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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Mountain Climbing Preparation

What's on your leap list?  What do you want to do before you finish college, get married, have kids, or do some other life altering event? 

My leap list contains climbing the Grand Teton in Jackson, Wyoming!  I have wanted to do this for a few years.  I lived in Jackson Hole during the summer of 2009.  It's the most beautiful destination I have ever been to in America.  I even wanted to live there after finishing college!  I am now so excited to be able to go back in 3 months and Climb the Grand with my husband, brother, father and his girlfriend. 

It's exactly 3 months to the day that I make my dream of climbing the Grand Teton a reality!


This is a great post on what I will be doing with Exum Mountain Guides in preparation while in Wyoming, but I need to amp up my workouts to gear some of my endurance and strength training for this climb while I am here at home.

Here's a little pic of me while in Wyoming!

This is another great blog about 2 adventurous outdoor loving, casual hiking, non-technical, previously non-professionally trained people that are provided with the opportunity by Exum, Marmot and Mountain Athlete to do some extreme preparation to climb the Teton.  I like their video blogs!  I think I could give some of these workouts a try (free ones from Mountain Athlete here), but I will follow the advice of the disclaimer at the top of the posts: 

"DISCLAIMER: You don't actually have to train like this to climb the Grand. This is just what some hardcore athletes do to stay in shape.
Plus, some people just like to suffer."

Here's another pic I took this past year on a trip to Salmon, Idaho and then to Jackson Hole, Wyoming (that's the Teton Mountains and the BIG ONE is the Grand!)

I will keep ya'll posted if I find any great workouts you should try too!

A pic from my favorite place in Moose, WY (right outside Jackson Hole).  This was taken on the deck at Dornans!
When I originally uploaded this picture to FB, it was titled "Now that's a nice rock!"  Am I talking about the ring (a little blurry) or the mountain!?  I THINK BOTH!!!!!

Some Facts about the Grand and Jackson Wyoming
  • Elevation of Jackson is 6,451 ft above sea level.  (Evansville, IN = maybe 1,000)
  • The Teton Climb we are doing is 2 days. 
  • Day 1 is 6 miles to the Lower Saddle which sits 5,000 feet higher than Jackson...so we are at about 11,620 feet above sea level.
  • Day 2 is our ascent to the top which rests around 13,770 feet above sea level.
  • Day 2 climb begins at around 3 am!  Holy Moly!  That's 2 hours earlier than I normally wake up!
  • At the top we will be able to see 3 states:  Wyoming, Idaho & Montana.  I believe those are three of my favorite states (besides TN - east TN in particular - and FL)...oh did I leave out Indiana...my current state...hmm oops, guess I just did that!
  • After reaching the top, we will descend by repelling and down climbing our way back to the Lower Saddle, fuel up with some grub, grab our gear, and hike back down the mountain.
  • I believe I will sleep well that night :)
I can hardly wait to take this trip of my dreams!  I can't wait to share this adventure with Neal, Dad, Greg & Kim!

So what's on your leap list?




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