Teton Grand Traverse Beta

The one-stop-shop to succeed on the Grand Traverse

Beta Webinar Sunday August 6th at 7:00PM MST / 5:00PM EST. Answering your specific questions, so you can succeed on your first attempt. $20. The call will be recorded and available to rewatch.

If you are interested in completing the Teton Grand Traverse, then you will find this beta super helpful. Completing it is far far different then wanting to complete it, and wasting a bunch of time with route finding, and then running out of steam after reaching the summit of the Grand. Trust me, this happens to most folks on their first attempt. But now, with this beta, and a bunch of try-hard, you could send on your first attempt.

I have completed the Traverse 6 times and the Cathedral Traverse another 5 times. These experiences have equipped me with the info that I'm providing here. My wife and I "ran" the traverse in 12:15 hr:min (bragging), but most of the time while guiding I do it in 3 days. The first day is 13 hours, 2nd day is about 12, and 3rd is about 12 hours. So on the morning of the third day, it might be hard to rally and keep going if you've made a bunch of route finding errors.

I really wished I had access to beta like this before my first attempt (which ended after the Grand), so that's why I made it for you.

If you decide to do it in 2 days, and sleep at the Lower Saddle, you better not have to rope up for anything but the rappels, and the 7 crux pitches on day one. If you don't make it to the top of Teewinot in 3 hours, you're probably going to be forced to bivy, or climb the Grand in the dark at the end of day one. If you do it in 3 days, and it takes you more than 4 hours to get to the summit of Teewinot, you are probably in for a 14+ hour first day. This is hard to recover from. Point being, keep the packs light, make quick good decisions, and bail if things aren't looking good. People have died on this objective.

This beta does not replace, or add to, mountain sense, experience, or knowledge. It also could be inaccurate as the mountains change, snow levels can be different, visibility can be limited by clouds and darkness, rock fall occurs. SO you have to be ready for the curve balls thrown at you once you set out.

If you don't have Gaia GPS app on your phone, here is a link to a 20% discount on the subscription needed to use the map layers offline (you can download for free, but the second the free version goes out of cell service, you will lose the needed map layers): https://www.gaiagps.com/smileys_project/


Your Instructor


Mark Smiley
Mark Smiley

Mark Smiley's passion for adventure has taken him around the world on more than 30 expeditions to places like China, Peru, Ecuador, Africa, Chile, Argentina, Across Europe, Canada, and Alaska.

He and his wife, Janelle, are the only people that have attempted to climb all 50 Classic Climbs of North America (48 successfully). Additionally, he was part of a team to set a world record skiing across the entire Alps Mountain Range (1100 miles and 292,000 vertical feet) in a mere 36 days.

His teaching style is fun, mellow and easy to understand. As an IFMGA Certified Mountain Guide, Mark is among the world's elite guides to reach this status. More important than this certification, is his candid style of conveying to you the best techniques that will help you the most. Through this course you will tap into his expertise and knowledge for real-world learning.

Instagram feed @smileysproject


Course Curriculum


  Beta Photos - Download to your phone
Available in days
days after you enroll
  GPX Route Line for your GPS Device
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Gear
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

Get started now!