and I was not unhappy that Keith continued to belay me as needed. Guides are cool.
    We got to the summit about 1:30 pm, had lunch, and started an easy walk down the northwest ledges until we could pass over to the top of the Symmetry Couloir. Then down on the typical loose scree. After a bit, we stopped and Keith graciously detoured and retrieved the gear we had left at the base of the climb. Although we had not had a long day by any means, I was tired from the effort and took my time down the couloir to Cascade Trail. We made the Jenny Lake boat a bit before 5pm. As we had passed the Durrance Ridge we still heard shouts of climbers from high up. Seems like the other party was having a longer day and it seemed unlikely they would make the last boat. I was very glad we had with time to spare.
   Even though it required a 37-year break and the highly capable services of a mountain guide, I couldn't have been happier to finish up this long delayed climb on Symmetry Spire. There was some celebration over beer and pizza that night....