Middle Teton, Mountain summit in Grand Teton National Park, United States.
Middle Teton is the third-highest peak in the Teton Range at 12,809 feet (3,904 m), a pyramidal alpine summit in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, immediately southwest of Grand Teton and separated from it by the Lower Saddle at 11,600 feet (3,540 m). The Middle Teton Glacier lies on its eastern slopes, and a basaltic black dike runs as a straight line from near the top down 800 feet (240 m).
Albert R. Ellingwood made the first recorded ascent on August 23, 1923, via the Ellingwood Couloir on the south side of the peak. He completed the first ascent of South Teton the same day. The southwest couloir now provides the easiest route to the summit.
The Middle Teton draws climbers who want to test themselves on routes that range from straightforward scrambles to demanding technical ascents. The dark basalt dike cutting across the mountain's face has become a natural landmark that experienced climbers use to read the terrain.
The easiest route to the summit is the southwest couloir, which can be done in a single day from the Garnet Canyon approach. Other lines reach class 5.11, and the Middle Teton Glacier route is the most technically advanced, first climbed on August 4, 1944 by Paul Bradt and Sterling Hendricks.
A glacier route opened in 1944 is one of the only paths in the Teton range that allows ice and snow climbing early in the season. This makes the peak a rare option for those who want to climb before summer conditions settle in.
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