william1957's Logbook (4 ascents)

In the mid 70s I climbed this route a lot of times It is one of the few Big routes that are easy to get to in the Tetons. We use to call it Dunce Ridge it was so easy.

When I desperate to find a partner to climb with I would drag any fool up this route. One time I took a guy who said that he own a guide service for back packing and had considerable climbing experience. He almost got Killed. He had left so much gear behind in the rock that by the time I got to the last pitch I got piss off that l lead it with out any protection. By the time I dragged him up the last pitch he was so dizzy the he almost fell off the summit ridge.
Another time I took a guy named randy up it. Randy said that he had been top roping once and knew how to belay- good enough for me. Randy did fantastic on the climb. So for the last pitch I went off route to the left and finish a route the was rated at 5.9. It took a little pulling but he did it in good style I thought. Not bad for your first climb. I thought that these last two pitches were way better than guides wall.

In less than a week after we did this climb Randy inherited a million dollars bought a new 650 Yamaha and got run over dead in front of Murcells pottery shop on the village road.

I got his girl friend after he was dead and she really complained about all the “money she loss’’ She dumped me for a rough neck who made an astounding eight dollars and hour.

When I climbed this route 33 years ago I remember a whole bunch of people backed up on the crux pitch. I also remember a climber in another in another party that was at least 60 years old. I was very impatient and he seemed to be very nervous. In 1991 the last time that I live in Jackson my landlord boss a surgeon at the hospital in Jackson fell off the crux all the way down to the belay spot and lived. I got to meet the surgon(he was old) because I had done a little work for him. Man was he fuck up. My land lord was really bummed out because she was never was going to get a job again that payed as much as she made working for the surgon

In 1977 when I climbed it I thought that the NE Couloir was boring. So I stole the summit register and started to descend into avalanche canyon. The ridge was right next to the SE snow Couloir . The SE snow coulior is a good climb I had done a year earlier. When I climbed the SE snow Couloir. There was no chock stone on the crux because there was no chock stone there at the time. On the day that I stole the summit register off the summit I also pushed a big rock of the ridge to the SE snow couloir the rock slid down and got stuck and became the new the crux. After I pushed the rock into the gully I skated over some really cool icey Snow shoots and then climbed up mater naught point. And relocated the summit register on top. Matter naught point has a really good route on it starting at the lake. One of the upper pitches has a full pitch of quarts crystals that is unprotect. I had done some of the route in 76 with a rope and I did the Crystal pitch the day I put the south Teton register on Matter naught point. Very cool spot Matter naught. The south Teton summit is about as fun as jenny lake !!

I did a solo climb of this route about 15 years a go. I had just walk over 100 miles with an ice axe that i had rented in jackson. It was late august late in the after noon. I droped my pack at the bottom. wore only a tee shirt. I was able to kick steps in the snow The whole length of the route. It was the last time that I ever went climbing. I have no idea how to rate it