Me and some buddies are planning on climbing the NW Coluior for the South Teton and the SW ridge for the Middle Teton. What are the conditions for those, ice axe and crampons, or is that over kill?

We are looking at hiking them October 1 with weather permitting.

Also, we have never done the combo of these two peaks, what kind of time are we looking at from summit of the South Teton to summit of the Middle?

Thank you all in advance for the information.

A couple of weeks ago the park climbers blog showed the NW couloir and there was still the large snow patch blocking the couloir. Last time we did it we had axes but no crampons, no problem, but crampons would have been nice, since if you slip on that snowfield it would ruin your day for sure. As for time between the south and middle, I have only done them individually. The South took us 90 min one way from the saddle and the Middle took us 60min one way. You should be able to get from the summit of the south to the middle summit in less than 2 hrs conditions permitting. Good Luck!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rhroTdifoEM/T ... 070047.JPG

I believe that this pic of the south teton was taken on sept 16. 2011clearly shows the NW couloir snowfield.