Wright Women Summit the Grand Teton
One of Wright Training’s members, Nicole Gulati, recounts her story of planning for and executing her climb up the Grand Teton.
The journey up the Grand Teton for me and a group of women I organized “of a certain age” in August of 2024 was rooted in tragedy but ended in triumph.
My neighbor, sadly, lost her daughter in a terrible accident some years ago and wanted to climb the Grand to honor her beloved child. My neighbor asked me if I would join her in her quest and, although I see the Grand from my windows every time the clouds permit, it wasn’t on my agenda per se, largely because I have been terrified of heights since I was knee high.
I had trekked up high altitude peaks in my younger years in places like Tanzania, Nepal, and Tibet so I was’nt worried about the elevation of the Grand but those prior peaks all had minimal exposure. Added to my list of concerns was that I was going to be 50 and my neighbor would be 70 for the climb and, frankly, bodies are different after menopause.
I wanted to say no to the climb due to my fears, but I didn’t want to disappoint my grieving friend so I decided to put all of my worries aside. That said, I knew that we couldn’t just turn up at the trailhead and “go for it” as 20 somethings in cowboy boots are reported to do, so planning and a long lead time would be required.
We booked a committed group of private client female guides from Exum a year in advance and I went about putting together a team of older women for the climb. Thus, the “Grand Girls” were born and we started having regular email chats and Zooms to discuss our concerns, equipment, and training. While the seeming “horror” of pooping in a bag was the initial group concern (a non-issue in the end) we quickly moved on to realizing that the difference between our success or failure was going to come down to training and we all needed to keep each other accountable. We realized that, due to our ages, just doing some hiking was not going to be enough preparation and weight training was going to be a critical part of the equation.
I was already a client at Wright Training but I was inconsistent because I honestly found working out indoors to be boring and was only doing it more often because ‘one should do weight training when you get older’. However, now I had a goal of not letting my team of Grand Girls down and I became a regular at the gym.
While I didn’t always love it when Crystal ordered me to do 450 weighted step-ups, the year of regular training turned out to be invaluable. And when I discovered that I had a torn meniscus and thought I would have to drop out of the climb, Crystal said we would train around it and did not let me give up.
After a long, dry summer with beautiful trail conditions for the Grand, our turn arrived and after a year of intensive training and debating for many hours about what snacks we wanted in our packs we were all feeling quite confident. However, Murphy’s Law being what it is, that is when the weather turned to freezing and it snowed in August. I thought we were done for sure, and was a little relieved that I wouldn’t have to face the exposure, but our group and our guides were determined and onwards we marched. We did get a few catcalls on the way up asking “where are your men?” but we assured the concerned onlookers that our partners were all busy at home taking care of our animals.
The hike to the Saddle turned out to be easy, thanks to all of our training! But once the climbing portion started and I discovered what verglas was, I understood why Crystal had made me do all of the arm hangs in the gym even though I complained mightily about them at the time thinking they were unnecessary. Although we were freezing cold, slid on the ice more times than I could count, used every muscle in our bodies, and I never made peace with the exposure (dangling on a rope with thousands of feet below me just is not my thing) our entire group summited and made it all the way back down safely with no major injuries. It turns out that old gals can climb the Grand even when the going gets tough!
It was a team effort between a phenomenal group of supportive women - our climbing team, our guides, and our trainers were with us every step of the way making sure we were successful and safe. Bravo!
-Nicole Gulati
Another one of Wright Training’s members, Louise Parzick, answers some questions about her experience climbing the Grand for the first time-
How long did you train at Wright Training in preparation for the grand?
I have trained consistently with Crystal for skiing and the Grand. Most importantly, Crystal rehabbed my hip so that I could climb. I had surgery in April and then climbed the Grand 100 days later.
What were some of your favorite exercises that you did to train?
If not for the weighted step ups and the one legged squats….I would not have made it.
When did you climb the grand Teton?
Mid July
How long did it take you?
We did the Exum two day trip. Four of us ladies- alll over the age of 60.
What route did you take?
Owen Spalding route
What were some of the biggest challenges that you faced?
Getting my hip in shape, getting over the fear of being the weak link, wondering if I would be afraid of the height.
What were some things you felt were easier than you expected?
The entire second day started off rough in the dark but the climb was great. Easier than I thought it would be.
What were some moments that were more difficult than you expected?
The early start to the second day. Headlamp on, starting in the dark, complete silence. The down climb was also a little more than I expected.
Did you summit?
Yes.
Would you do it again?
Only if I were to do it with my boys and their significant others.
-Louise Parzick
