On September 4, the Jenny Lake rangers were notified that a climber had reported a deceased solo climber on the upper east face of Teewinot. Helicopter 35HX, with Steve Wilson as pilot and rangers on board, performed a reconnaissance flight. The deceased climber was seen at the base of the Black Chimney, north (climber’s right) of the standard east face route. After returning to Lupine Meadows, rangers were short-hauled to the deceased climber’s location, arriving on scene at 1:54 p.m. Rangers conducted an investigation of the scene and packaged the deceased climber for extraction.

ANALYSIS

The deceased climber was believed to have fallen approximately 50 to 100 feet. During the subsequent investigation, the climber was identified as a foreign national working in the United States and on a solo road trip. A map found in the climber’s pack suggested the climber was attempting to climb the east face route. Other climbers reported seeing the individual the previous day beginning his ascent from Lupine Meadows at about 9:40 a.m., and then near the accident site at approximately 12:30 p.m. One individual reported seeing the climber off route to the north and attempted to advise the climber back toward the standard east face route. With 5.6 climbing and some rotten rock, the Black Chimney is considerably more difficult than the 4th-class east face route, making careful route-finding to stay on the standard route essential. (Source: Ranger Ken Kreis, Grand Teton National Park.)