(gentle music) - We're here at the mouth of the Clarks Fork Canyon just in the Northern edge of Wyoming.

We've been spending the last couple years on this wall over here and putting up some wonderful routes.

So we're on our third route here and the longest, most continuous route.

It's October and the weather is a little bit iffy, but this is probably the last chance we're gonna get to get up on this wall.

So we're gonna give it a go, see how high we can get, maybe get to the summit.

(gentle guitar music) - So we're in Park County, north of Cody about 25 miles, along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone.

And Clarks Fork Canyon is an interesting spot geologically, because it's where the Yellowstone Plateau lifted up, so the limestone that was on top of the plateau before it lifted has been tilted and it's left these big, beautiful slabs of rock that are about 2,000 feet long.

- It's a long route.

I mean, we're pushing 2,000-plus feet of continuous climbing, which is awesome.

The exposure's fantastic, the scenery's fantastic.

It's a beautiful space.

It's remote, and yet right off the highway, which is awesome.

Great for us 50-year-olds.

It's been dumping rain for a couple of days, but it's breaking up today.

I think tomorrow's gonna be good but by Monday, Tuesday, we're looking at snow.

I mean, winter is moving in fast here in Northern Wyoming so we need to get this done, we need to get on it and get it done fast.

- We do what is called a team free ascent and that just means one person climbs every individual section, and then the rest of us, we get there by whatever means we need to use.

We're hauling lots of gear and heavy backpacks so we'll ascend the rope that that first person has put up for us, just to make our progress go much quicker because, it's a lot of work.

- The plan is we're gonna climb roughly two thirds of the route today, sleep in a cave that's high on the mountain and then, hopefully with weather coming through the way we want it to, we'll continue on to the summit tomorrow.

(mellow music) - [Climber] Got it?

(Sam whoops) - We just finished the hardest pitch.

This pitch is about a 900, maybe 1,000 feet up.

And we know that unless we run into something we're really not expecting up real high (Sam shouts) we've probably got it so that we have climbed this the way we want it done.

(metal clinking) (climbers chattering) - It's time to switch to whiskey, we've been climbing rocks all day.

Well, we are in our small cave camp.

We climbed 13 pitches to get here.

(upbeat rock music) So, Mike taught me how to climb in 1989, and Sam and I have been climbing together since the early 90s.

And, a few years ago, honestly, I had really gotten out of the sport with having a child.

And Sam suggested that we, once a year, just get together and go do something.

In the first year we went and did something in the north of Dubois.

And then, we had a four-year project in the Wind River Range.

And after we got that done, we were just looking for something else and had a good friend of ours, Bobby Model, suggest that we come up and explore beautiful limestone walls that we had driven by for years.

We finally got on it last year and man, it's been fun.

Well, this will be our fourth route that we've established.

We're not having to really look around for lines, they're pretty natural features.

They lend themselves to saying, hey, look, climb me here.

And I think another thing is they're just gonna be some of the longer routes that are available, you know, really in the country.

- You have a lot of walls in the Alps that are like this.

And limestone in the United States is usually a fractured, broken up rock.

And it's also usually pretty short.

Now, we've got a lot of it in Wyoming, but mostly it's in small segments.

And by small, I mean, you know, 80, 90, 100 feet high.

This, because of the geology of the Yellowstone Plateau tilting up the very bedrock, has made for 2,000-foot slabs of it, which is the kind of thing you find in the Alps.

But this is one of the only places in North America you've got it.

- [Shep] The features are amazing, it's bolted.

It's set up for people to come out and just have a great day.

Some of the routes you can climb with a handful of gear and a 70-meter rope.

And, it's not a big commitment issue because at any point when you decide that you're done for the day, you just can repel back down.

We've set it up that way.

- It's been a lot of effort, weeks and weeks of effort.

This is sort of, the culmination of that effort.

I mean, we're now finally putting it together and putting it in one push, from here bottom to the top.

(intense rock music) Well, here we are on the summit of Buffalo Horn Spire.

Just climbed a 21-pitch free route that we named M11, in honor of our good friend, Bobby Model.

Good day, all the way around.

- Great day.

- It's about 2:00 in the afternoon, 2:30, and time to start heading down.

- It's kind of weird.

My wife doesn't really understand it.

- All right, 2,100 feet to go down.

We enjoy the hard work, we enjoy the climbing, but it's the comradery, I think, that really is why we're here.

(ululating piano music) - Yeah, so Paul Petzoldt is the one who started the first climbing concession in the park.

He started guiding officially under the Petzoldt School of American Mountaineering in 1930.

That was also the summer he met Glenn Exum who was here playing saxophone for the Jenny Lake dance hall.

And he took Glenn climbing, I think once or twice that summer and took him up the Grand and said, "I'm gonna make a guide out of you."

And then of course you know the story where he said, "Oh, go see if you can find a route that way."

And Glenn did and that's how the Exum Ridge got its name.

(adventurous Western music) - Yeah, so when Glenn did the Upper Exum Ridge, he on-sited it; in other words, he'd never been on it before.

And because he didn't have a partner, he didn't have a rope, falling was not an option.

And so it was totally unknown terrain until he reached the summit.

One part of it that demonstrates how little he knew about it was, as you go up the Wall Street, it's like this ramp that starts to narrow down to nothing.

He walked out until it was almost nothing and then he leaped across.

- Glenn did, and Paul both, had gone and done some climbing in Europe and they were not impressed with how guiding was done in Europe where clients were just dragged up the mountain like a sack of potatoes and they were determined to come back and do something different here in America that suited the American spirit, the independent American spirit, where people were confident and could do things for themselves.

They wanted to teach people how to be mountaineers and fully participate in the process.

- So as they came back from Europe, they wanted to start more of school of mountaineering, which is the name that it carried.

And so they wanted to teach the people that were climbing the Grand how to climb the Grand Teton, learn how to belay, tie knots, climb, be part of the rope team.

So instead of just being shown the way on how to go up there, you learn a set of skills and then you immediately put them into action to create a different type of culture for guiding and climbing the Grand.

(uplifting music) - [Tom] So he guided from 1931 until the early 1960s.

The end goal was to create a group of folks that knew what they were doing, that you're teaching 'em in a structured manner.

- [Brenton] The school system that Glenn built still works today as it did back then.

(uplifting music) (bright anticipatory music) (bright anticipatory music) - So we're almost ready to go.

Let's just do a quick double check.

We have boots and crampons?

Ice axes?

Harness, helmet?

I'm Jessica Baker, I'm a lead guide for Exum so I help train all our new guides and just provide some leadership for our guide staff.

I'm taking up Tait and Luke, who are two locals, and guests with me that are coming up the Grand.

- I'm Tait Bjornsen; I'm 21 years old.

Right now, I go to school at Montana State University up in Bozeman.

But yeah, I grew up in Jackson and I've been playing around in the park my whole life, also.

So it's a very nice playground that we have here, for sure.

- So my name is Luke Landino.

I'm 19 years old.

I'm from Jackson.

I finished high school and currently on a gap year doing some welding and construction in town.

I also try and get up into the mountains every once in a while, but I've never gotten up on the Grand so it should be a good time.

I'm excited to see how it goes.

We've got beautiful weather, got a great crew and yeah, it's gonna be fun.

(bright uplifting music) - We went through the ready part going up the dusty hot switchbacks and now we're up here lounging in the meadows by a nice little creek, getting a refill of water before we head up to the real steep stuff.

Gonna walk up some of these boulder fields up here and then get up onto the lower saddle which is where we'll be camping tonight.

(bright uplifting music) - [Jessica] Tait and Luke wanted to climb the Grand Teton so we took them out for a day of training and made sure they had the right skills that they needed to tie in, to belay, to handle anything we may find on the ground.

- [Tait] It's been pretty snow free up to this point, but moving forward we're probably gonna be throwing some boots on and some crampons on, just to make sure that we're able to grip into the snow a little bit better.

When you get up to the lower saddle.

it's gorgeous up there and it's nice to have a little reset in between days so it'll be nice to get up there and soak it all in.

(ululating piano music) (dramatic music) Definitely slept a little bit, took me a while, but I then I was out pretty hard.

When I woke up this morning, I was like, "How is it three o'clock in the morning?"

But, here we are, getting all geared up.

- [Luke] We're about to get going here.

Feeling pretty good, you know?

Wee bit early but it still looks clear for the time being.

Yeah, gonna go do some climbing.

Stake is high.

(tense music) (tense music) (ice crunching) - Woo hoo!

- Look at that.

- [Jessica] Not half bad.

- [Luke] Not half bad at all.

- [Brenton] People look at the Grand Teton and they don't think they can climb it, but yes, you can hire a guide and climb the Grand Teton.

For anybody that shows up in Jackson Hole that's reasonably fit and active, you don't even have to know how to tie a knot when you get here 'cause of the way Glenn put the schools together and we still carry that same progression today.

- [Tom] I think it's very empowering for a lot of these people.

Like, it can change their lives.

A lot of what you're doing in everyday life, like, you have this job and you're pretty good at it, you've got it wired and it's kind of like doing the same thing, over and over again.

You know, there's nothing mundane about a novice climbing the Grand Teton.

- We're on the Exum Ridge and we're just about halfway, actually, at this point.

We just came up the Double Cracks which is pretty exciting.

Like, crack chimney climbing, nice and steep, a little exposed, and now we're at the base of the famous Friction Pitch.

(pensive music) Well it's notoriously difficult, it's rated five-five but to be honest, it's quite challenging.

You have to have just the right moves to make it five-five, or it quickly becomes feeling, feels a lot harder than that.

(indistinct) belay!

We're moving in and out of like some snow and ice, and boots are a little wet, and it's just like a little bit harder this morning.

Yeah, there guests are doing great.

We're right on time, moving well.

I think we are on course to make it to the summit.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music) Okay, you guys... We're doing it now.

- Oh yeah!

- Whoo!

- [Jessica] Summit!

Yeah, baby.

Stand on up there.

- Right there.

- [Jessica] Whoo!

Yeah!

Awesome, you guys.

- Hell yeah.

- We just got to the top of the Grand Teton and it's just before 11.

Couldn't ask for a more beautiful day.

Blue skies, sun is shining can see the lakes down here, which is awesome.

- Yeah, so this is my first time up The Grand.

I had always heard that it was quite the scramble to get up here but I think these early season conditions really changed it up quite a bit for us.

We were wearing crampons, using ice axes, and didn't really expect to be doing a ton of that.

That made it very interesting.

It was a really great experience.

At least so far; we've only made it to the top, we still have to go back down.

I would definitely do it again and would recommend that anyone who wants to try should give it a go.

- We climbed it in pretty challenging like early season conditions, alpine conditions, and they did really, really well.

They were totally up to the challenge, and they were successful, and it was great to see that.

That's the power of what we do at Exum, is that we provide these inspirational life-changing experiences.

People have to work really hard to get to the top of the Grand Teton.

There's no shortcut around that.

We keep people safe, we give them all sorts of information we help them move along.

Ooh, okay, high five!

Right on.

(palms slap) - Yeah!

- Yeah!

- We did it!

But ultimately, they get themselves up there on their own.

They have to.

When they reach the summit, people are really moved by the experience and that is really... That's what Exum provides.

My name is Bennett.

I'm from Rock Springs, Wyoming.

And I wish everyone could climb one mountain.

I don't care which one.

I just want everyone to actually climb a mountain.

What made you build this little cage?

Is that like all zoo or what is that?

Kindof just like a tartanium A what?

A tartanium.

You know, how you have a certain animal, and you make its habitat?

I did not know that.

My name is Bennett and I'm almost seven years old.

I'm a soccer player, librarian, scientist, explorer and mountain climber.

You got a little scratch on your eye.

What happened?

I bonked into a branch.

Is it okay?

Yep.

Push on.

Brave girl.

Yep.

Let's do it.

Oh, and this one's pretty cool.

It's a dinosaur bone.

Is it cold?

Yeah, it's really cold.

My climbing partners are my Grandpa Gary, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mark.

One day I will climb the Grand Tetons with them.

And if I climb the Tetons then I'll try Mount Everest.

I always bring my map backpack and my Swiss Army knife.

And it's a pretty big climb up here, though.

So it's going to be kind of tough.

Okay.

Are you up for it?

Yes.

But if there's too much water, we have to come back here and go around there when we get to the top, know what we're gonna do?

Have a sandwich.

Okay.

Yes.

We'll see you tomorrow.

Right.

Ready for a mountain climb?

With all my gear.

Okay.

All right, buckle up.

Don't lose that map.

This was the longest hike of my life.

Six mile round trip.

Bumpy.

Who tied your shoe?

Get all the way out here with them untied.

Is that a cape that you have on?

Yes.

Let's see it.

B b for brave and for Bennett Can you put my cape over my back?

Okay, so it's always showing.

So we go this way.

Good job.

Quit dilly dallying.

Let's go.

I'm not dilly dallying.

Yes you are.

Well, I like dilly dallying, but I don't do it that much.

We got a lot of ground to cover today.

Now down.

To here.

My favorite part of climbing is the cliffs.

There you go.

But the beach is cool, too.

That's where the treasures are.

Okay.

No more rocks.

Okay.

We're headed to the top over there.

Come on dilly dallier!

I'm coming!

All right.

You're doing great.

Have some water.

Grandpa, come on.

Even though Grandpa was tired, he still carried my backpack.

It was really heavy because it had my water, my books, my drawing supplies, my snacks and my Swiss Army Knife.

And a map.

This backpack is doing me in.

It's a hundred and fifty pounds.

You want to give us an update on the hike?

No, I don't have an update and I don't know what an update means.

An update is.

How's things been going so far?

Good.

Really tiring and lots of hungry.

But we have to get up there.

Grandpa, we're almost there!

Yeah.

Carrie we're coming!

Okay, so when you get to that edge, wait for me because I don't know.

what's over it.

Good job.

we could play a game of hide and go seek out.

You count to 100, and I'll go in those trees and take a nap, and you come find me.

Okay?

Okay.

All right.

The wind was really bad, and we had to get off the mountain.

Seriously, it was really crazy.

I didn't know how we were going to make it, but I knew we had to.

So I believed in myself.

I remembered I was brave.

And then I realized I could fly.

Honestly, I don't know if they're real powers, but I think I really did fly a few times and on the way back I was waiting for them to stop dillydallying.

There's always going to be something scary on every climb, but that's part of being a mountain climber.

I don't know which mountain I'll climb next or how I'll get up, but I'm going to climb as many as I can in my entire life.

See you on the Grand Teton!