An Ode to Mt. Moran

Remember I said my schedule is all over the place and no week is the same? This past stretch of January exemplifies that - characterized by random work, changing plans, and a sleep schedule that had my brain up in arms (think “Brain” from Pillow Talking by Lil Dicky - “this bi*ch don’t know ‘bout Pangea”). Haha sorry what a weird reference for a frustrated brain but what a throwback. 

Inverted mornings left clear skies and lower avy danger

The week started with only 1.5 out of 4 work days scheduled. You know what that means? SKIING. Like we predicted on the last post, avalanche danger went down. Jackson was blue-bird and beautiful last week with some crazy inversions. It settled the snow layers. The week began with 5 Glory booters and a sunrise Snow King.

Inversions are wild - I left my house at -13 degrees but on the summit of Snow King with Tanner Wenzel it was 20 degrees at sunrise. Hard to layer correctly. Later that day with Charlie Pirc the top of the pass was probably 10 degrees but summit of Glory felt like 30.

Throw in several gym workouts plus several hours of shoveling snow and I was beat. Screw socializing - I went to bed at 9pm and passed out for 10.5 hours. Exactly what I want with a big send later in the week. Wreck my body, full rest day, wreck it again. 

Oh, the shoveling. Welcome to Jackson where you either have three homes or three jobs. A lot of us have side gigs to survive here financially. When work is slow I pick up what I can. Shoutout to the Sherman family for being the chillest, most fun family I’ve met on tour and for helping a local survive. 

Well rested and awake it was time to prepare for our ski descent of Mt. Moran. I had 14 hours before our 11pm departure. Here’s the strategy: drink 2 gallons of water for pre-hydration. Another half gallon on the drive to the trailhead. If you aren’t peeing clear at the start of a big day I worry for you.

Next eat a lot in the morning but stop by the afternoon. That way you can hit the toilet at home rather than in the mountains an hour in. Take off your snow bibs and all the layers on top in -5 degrees, squat over a snow hole as the wind rushes through your bare legs, wipe with a handful of soft snow, and you’ll be wishing you went earlier. They need to add a butt flap to those pants.

Lastly, bank sleep. You’re about to be awake and moving for 10-15 hours. This is where I failed. My 10.5 hours the night before left me restless and thus I couldn’t sleep all day. 11pm came and it was go time. 

Dear Mt. Moran,

You are the greatest peak in the Tetons. You’re the random, forgotten, large peak to the North. Most stare at the central cathedral of peaks between Nez Perce and Teewinot. We locals don’t forget to look right. Anyone that has climbed Mt. Moran enjoys your solitude, difficult access, unique summit, and endless granite and glaciers. Your beauty embodies the gorgeous paintings from the artist of your namesake, Thomas Moran. 

Your geology alone is enough to inspire awe - eroded sandstone with 200 million year old fossils leaves a flat, football-field-sized summit for us to play on. Half of Teton’s glaciers spill down your slopes. A plane crash on the North ridge still has 21 bodies buried in the wreckage and rock.

Plus you have an access issue that keeps all of us coming back. Reaching the base of the CMC climbing route in summer requires a 2-3 mile swim or paddle across Leigh Lake. A winter ski descent of Skillet glacier requires a 6 mile trek across frozen Jackson Lake both ways. At 12,600ft you aren’t the tallest Teton but, in every sense of the word, you are BIG. 

This Wednesday marks my 9th time standing on your summit marker. The momentary highs I’ve experienced rival most other peaks. I had otters swim under me as I crossed Leigh lake. I pet a wild pine marten from head to tail. I completed the Moranic triathlon on the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

Soloing the CMC face in the dark and standing on the summit at 4am I watched over 40 shooting stars. I was speechless. My 2.5-mile swim back occurred right at sunrise and the lake was pure glass. My body was bathed in orange glow and each stroke my hand would break a new pane of glass on the water.

Thanks Mt. Moran. You and nature have given me many gifts. 

Below is a collection of photos from past adventures on Mt. Moran

Tanner, Copeland, and I began our skin across the lake just after midnight. Less than an hour in we hit melted patches of ice that left our skins soaked and frozen. Take the time to scrape it all off or walk with the added 10lbs of snow on your feet. It didn’t matter. We would hit additional melted spots almost every mile. This was going to be a long day. The mountains have a way of throwing curve balls at you and no summit is ever the same. I love it. 

I’ll let the photos do most of the talking. Moran as always was incredible. We had hours of skinning in headlamps filled with yawns and thoughts of “how the hell are we going to do this?”. We had a sunrise that boosted all our energy levels and left us eager for the summit. We had laughter, gummy worms, crevasses, and most importantly a BOOTER!

Booters have a weird way of taking the drowsiness of 27 hours awake and making me feel like I just woke up from 20. We had a blue bird summit after the handle of the glacier had been socked in clouds for hours.

To finish we had 6000ft of vertical skiing followed by a 6 mile walk across the lake. Anyone that has tried it knows the zombie mode you get in. Best comparison I can give for the state of your body and mind on that walk is a pack-out. Pack-out an elk on your back 6+ miles on little sleep. It’s a beautiful mental state and test that I think everyone should experience at least once. It will make all the troubles of daily life seem miniscule.

On that final lake crossing we had wolf tracks inside our morning skin track. Copeland even saw 4 of the critters themselves pretty close. This place is WILD. 

We hit the car at 14.5 hours round trip. At this point I was running 33 hours awake. I don’t know if it was the cold PBRs we left in the car, the euphoria from the day, or the lack of oxygen in our brains, but the laughter and giggles of celebration were heightened. It was time to rip to town, smash Thai food and beers, and maybe at some point sleep again. 

Additional Thoughts

This week’s lack of work allowed for endless play and lots of downtime. I used to see downtime as a crutch. I am trying to switch that mindset. It’s important. We need downtime. We need rest days. We need time to gorge on food, read a book, or do nothing. 

Hell, we need time to “Netflix and Chill” right? I am trying to allow myself more of that. Also, I am trying to challenge myself in ways other than just sending it outdoors. This blog is an example. I suck at writing. So why not try it? Here’s the new mindset - each day I don’t need to train physical fitness. We are fit in other ways. I want to train mental and financial fitness too. A day is a success if I challenge either of those three.

One day I may spend entirely at work and help fund these next months off. At night I may read a book on investing. The next day I may drink hot chocolate with Baileys and read survival stories on who makes it and who perishes. The next I may ski.

Each day I try to get physically, mentally, or financially more fit. OR do absolutely nothing. OR get drunk with friends. That’s completely ok too.

We live in a town where depression rates are high. Many feel severe FOMO or just terrible about themselves if they aren’t having the adventures their instagram friends are posting about. Screw that. Try to see it as an inspiration to push yourself and try new things but not a reason to sulk over having a day inside.

my current library

Last thought - skiing. What the hell are you guys doing? Are you trying to make up for your jealousy of snowboarding by creating 2 mini-snowboards? Do 4 edges make you feel better than 2?

If you can’t tell I am a snowboarder. But the end of last season I realized I needed to learn to ski. There are inefficiencies that backcountry snowboarding will never overcome when compared to skiing. I get that. A scary fall solo-skiing Mt. Owen’s Koven last year left me more determined to learn this goofy forward-facing sport. I pushed it too hard too soon so I need more practice.

This week I left the snowboard at home and practiced skiing glory laps. It was fun. It was humbling. I’ll learn in time. But I was reminded that, while skiing may be more efficient, it will never rival the feeling of snowboarding.

You skiers are so locked in and aggressive towards the mountain to keep toes forward in the tight boots. We snowboarders lay back and float. Not to bring too much of my hippie California self out, but why be attacking the mountain when you can lay back, chill, and be one with the mountain?

Clearly this is my main struggle when skiing. I lean back too much from snowboarding habits and screw myself. But there’s a reason most people ski. If you don’t mind me flailing I’d like to get there too.

I’ll keep grabbing the two long skinny things over the one fatty a lot this season. But when the big powder dumps come I know what I am reaching for. Lay back and float with me on a powder day and you skiers might just be switching too.