Conquering Grand Teton

While many set aside the month of August for vacations at sunny locales, Montrose Search and Rescue team members Dr. John Rodarte and John (Jay) Paneno, along with his nephew Todd Horton, donned warm clothing and headed to Wyoming. There they joined three fellow climbers from a New Jersey Iron Man club to scale the Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park. The group also included guides from Jackson Hole Mountain Guides.

“Mainly we [Rodarte and Paneno] were doing this for training, but we met [John Costine] from New Jersey who had brought an American flag with him,” Paneno recalled.

The flag had been flown over a U.S. Marine base in Iraq. Costine received the flag from a soldier who had served in Iraq. Costine had been taking the flag to various sites around the nation to photograph it with organizations including police, sheriff, fire and emergency responders. The photos are processed and sent back to the Marine base in Iraq as a sign of appreciation for the armed forces. Costine called his campaign, “Heroes to Heroes.”

When Costine heard that Rodarte and Paneno were part of a search and rescue team he couldn’t believe the coincidence, Rodarte said.

“We were immediately excited to take part in this venture and show our support for our U.S. troops abroad,” Rodarte said.

The climbers packed their gear and flag and began the climb.

“Jay and I are used to rescue climbing which is much different than sport climbing,” Rodarte said.

Base camp was made at 11,000 feet. The air was thin and getting a good night’s rest was not easy but necessary since their next day of climbing began at 4 a.m.

They reached an area known as Lower Saddle at 11,600 feet when strong winds began to swirl. Their goal was to reach the Upper Saddle, situated at 13,000 feet. This is the site where they took the photo with the American flag. The climbers then split into two groups; Rodarte and Paneno went on to climb the second highest peak in the range known as Enclosure at 13,280 feet. Three other members of the climbing team, including Horton, were able to successfully summit the Grand Teton and took a picture with the flag there as well.

Paneno said this type of climb is helpful in training for search and rescue work.

“On rescues we do a lot of climbing,” he said.

Rodarte said that the climb was difficult and temperatures were extreme.

“At the higher elevations, the winds brought a chill to the air, forcing us all to don as much clothing as we had available,” he said. “We couldn’t wait for the sun to rise about our heads and take us out of the shadows.”

“[The climb] was the hardest thing I have done,” Paneno said. “But I would like to do it again on my 50th birthday.”

To see a another photo of the flag at Teton, visit www.eteamz.com/ironclub.