Solo climber with no technical experience fell 2500 feet to his death on the Grand Teton on Sunday:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/20 ... l-park8551

Anyone know what the snowpack is like up there right now?

If it's anything like Utah, there's still plenty of snow above 9500'.

Does anybody KNOW why there's been so many climbing-related deaths lately ???

Was up Paintbrush and Cascade Canyons 3 days ago. Solid snow-pack above 9,000 feet. Not quite as much snow on the steep faces of the Grand, but there is definitely above average snow up there. According to the article this climber was soloing and didn't have any climbing experience beyond scrambling. Sad news; RIP.

He was from my town, a local highway patrolman and by all accounts a really good guy and experienced hiker, but yeah, no climbing experience. It's left us a little confused around here.

We were up Glacier Gulch and on the Teton Glacier on sun.(31st) and mon(1st) lots of snow above 9000ft. Weather was horrible sun. night and all day mon. Technical climbing sun. evening and monday would not have been a good idea. We opted out of Mt. Owen. Talked with some rangers on their way up to search of this climber on monday, lots of rain. Sad story.

Very sad story, although its a good reminder about the dangers of going solo.

Hotoven wrote:Very sad story, although its a good reminder about the dangers of going solo.

This is a good reminder about the dangers of climbing far above your capabilities. This had nothing to do with going "solo."

People seem to think he was on the Owen-Spaulding, which makes sense given where he ended up. A lot of people solo the OS, but it can be icy and the exposure is definitely there.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:

Hotoven wrote:Very sad story, although its a good reminder about the dangers of going solo.

This is a good reminder about the dangers of climbing far above your capabilities. This had nothing to do with going "solo."

If he was with an experienced partner who would set protection and guide him he may not have died...I totally agree with your statement, just not the part where you said it "had nothing to do with going solo".