The Upper Exum Ridge Route is the upper section of a technical

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

up the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park at in Northwest Wyoming. Below its north face is Teton Glacier. The mountain is a classic destination in American mountaineering via the Owen-Spalding rout ...

's Exum Ridge in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. The route and ridge is named after Glenn Exum who pioneered the climb, via a solo ascent, on a day when his mentor

Paul Petzoldt Paul Kiesow Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was an American mountaineer and wilderness educator known for establishing the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1965. Early life Petzoldt was born in Creston, Iowa. The you ...

was guiding a couple up the original Owen-Spaulding Route. Today the route is split into the Upper and Lower Exum Ridge Routes. It is common for parties to bypass the more technically challenging lower section and climb exclusively the upper section. The Direct Exum Ridge Route which included both sections is recognized in the historic climbing text ''

Fifty Classic Climbs of North America ''Fifty Classic Climbs of North America'' is a 1979 climbing guidebook Climbing guidebooks are used by mountaineers, alpinists, ice climbers, and rock climbers to locate, grade, and navigate climbing routes on mountains, climbing crags, or ...

''. In 1931 Exum and Petzoldt started Exum Mountain Guides, which has grown to be a prestigious climbing school and mountain guide service. In 1982 Exum, accompanied by many distinguished mountaineers, made one last climb of the Exum Ridge route on the fiftieth anniversary of his first ascent.

References

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External links

summitpost.orgmountainproject.com
Climbing routes Grand Teton National Park