North Ridge of the Grand, From the Top!
Weather was turning soggy in Colorado, so I pointed my house on wheels north toward Jackson, Wyoming. I’d already climbed a lot of routes in the Tetons, but never anything on the Grand itself. The Grand is the highest, and it has a ton of amazing objectives—the Full Exum, Petzoldt Ridge, Gold Face, Owen-Spalding, and nearby Jim’s Big Day.
After a couple of weeks, I’d managed to climb all of those at least once. So what next on the Grand? The North Ridge sounded remote and wild. Most people access it as part of a large Cathedral Traverse [link here]—but I’d heard a rumor: you could maybe reach the North Ridge from the top. That got my wheels turning.
A Different Way In: Rappel Access
I messaged five friends saying I was based at the Lower Saddle with everything needed—except them! 😊 They would just need to bring a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and personal climbing gear (harness, helmet, shoes, belay device). Hours later a friend showed up ready for the challenge the next day! It was a warm night, so she decided to come light and fast with no sleeping bag or sleeping pad. I laid out anything soft I had for her in my tent, the rope and pack. What a trooper. I almost felt guilty as I comfortably slept under the stars with my sleeping pad and sleeping bag.
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| Studying, for the test the next day 😊 | Tent: no pad, no bag since my friend traveled light using my extra gear | Sunrise en route |
We left early from the Lower Saddle—maybe around 4 a.m.—to give ourselves plenty of time to relax and route-find. We went partway up Owen-Spalding, then traversed left across a ledge system with patches of ice and steep sections. Each decision—go left? step down?—was exciting. The terrain was technical and exposed, but not overwhelming. We smiled every time we solved the next piece of the puzzle and worked together.
Eventually, one rappel put us on a massive ledge by the Italian Cracks—the end of the North Ridge 5.7 route we’d eventually climb back out of. Yippee! Huge terrain, remote feeling, just the two of us. We had done it. Now we could start the route—by rappelling it first, then climbing back out to the top of the Grand. 😊
Descending across the Second Ledge to the Top of the North Ridge
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Into the Route: Rappel Anchors and Wildness
We began rappelling the route, figuring out features on the fly. There was a lot of guesswork—left? right? At the top, we left a fixed anchor we’d return to later, and we carried extra material just for that purpose. Big terrain necessitates extra planning, and it eats up time with decisions and course corrections. (Never put yourself in a position you can’t back out of safely by reversing.)
We also had to be careful not to dislodge loose rock or drag the weighted rappel rope over sharp edges. That took some management, since either of those could turn deadly. Too aid in route finding, while my friend hiked to high camp the day before, I searched for trip reports on the North Ridge. I didn’t find many, but Steph Abegg’s blog and Rolando’s blog—both with photos—were helpful for piecing together aspects of the route.
Locating existing anchors lower down was a huge confidence boost—we were definitely on route. After four rappels, we decided not to descend all the way to the Grandstand since the next section involved reversing a traverse and dropping into a loose gully. We were happy with where we were and swapped leads to climb back out.
Approach to North Ridge
Climbing the North Ridge
Climbing the Ridge, Topping Out
Back at the top of the fifth pitch—where we’d started our rappel—we were done with the 5.7 climbing but still had tons of 4th class to 5.6 terrain ahead. We worked our way up the ridge, constantly checking in with each other: rope or no rope? Okay to keep going?
We hadn’t seen anyone all day—and then suddenly, we topped out and there was a full-on summit party happening. People. Music. A reminder that the Grand is a real crossroads for all kinds of climbers—guided parties, soloists doing the Picnic, and people like us—figuring it out one pitch at a time.
It was honestly a blast to go from total solitude and exploratory movement to celebration at the top. We descended the popular Owen-Spalding route happy, knowing we’d done something creative and meaningful. I felt lucky to have stood on that ridge—and even luckier to have it serve as a test run for what came next.
Related: Coming soon (The Cathedral Traverse – 24 Hours, Light and Not So Fast)
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| Rappeling into the unknown | Looking down at the snowy Grandstand, where the North Ridge begins | Celebrating the summit |