(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - I don't want to know a life without an unknown in the mountains to get out there and go find those things.

That's what keeps me alive.

That's what keeps that spark going.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Water is a defining feature of this planet, in its liquid state it covers 70% of the Earth's surface and its solid state is responsible for shaping much of what remains.

When we reflect on these processes.

We often think in geologic terms.

Thousands if not millions of years, rivers sneaking from one bend to the other, glaciers carving canyons from mountains.

Today in the continental United States, much of the glacial formation of the rocky mountains is complete but the ice is still here.

The valley through which the South Fork of the Shoshone river flows in Northwestern Wyoming.

Has one of the highest concentrations of ice falls in North America.

For a few months every year with its unique climate and topography, water and ice conspire to reshape this canyon into a new world.

In as little as a few days an area previously thought to be known will transform into an alien landscape.

Loose overhanging cliffs solidify with the cold and become draped in blankets of ice.

The melting snow above continually adds to the formations changing their shape and character a little every day.

There's only one way to access these natural wonders.

And for those who seek such adventure they'll find their fill here.

- The South Fork Canyon in Wyoming is this incredible valley 36 miles outside of Cody.

A dirt road leads you to a dead end.

And from that point, no matter which way you walk you're walking into wilderness.

In fact, you're walking into one of the most remote places in the continental US.

It gives you this sense of rawness and wildness.

That is really hard to find in the United States right now - [Narrator] That wilderness has led a string of ice explorers to develop the area into a world class climbing destination.

In the 1980s, Kirt Cousins, along with his brother, Todd and Monty Madson began establishing the first ice climbs in the canyon.

Todd became particularly drawn to the South Fork and through the mid 1990s, pioneered many of the largest and most popular routes to this day.

Todd's first ascents were followed with the arrival of Aaron Mulkey in the late 1990s.

With many of the obvious lines having already been established, Aaron has had to push the exploration for new ice even further.

- Ice starts to form in October and runs into March or April.

Ice comes and goes throughout that time.

As the earth rotates and the sun is hitting different spots at different times.

And so there'll be ice climbs that don't form until maybe March there'll be ice climbs that form in October, November, but then melt in January.

Most of these ice climbs, the only way to get to that particular spot is to ice climb because the ice is actually what allows the access into these cliffs and into these canyons.

But that's also like the really unique thing about ice climbing is that these things you'll watch them for years.

And then they're finally there and you've gotta go get them - [Narrator] For over 20 years, Aaron has been leading the exploration in the South Fork Canyon.

In that span he's managed to pack in a lifetime's worth of first ascents with over 100 to his name.

- Not everybody's like me where they want to choose the unknown.

You gotta be willing to go one step further than the last person, and that takes some drive.

And at the end of the day I really think it probably takes maybe an addiction.

You get to go and climb this thing that nobody's ever seen, ever been on.

And then to think that two months later or sometimes days later it's gone, it vanishes, it's no longer there, but you're kind of lucky to be there.

And the feeling that kind of comes with being the first it's pretty awesome.

Not only you get to name it, but, you know, it takes you back to hundreds of years ago.

And why did the explorers go and explore, right?

Like, well, to see what nobody else has seen.

That is that wildness that the South Fork provides The Absoraka Range is quite large.

Like the South Fork Valley is really just one part.

Like I'm just picking away at this one small section on the map (engine revving) and I get in further and further into each little drainage and each little sliver.

I mean I'm 20 years and there's still stuff and there will be stuff for my entire lifetime.

And so until those places are all explored and I feel like everything has been touched and everything has been seen, I'll keep having my addiction.

And then the hardest part about that is that valley that I went to two years ago and there was no ice, who is to say there's not ice there today.

- No one's gonna do this, I realized unless I do it.

Okay.

The whole thing has to be pioneered.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Bill Briggs first felt the call of the Tetons in Wyoming, in the early 1950s, while attending Dartmouth.

He would visit the area for rock climbing and skiing excursions.

- The introduction to experiences here in the valley convinced me.

I want to live here.

Here's my people.

I got a whole community of independent dudes, rugged individualists, all joined in this one community.

And boy did I ever wanna live here - [Announcer] After relocating to Teton Valley, Briggs developed a revolutionary ski education program based out of Snow King in Jackson but his biggest mark on the sport of skiing came in the form of blazing new ski trails all throughout the Tetons and beyond.

- Yeah.

So in the 60s, Bill skied, you know, Buck Mountain, South Teton, Middle Teton, Mount Moran, you know, I think those accomplishments inspired this whole new generation of skiers to be able to do those things.

You know, they gained a little bit of experience and then they realized maybe I can do that too because Bill did it, you know, I know it can be done.

- Briggs' crowning achievement came when he decided to become the first to make a ski descent from the top of the Grand Teton, despite having a permanently fused hip.

- So I'm saying it's possible.

I said, no, it's impossible.

No one's gonna do this I realized unless I do it.

Okay.

So I'm the one that has to do it.

The whole thing has to be pioneered.

Okay.

So I go on up the climb up through that narrow cliff section just above the couloir it's a steep section.

Okay, the steepest part of the mountain and you can't really bring your foot up and kick a foothold in the snow because your knee is up against the snow.

Okay.

So I turn ski poles upside down and lean back enough and get back enough away.

Okay.

That I can bring the knee up and kick foothold.

Then you change feet and you do the same thing again.

Okay.

It's the same leg.

Cause I can't do that with the other leg.

I climb up through that, make it up onto the east snowfield.

And then it's just a matter of climbing on up.

Well, that's very physically challenging for me.

I'm pretty exhausted on top.

Then you have to get the skis on.

You have to get the crampons off to get the skis on.

Well, the straps are frozen on the crampons.

Okay.

I gotta melt the snow on that.

You gotta do this.

You gotta do that.

You try to put the ski on and you get one on easily.

The other one, when you go to put it on and you are on a hard crust and there's no flat place to do it work something or rather to get that on, okay to get the skis on.

Okay, that's done.

Now it comes the easy part just to ski.

You ski down through the rocks wonderful fun and everything else.

And you get off the crust and it's gonna break through, you know it's gonna break through.

And you have no idea where, okay go ski on out.

Plumph!

Now we have the ridge to ski.

This is the Upper Petzoldt Ridge.

And you go down this thing and it starts out plenty of space and it gets narrower and narrow where narrow as you go down, boy, the snow is just right and the skis are performing just right.

Wow.

Okay.

So that's just neat.

Okay.

And that couldn't be any better.

And then you're gonna go out on the East Face and you know it's gonna slide.

Okay.

So that's going to be an avalanche going down.

So you cut the slope at the exact place that needs to be cut.

You know, when it starts to get the steepest, you cut right across that and everything below slides out.

And everything above stays there as you come off the East Face and you come into the couloir you've got a little rock band to get through.

Very narrow, gotta get through that boy, cause it's only a ski length wide.

Okay.

So I figured out how to do the turns and that turn this way to go into it this way when you're in it.

And then this way as you come out of it and it's one swoopy of a turn, okay.

With the straight leg, the fused leg.

Okay.

On the downhill side, get that all worked out.

Okay.

Go through and do it.

The other tails, the skis hit the rock from there on down again seems like it's gonna be pretty easy but then you get this rumble, you know, this, you have to ski across.

Okay, that's done ski down and there's a ice thing in there.

You run out of snow, but you've got ice to go over.

So I had put in a fixed rope and the idea is to put in is to have the whole retreat taken care of on the way up.

Okay.

Rope is already fixed.

I can grab a hold of the ropes ski this way, turn ski that way.

And one more and I'm back on the snow below.

And I go over to Tepees Glacier.

Okay.

To ski over to that all part of the experience.

Fabulous.

Okay.

What a fabulous experience all of these things turn into.

Okay.

And I get out of Tepees Glacier and run out for the Middle Teton Glacier.

And anyway, we get down, I meet some friends in the Meadows and go down a short ways and come across a couple, you know, coming up the trail, whatnot.

You've been skiing?

Yes, you know, where is you ski?

Oh the Grand.

How far up?

From the top.

How many times?

(laughs) Just once.

So that's too bad.

(laughs) Good fun.

You go down to the valley and of course nobody believes you.

And I could see the tracks.

Okay.

I could see the tracks.

So I call up Jenny Heidi Cooper at the newspaper and say, Jenny, I just skied the Grand yesterday and I can still see the tracks.

She says stay right there.

I'll come up, we'll fly up and take a photo which she did.

We made a poster out of it.

Anyway.

Big challenge.

Great fun.

(upbeat music) - When I first started getting into backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering it was definitely for the pure fun hog sense of life.

I've just wanted to ski more powder.

I wanted the exhilaration of skiing, these beautiful lines.

I really enjoyed the beauty of the places but I was focused more on the objectives themselves.

I liked figuring out terrain, figuring out roots of peaks figuring out roots down peaks taking on things that people hadn't done before.

I think we gain a lot as humans getting that feeling of being a pioneer.

It's very rewarding.

It creates a lot of confidence and self worth.

I am definitely drawn to places where there's less traffic.

I like spending time where there's no people.

It's just you, the mountains, the rivers, the birds and the surrounding wildlife.

And it's a very special, unique thing to be that deep and that quiet and in that protected environment.

And it's irreplaceable.

I think as humans we're walking a fine line because as backcountry skiing grows in popularity and expands to greater reaches of the skiing public.

It's the fastest growing segment of skiing right now and has been for the last 10 years that everyone is seeking this beauty, this freedom of the hills.

If more people are gonna go into the wilderness and we want it to stay pristine we need to be very, very aware of our environment.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - You know, as a person looking up at the Teton Range in the wintertime, who would think that there's, you know, 100 or so animals eing it out up there.

We've lost the majority of the winter range that bighorn sheep in this mountain range used to take advantage of and were left with just the fraction.

(upbeat music) For me, it's hard to think about cherishing a place and being enthusiastic about it without the health of the wildlife there being like a key part of that.

And I imagine most people who are recreating in the Teton Range share my perspective on that.

- You know, what really inspires me about bighorn sheep is, you know, look at the places that they live in.

And in studying the sheep, we get to visit these places and see the sheep doing the things that sheep do on a day in and day out basis.

And, you know, they live in some of the most little rugged pockets of the Teton Range.

And particularly in the winter time, I find what they do like just incredible.

I mean, these sheep have lost their migrations to low elevation, winter ranges.

And as a result, they winter now at high elevation and the conditions on those high elevation winter ranges are pretty extreme.

- They're at, you know, 10,000', 9,000' sometimes actually up to 12,000'.

We all know it's a lot colder up there.

The crest through the Tetons where they live is a windy place and that's actually what they need to survive.

- They are just trying to move as little as possible and whatever we can do to help them out in that regard will go a long way to helping them persist in the future.

- In 2008 to 2010, I believe there was field work done by a master student at the University of Wyoming and the GPS collared bighorn sheep and got permission from backcountry recreationalists mostly skiers to carry GPS units.

And the findings from that thesis indicated that the sheep are being displaced by skiers and recreationists.

(upbeat music) The fact is we're viewed as a predator whether or not we wanna be.

- If there was a written code of backcountry ethics I think we would all mostly agree what a lot of it would be in how we approach the day when we go out and so forth.

Wildlife protection and conservation is an offshoot from that.

And so is protecting and conserving the wild places in which we roam - Skiers need to consider not just the weather in the snow pack, the avalanche hazard but the impact that we have as humans traveling through a wild ecosystem.

And that includes being aware of what animals exist and where, and how to give them the space that they need.

- I think the way we have to look at it is just that, you know, we're not hunters, we're not skiers, we're not climbers, we're not dirt bikers.

We're outdoor enthusiasts and we need to be a team and do everything we can to protect this environment that we go in because it's not about our sports.

It's about our connection to the mountains while we're out there and it's up to us to protect it.

- I think that's key.

We don't just want to be a user of the back country, but a steward.

So this place exists, including all the animals - We all wanna ski in these remarkable places.

So by no means is my approach that we shouldn't go skiing because I love skiing.

It's my job.

It's my life.

It's my family's life.

I know for sure that I want my child to be able to see all these animals.

I want her to know that it's important that wildlife is respected and allowed to thrive and coexist with humans.

But I also want her to enjoy the natural environment and go skiing and backcountry skiing and get the joy and the reward.

And the freedom that traveling in the mountains gives you.

(upbeat music) - The way for backcountry skiers to become good stewards of the places that they visit is to be just open.

Open to the fact that you might be interrupting or open to the fact that maybe you ought to go somewhere else or come back a different time.

I don't think there's any right way to be a steward but I think if you're open and willing to evolve then you're on the right truck.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)