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W7Y/TT-086 - Steve Baugh Peak in Winter

K7GUD's picture
Summit: 
W7Y/TT-086
Voice Cellular Coverage: 
Good, very usable
Data Cellular Coverage: 
Good, very usable
Cellular Provider: 
Verizon
APRS Coverage: 
Don't know

I activated W7Y/TT-086, AKA Steve Baugh peak, last summer. It's a beautiful summer hike with spectacular views of the Tetons. The approach is pretty moderate in summer or winter. I decided to do it again this winter and had a perfect, calm, bluebird day with specatacular views of the Teton range.

The easiest route, in summer or winter is to take the Dream Catcher lift to the top of Freds Mountain. You will have to buy a pass in winter or summer to ride the lift. In summer, the pass is around $20. In the summer, you can also access Mary's saddle from the North Fork of Teton Canyon but this route will add an additional 3,000' of climbing.

Shack

In the summer, hike down the ridge to the Mary's Saddle trail. At Mary's Saddle, there is a trail that traverses east around Mary's Nipple to a saddle and from there you climb the ridge to W7Y/TT-086.

 Steve Baugh

In the image above, the Steve Baugh uptrack is on the left in the trees. The descent is obvious with safest route in or near the trees.

Winter: do not do this route unless you are an experienced backcountry skier and are comfortable skiing in avalanche terrain. From the lift, ski down to Mary's saddle. There you will see an exit gate leading from Targhee resort. Ski down the initial steep slope below the gate and then traverse over to the base of W7Y/TT-086 / Steve Baugh. The uptrack takes the north-east ridge, mostly in the trees. The last 50' to the summit is between 35-40 degrees in is often icy or wind loaded.

I don't recommend this peak in winter unless you have a clear day. This area tends to be foggy and because there are few trees, it's very easy to get lost.