I would venture to say that most Americans remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that planes had been flown into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11th 2001. Ten years later our lives have changes drastically. From wars to TSA lines THAT DAY continues to impact all of us in a real way today.

There is one group of American’s that the terrorist attacks have affected more than most American’s with 6285 killed, 46,747 wounded, and 18 a day come home and commit suicide. Our Military and veteran community have paid a high price in the aftermath of the attacks. Veterans Expeditions understands the sacrifice that our military and veteran community has made and they are using mountaineering expeditions “To assist vets in achieving a well-adjusted and balanced lifestyle to reduce suicide rates and other negative trends affecting the veteran population.”

On September 11th, 2011, ten years after the attacks, It was a true pleasure to be with Veterans Expeditions on The Grand Teton with the support of the Sierra Club, The American Alpine Club, Mountain Hardware, Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, Clif Bar, and Fits Socks.

The drive to Jackson Hole was uneventful minus the road construction. Is there a road in WY that is not under construction? We made the best of it...

The view of the Grand Teton as you descent into the valley is imposing...

After a couple of nights in the American Alpine Club’s climbers ranch we met with our Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and began our ascent. The first part of the ascent is a 6 mile hike hike up to the JHMG hut around 11,000 feet. The hike up has spectacular views of the Snake River Valley and the grandiose mountain views.

Summit day began at 3 am with a quick breakfast and we were straight out of camp. The first part of this climb began with a descent into the moraine then up to a headwall for a class 4 scramble along a fixed line up to to the upper saddle. From there it was a short hike up to the Black Dike where we started the technical portion of the route. The Sun was beginning to come up at this point and we could see the shadow of the mountain as it was cast out into the horizon with the rising of the sun.

We began the technical climbing portion and I was shocked at how fast we were able to move through this section. The climbing was easier than I thought it would be and between 8 am and 8:30 am our team of 12 summited. It was truly an awesome thing to arrive at the summit around the time that the World Trade Center fell 10 years previously. While we were up there the talk was of our fellow military members who have been wounded and have sacrificed their lives for our national security. We talked about the first responders who faced death to save people from those buildings. We remember the difficulties that America’s veterans face every day of their life coming home from war. It was an exciting summit but I also felt a very somber mood as we reflected on the past 10 years.

After spending 30 - 40 minutes on the summit we reversed our route up with a couple of rappels and walked back down to our high camp. For me there was a sense of accomplishment and euphoria. We had climbed the Grand Teton and remembered those who have sacrificed so much for us. What an amazing trip!

Read the Vet Ex trip report here.