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1931 Exum Ridge Video Showcases the Fourth Ascent, Not the Third

Alpinist’s first Weekly Feature, “1931 Exum Ridge Video,” states that the third ascent of the Exum Ridge was made by Paul Petzoldt, George L. Waters III (the cinematographer), Walcott Watson, H.M. Sherman, Chas. E. Logan and a Mr. Lasky of San Francisco.

With help from www.tetonclimbinghistory.com and Renny Jackson, NPS employee and co-author of A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range, we discovered that this group made the fourth ascent, not the third. The 1931 newspaper clipping, which is excerpted in the Weekly Feature, and other period sources had failed to realize that the second ascent was made by Paul Petzoldt, who soloed the Exum Ridge on the same day that Glenn Exum first climbed that famous route. In doing so, Jackson said, they had neglected “an important piece of Teton climbing history.”

The following links provide a partial record of the peak’s ascents in 1931:

Tetonclimbinghistory.com Link 1

Tetonclimbinghistory.com Link 2

Have a peek around the rest of the site for more summit register records and interesting tidbits.

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