Thor Peak
“Mystery surrounds this beautiful 12,000 ft mountain”. Tom Turiano was right. My friend Kyle from Bozeman has been in Jackson for the last week or so and we have been getting it pretty good. Kyle and I had a pretty good run a few years ago when I cruised up to Montana, and we went to corn fest and skied a bowl high up near Pilot and Index Peaks, then to the Whitetail Couloir in the Beartooths, then to the Crazy Couloir in the Crazy Mountains, then on to the North Face of Gannet Peak. Quite the run of big descents, needless to say I knew Kyle was up for anything.
Thor peak this time of year requires considerable effort just to get to the base. It starts at Taggart Lake with a 7 mile bike ride with 60 lb backpacks and ski boots.
Kyle starts the journey to Thor Peak
Ready to ride
The bike is pretty flat to String Lake where we then transitioned to skinning for 5 miles or so.
Crossing the bridge over String Lake
We skinned through the woods for a bit, then popped out on the south shore of Leigh Lake.
Leigh Lake with Mt Moran in the background
Leigh Canyon bound
Kyle approaches our watering hole
We continued up Leigh Canyon for about a mile and found a great meadow to call home for the next 2 nights.
Downhill skinning is sometimes difficult
Kyle enjoys some flat skinning
Home sweet home
Our plan was to ski the “standard route” which is probably the easiest way to the summit. It involves ascending up Leigh Canyon for another 2 miles or so, then up the 2800 vertical ft SW Couloir, then up the 1200 vertical West Gully to the summit. Sounds easy enough. We got a good nights rest and left for the summit at about 7 a.m. Not the earliest start, but we were skiing West, then South West which holds up a little longer than east facing slopes.
2800 vertical SW Couloir and Thor Peak to the right
Great views in the morning
Kyle ascends then SW Couloir
We made our way up the couloir and the views just got better and better.
Grand Teton
Higher in the SW Couloir
Kyle with some vertical beneath him
Kyle nears the top of the SW Couloir
We arrived to the col at the top of the SW Couloir and then started up the big West Gully to the summit.
Kyle starts up the West Gully
The snow was powder in the West Gully, although it did have a few rocks to avoid in the middle, probably exposed from a slide.
Kyle working for it
Climbing the SW Couloir
We arrived at the summit and were greeted with calm conditions and great views.
Mt Morans SW Couloir left, and Sandinista Couloir right
Summit
Looking south from the summit of Thor Peak
Well time to ski, that’s what we came here for. We made turns right off the summit.
Kyle drops in off the summit of Thor Peak
Skiing off Thor Peak Summit
Kyle commits to the West Gully Thor Peak
Soft snow in the West Gully
Kyle in the West Gully
Working my way through the rocks in the West Gully
Kyle in the lower reaches of the West Gully
Powder below the West Gully
Kyle admires our turns down Thor Peak
We were now set to ski the SW Couloir down to the canyon bottom. It was butter smooth corn.
First turn in the SW Couloir
Kyle skis some smooth corn in the SW Couloir
We worked our way down to the part we were dreading the most. There was a huge wet slide that came down the couloir and choked the lower part with a sea of avalanche debris, not the best skiing.
Kyle carving some corn down the SW Couloir
Kyle's intimidating stare is no match for the sea of debris
What a great descent, it is really hard to get these big Teton peaks in good conditions, we skied powder and corn, pretty lucky. We arrived back at camp pretty tired from a 9 hr day, and saw that our kitchen area was now in the middle if Leigh Creek. We had walked on snow to it the day before, and the warm temps had washed away our bridge. Kyle took one for the team.
Kyle recovering our food and kitchen supplies
We sipped on some Wild Turkey and went to bed. The next morning we had to retrace our long approach back to Taggart Lake. We were greeted with a solid headwind the whole way back. Like we hadn’t got enough exercise already.
Just resting whenever I can
Hell yah Calla! Well done.
Looks like this storm’s gonna carry our season a little longer eh? 40 inches new up in the Swans and more on the way!
Thanks Ryan, sure sounds like alot of people have been getting the late April cold smoke. Swan Mountains, they look great, get some skiing in before the sun hits. You should ski with Kyle he is a Bridger Bowl Legend.
Stumbled across your site from a TGR post and lo and behold it’s my good buddy KY the Baker shredding it up with you! He is a legend and one of my faves to make turns with up here in the Bridgers. Nice pics and great adventure…maybe I can get Kyle into mountain biking this summer! Lots of snow up here the past week; 30 to 40 inches of fresh on May 1st….not a bad way to start the month! Cheers.
15:00 eastern. colors fly- providence. cool photos! ive been there. saw nice technique in “1st turns in SW couloir” pic. nice work. apparently the tetons were denied the 69 in 96 alta got last week? tons of feds camped out in providence. no wonder oil destroys the gulf and terrorists crowd the streets of N.Y.. feds spend all their time bullying little rhody. cannabis indica ignitus t-minus 2.25 hrs. and counting. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 (5/10) over
Nuge, good to hear your back, Thor Peak was sick, then we had a week of winter pow skiing here, not Alta numbers but it was cold and dry every day.
11:43 eastern. colors fly- Providence. Thanx admin.. good 2 b back. glad to hear you got brushed by that storm. weisbard and devo’s telephone conversations indicated being punch drunk on powder. probably sleeping in a tent 2nite in the yard was supposed to be purchasing. not anticpating teton quality stars but will feel the ground a little, i hope. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 over
p.s. in relation to alpha, beta, gamma (you know what i mean) harper exclaimed “getting down from eddie’s isn’t a no-brainer”
10:17 eastern. hope and anchor fly- Providence. thor peak photos rule! surprised to see the ski/mountaineer legend lying on the pavement in “Just resting whenever I can” photo. if you were resting on the pavement concluding Thor peak tour the “mystery surrounds(ing)” might be a climber’s ghost? “Skiing off Thor peak summit” is the best photo. captures that wonderful skiing off a huge summit feeling. binging ecto-sesstually booming appendixward. checkpoint alpha, beta gamma 10:00 over
2:56 eastern. hope and anchor, colors fly- Providence. new frame pack admin.? goes without saying the flourescent green at boots are new to me but was not aware you abondoned the mountain hardwear framepack? so mt. thor is in the northern bridgers? oh, and does the “Grand Teton” pic include Mt. Owen or Teewinot? further more the k.g.b. in my brain works. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 over
12:40 eastern. colors fly- Providence. when you say “Kyle with some vert. beneath him” admin., just how much vert do you mean? based on what i see it looks like an absurdly large amount. not sure i couldve completed that tour. good luck with surgery admin. hope it goes well. jersey for 3 weeks eh? rhode island- only a few hours car ride away- be there. checkpoint alpha, beta gamma 10:00 over.
Owen is the pointy peak to the left, Teewinot is out of view to the left of Owen.
A pretty good amount, probably 2800 to the floor of Leigh Canyon. The tour was 3 “moderate” days in a row, I use that term loosly. I will try to make it up there, we’ll see how the recovery goes.
2:26 eastern. colors fly- Providence. 2800 to leigh canyon floor? looks more like 28,000 but ill take your word for it. thanx for the response. thor peak is the ideal vantage point to survey t.n.p. based on these pictures. what mountains are thos ein the background of “kyle in the west gully” photo? also, what are those 2 big mountians in the background of “first turn in the sw couloir” photo? checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 (5/17) over
13:35 eastern. colors fly- Providence. good luck in surgery admin. checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 over
15:42 eastern. colors fly- Providence. Good luck with recovery admin.. “the ringer cannot look empty” checkpoint alpha, beta, gamma 10:00 over
10:25 eastern. Hope and anchor fly- Providence. take this opportunity to remember Jason Harper after vanishing 5 years ago this month. Jason was a dedicated American who explored fearlessly. Jason was a friend, relentlessly generous. Jason was a believer, saw beauty in life. Jason was a builder, master of the intricate and strong. Jason was a skieur capable of racing time. Jason was the energy everyone wishes they possessed. checkpoint alpha, beta gamma 10:00 over
11:21 eastern. hope and anchor fly- Providence. Rand Paul for president! checkpoint alpha, beta gamma next week over
11:10 eastern. hope and anchor fly- Providence. to quote “supertramp” from into the wild “where are all the animals now? im f’in hungry!” hope rehab goes good admin.. please come visit? checkpoint alpha, beta gamma 10:00 over
Yes RIP Harper, it was like yesterday I can remember him leaving at midnight in Las Lenas for a tour around Adrenalina, or somewhere high and far. The tradition carries on.