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Jediah Porter

jediahmporter@gmail.com http://www.jediahporter.com

Jed Porter is an American Mountain Guide. He finished his IFMGA Certification in 2013, is loosely based in Driggs, Idaho. Adventures personal and professional take him all over the Mountain West, to and from the northern latitudes, and across the globe. His deep knowledge of mountain travel, good humor, and professional demeanor will serve you in the Tetons and around the world.

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This is a shot from the summer of 2015 on Baxter’s Pinnacle, just above Jenny Lake. Notice the waves from the Jenny Lake ferry on the water. What is notable, however, is that I had my introduction to the Tetons on Baxter’s Pinnacle. I joined a random, bulletin-board partner in 2001 to climb this classic. That partner, the late Howie Friedman, turned into a friend, and it turns out that he was also a pioneer of routes in the high Tetons well before I was born.

Before I climbed in the Tetons, I climbed and skied in the Northeast US. It’s a scrappy existence, but one gets tough and resourceful. Or, in this case, relaxes in the sun.

- I’ve spent much of my adult life in California’s High Sierra. My guiding career “took off” there, where itineraries are athletic, rocky, under good weather. The best athletic, rocky endeavor I’ve ever done is California’s Evolution Traverse. In fact, I was briefly the only person to have done it twice and am still the only person to have ever guided it. This is a shot from that guided endeavor in 2012

Here, closer to home, the Grand Traverse is an amazing high and wild romp for the super strong climber. If you’ve climbed peaks like the Grand and Moran for years, and feel super dialed in that environment, check in with us about the Grand Traverse. This route was my introduction to Exum. I came with a private client to “guest guide” the Grand Traverse in 2013. We had some poor weather (shown here hunkering under the “suffer tarp” during a brief shower), but we pushed through to complete it.

Speaking of big and wild ridges, I went to try Mount Logan’s Hummingbird Ridge in 2014 with fellow Exum Guides Mark and Janelle Smiley. This legendary route has been done only once. We didn’t complete it, but we did come back safely. Super rowdy. This is a shot Mark took of me near the end of day 1’s 4500 vertical feet of steep snow and ice climbing.

Once again, back closer to home, in the Wind River Range. If the standard climbing around the Tetons has you itching for something “wilder”, consider a trip to the Winds. The East Ridge of Wolf’s Head, in the “Cirque of the Towers” is perhaps my favorite backcountry adventure anywhere. A beautiful hike to amazing camping to perfect and attainable rock climbing makes for the ideal August or September adventure for a climber with some experience.

More Wind River action. This time, video of the aforementioned East Ridge of Wolf’s Head. So good!

Did I say I like skiing? Well, I love skiing. And I love hanging out with other Exum Guides. To put it all together, occasionally, in the “great white north” is near perfection. This is a shot from skiing in Canada with Exum Guide Jeff Witt.

In 2013 a good buddy and myself trained and prepared for a mega ridge traverse in the High Sierra of California. Launching onto the Palisade Traverse in February of that year was cold, windy, and exposed. Five days later, standing nine miles away on the final peak, we had completed the first winter ascent of what is surely the longest (in terms of distance) technical rock climb on in North America. Everything I’ve done before or since has been half as hard.

If there’s a theme (or themes) to my mountain pursuits it is that I find myself enchaining peaks with fellow Exum Guides. The summer of 2015 I again teamed up with Mark and Janelle Smiley, this time in Peru. We set out to ski a few of the Huandoy peaks there. We didn’t ski as much as we hoped, but we did have a grand time in a sweet place, and returned to a solid Exum season. Outside of peak times in the Tetons, I travel a lot to climb and guide. If you are looking for other missions beyond the Tetons, feel free to check in. Peruse my website for more of what I offer.

More skiing, more “enchainment”… In April and May of 2017 I took advantage of years of dreaming and scheming, in conjunction with California’s drought-ending snow season, to ski the High Sierra’s “Red Line Traverse”. The first (and likely only other) completion of this 125 mile traverse was completed by a group of three over three seasons in the early ‘80s. I did it in one 16 day push, mainly solo. I skied 80,000 vertical feet and ticked 25 major ski lines between Mount Whitney and Mammoth Lakes, California. Check out the full write-up.

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Jediah Porter

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