Best of
getting out
I IMAGINE EAGLES feeling right at home on the snowy, exiguous, exposed perch where seven ski mountaineers and I presently stand. Just below the craggy, granite summit of Spalding Peak, high above Garnet Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, it’s not particularly relaxing for us humans. Behind us, to the south, the rock, too vertical to hold any snow, falls away into an abyss that ends several thousand feet below in the North Fork of Avalanche Canyon. Below us, where we ascended, the slope is icy and steep, varying between thirty-five and fifty degrees in pitch. More than one thousand feet down, boulders grow from the snow like snaggletoothed mushrooms. Clustered together in a space about the size of a minivan, we must each remove our skis from our backpacks (we climbed up kicking steps in the firm snow), place them onto the slope, and step into our bindings. Someone also has to go to the bathroom. Before any of us do anything, however, we must secure ourselves. If one of us were to lose our footing and fall, it’s likely we’d slide 1,500-some feet until a boulder stopped us. And that wouldn’t be good. We’re here at Exum Mountain Guides’ first Live to Ski camp to learn skills that will make us safe and successful ski
JH
Live to Ski Looking to get into ski mountaineering? Exum has a new camp for you. BY DINA MISHEV PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID STUBBS Exum Mountain Guides’ Live to Ski camp aims to teach accomplished backcountry skiers ski mountaineering skills so they might ski a committing line like the East Face of Buck Mountain, pictured above. WINTER 2014 JACKSON HOLE MAGAZINE
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