Gannett Peak, WY Part 2

Gannett Peak Summit Day
Summit day came early with a 2:30 am start. Before leaving the Black Diamond Mega Light, I could hear the wind raging. It didn't sound good, but Steve said that he could see stars and had hot water boiling for coffee. Soon we were skinning up to the base of Gannett Peak with the Gooseneck Glacier route in mind. The wind did not subside and clouds were beginning to roll over the summit of the peak. It was a cold morning on the mountain. In what seemed like no time we were ready to crampon up and boot it up the Gooseneck. As we neared the entrance to the Gooseneck couloir the normal bergshrund was absent due to a good snow year, but the weather was deteriorating fast.

Jeramie, Tim, and Chris determine whether to push for the summit hidden in the clouds to the right in photo. The Gooseneck Pinnacle is the rocky spire to the left.

Soon we noticed that there were micro-windows of good weather that would allow us brief glimpses of the summit ridge and summit. After a quick refuel, we decided to push on. We figured if the weather got worse we could retreat from the top of Gooseneck Pinnacle.

Tim and Jeramie push for the summit of Gannett Peak:

We climbed quickly to the top of Gooseneck Pinnacle where the summit ridge begins wrapping up and to our right. At the top of the pinnacle the mountain seemed so mystical with the fog-like clouds rolling through.

Chris, Steve, and Tim hoping the weather holds long enough for a safe summit:

We decided to make the final push as we kept getting nice views of the summit. The summit ridge offered fairly quick access to the top of the mountain, but the exposure of the large cliffs beneath us on either side and solid snow kept us on our toes. With one last push, we finally made it to the top of Wyoming! Our goal was halfway done.

Chris and Steve on the final steps to the summit:

Chris, Steve, and Tim do the mandatory summit pose on Gannett Peak:

With more clouds and weather rolling in, we wasted little time on the summit. We quickly geared up for what would be an exciting ski down. The traverse over the summit ridge had me concerned with large cliffs below, but we all managed just fine with grins to boot.

Steve Romeo exits the summit ridge and jump turns towards the Gooseneck couloir:

Chris Weydeveld gets his tele on the highest mountain in Wyoming:

Jeramie Prine joins in on some splitboard fun:

Tim Weydeveld bringing the smooth drop knee on Gooseneck couloir:

Steve Romeo enjoys the big views and relief from Gooseneck couloir:

When we finished skiing the Gooseneck route on Gannett Peak, we decided to do some more skiing on Dinwoody Glacier. The next day we made it up three quarters of the Gannett Glacier and stopped just shy of the North Face summit of Gannett. We were happy with one successful summit, three glaciers skied, and many good times had. We enjoyed the long slog out in white out conditions on Scenic Pass, but made it out safe. It will be a trip I will not forget.

Chris, Jeramie, Tim, and Steve stoked on a great trip:

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