Grand Teton via the Upper Exum Ridge

Overview

The step across Wall Street is the moment: a narrowing granite ledge that simply runs out, leaving one committing move above a thousand metres of air before the Upper Exum Ridge takes you, pitch after golden pitch, to the 4,199 m summit of the Grand. It is arguably the finest moderate alpine rock climb in North America, first soloed by Glenn Exum in 1931 in borrowed football boots. Most parties take four days with Exum Mountain Guides or Jackson Hole Mountain Guides: two days of climbing school in Garnet Canyon, a night at the Lower Saddle hut camp at 3,536 m, then a pre-dawn start for the ridge and an abseil descent of the Owen-Spalding. The catch is the Teton thunderstorm machine — afternoon lightning arrives on schedule in July and August, so summit parties move fast and early. Fly or drive to Jackson, Wyoming; the trailhead at Lupine Meadows is twenty minutes away. Budget about £1,500 for the guided four-day programme, camping included. You need scrambling confidence and a calm head for exposure, not an elite CV — the guides supply the rest.

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Prefilled for 1 July 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.