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Thursday, 08 Mar 07
Julia Niles (left) and Lisa VanSciver taking a break on the Grand.
Lisa's had quite a week. She brought it in with a few beers one Friday night: "carbo-loading" for the big race. She skipped checking out the course that day- no worries- it was just a qualifying run . . . in which she placed second making it to the next round. The next night: more carbo loading. Lots of friends came into town – including me – and in an effort to wade through the fuzzy haze of PBRs, we encouraged her to go into the garage and wax her skis. It would be so satisfying to have our "local." knees in the mud, unsponsored, real as hell chica kick some butt in Jackson Hole's Dick's Ditch banked slalom. And sure enough, staying consistent as always, she came in second. Radical. So as not to pretend like anything changed, we brought in the night with a bottle of Makers while in the hot tub. It got wet. Luckily there was a drier, and we all made it back into the right clothes.
Then Wednesday rolls around. Lisa, thinking nothing of the head cold that causes fits of coughing and an ugly colored sputem, wakes me up at 3 a.m. to a tune – I can't remember what it was right now – but it was loud and 80s, the perfect way to begin our slog to the top of the 13,770 Grand Teton. Setting a break neck pace out of the gate, Lisa warmed up as I grappled with the intestinal funk caused by quinoa and granola. Hippie food can suck especially at 4 a.m. She made a point of not getting behind me as we weaved our way into daytime. The killer boot pack from the meadows to 11,200 feet rocked our world- Lisa carried her double Fs (Igneous) all the way thinking that the time spent attaching them to her back was futile.
Our kind of high heels
After stashing our skins, we headed up the Teepee Col towards the Stettner Couloir where the climbing begins. The steps were deep and tiring but not for Wonderwoman (I always liked "wonder" better than "super" woman) Lisa. Oh dear, if she ever reads this, is she gonna kill me. Anyways, after I got her doing a Zoro-like ice tool flipping move on film, we got down to business. A few hundred feet of simul-climbing over mixed and ice bulges later, we ditched the ropes and started up the Ford Couloir. "This should be good to ski," I mentioned as we made our way through high winds to the top. The snow conditions unfortunately degraded until we got to the last 500 feet where they truly sucked. We switched trail breaking every 20 steps because it was so exhausting. I ate some more chocolate covered graham crackers (my new favorite food) at the summit, took some videos, and clicked in.
At this point, Lisa, on film, did a hop turn off the summit in firm crust conditions. The turns improved as we made our way down the Ford Couloir. We rappelled down the Chevy and most of the Stettner due to thin snow and steep ice, then clicked in at the bottom of the Stettner. The best snow of the day was skiing down the shaded Teepee Glacier. The rest of the way combined survival skiing with hard snow, unremarkable at best.
But, in full Lisa and Julia fashion, we topped the night off with a cosmo and a whiskey – on the rocks.
I had a wonderful night sleep. Lisa, unrelenting, got up at 4 a.m. to clean the ceiling of the Brew Pub. Hazard pay is tempting, I guess. But at least when she got back at 10 a.m., we found our rewards in flaxseed pancakes and beer.
Girls will have fun . . .
Comment on this Post Our adventure skiing the Grand TetonJulia Niles (left) and Lisa VanSciver taking a break on the Grand.
Lisa's had quite a week. She brought it in with a few beers one Friday night: "carbo-loading" for the big race. She skipped checking out the course that day- no worries- it was just a qualifying run . . . in which she placed second making it to the next round. The next night: more carbo loading. Lots of friends came into town – including me – and in an effort to wade through the fuzzy haze of PBRs, we encouraged her to go into the garage and wax her skis. It would be so satisfying to have our "local." knees in the mud, unsponsored, real as hell chica kick some butt in Jackson Hole's Dick's Ditch banked slalom. And sure enough, staying consistent as always, she came in second. Radical. So as not to pretend like anything changed, we brought in the night with a bottle of Makers while in the hot tub. It got wet. Luckily there was a drier, and we all made it back into the right clothes.
Then Wednesday rolls around. Lisa, thinking nothing of the head cold that causes fits of coughing and an ugly colored sputem, wakes me up at 3 a.m. to a tune – I can't remember what it was right now – but it was loud and 80s, the perfect way to begin our slog to the top of the 13,770 Grand Teton. Setting a break neck pace out of the gate, Lisa warmed up as I grappled with the intestinal funk caused by quinoa and granola. Hippie food can suck especially at 4 a.m. She made a point of not getting behind me as we weaved our way into daytime. The killer boot pack from the meadows to 11,200 feet rocked our world- Lisa carried her double Fs (Igneous) all the way thinking that the time spent attaching them to her back was futile.
Our kind of high heels
After stashing our skins, we headed up the Teepee Col towards the Stettner Couloir where the climbing begins. The steps were deep and tiring but not for Wonderwoman (I always liked "wonder" better than "super" woman) Lisa. Oh dear, if she ever reads this, is she gonna kill me. Anyways, after I got her doing a Zoro-like ice tool flipping move on film, we got down to business. A few hundred feet of simul-climbing over mixed and ice bulges later, we ditched the ropes and started up the Ford Couloir. "This should be good to ski," I mentioned as we made our way through high winds to the top. The snow conditions unfortunately degraded until we got to the last 500 feet where they truly sucked. We switched trail breaking every 20 steps because it was so exhausting. I ate some more chocolate covered graham crackers (my new favorite food) at the summit, took some videos, and clicked in.
At this point, Lisa, on film, did a hop turn off the summit in firm crust conditions. The turns improved as we made our way down the Ford Couloir. We rappelled down the Chevy and most of the Stettner due to thin snow and steep ice, then clicked in at the bottom of the Stettner. The best snow of the day was skiing down the shaded Teepee Glacier. The rest of the way combined survival skiing with hard snow, unremarkable at best.
But, in full Lisa and Julia fashion, we topped the night off with a cosmo and a whiskey – on the rocks.
I had a wonderful night sleep. Lisa, unrelenting, got up at 4 a.m. to clean the ceiling of the Brew Pub. Hazard pay is tempting, I guess. But at least when she got back at 10 a.m., we found our rewards in flaxseed pancakes and beer.
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