Another year of the Teton Ogre has come and gone, and 180 racers went home not only with some great memories, but also at least a few hundred mosquito bites each.

Considering what the weather in the Tetons in early June can look like, we felt extremely lucky with the 80-degree sunny days, despite the swarms of skeeters. Based out of beautiful Swan Valley, Idaho, both the 9-hour and 24-hour course featured endless punchy climbs, committing route choices, and incredible views of the Snake River below.

The 9-hour race began with 80 racers on the line, starting off with a short but spicy on-foot prologue up a steep, trail-less peak to collect four points. Then it was onto the big bike leg, which gave racers various route choices and some optional trekking points, depending on how big of an adventure they could cram into nine hours. Quite a few teams bit off more than they could chew, unable to resist taking the long way back in order to grab those last few optional points. Despite the late arrivals to the finish, all teams crossed the line extra tired but with smiles on their faces.

Two-person coed team, Ornery Bear, cleared the course in an amazing 7 hours, 23 minutes to take first place overall. Due to our time penalty of ten minutes per mis-punch, two-person male team The Streublewskis ended up in third place, while solo racer Chris Valiente finished in second.

In our ten years of hosting the Teton Ogre, we have never had such a tight 24-hour race. With several fast teams battling for the win, dot-watchers at home were on the edge of their seats until the final minutes. This year’s 24-hour course featured just two Expedition-Style legs which were both brutal and committing. Racers started with huge backpacks full of all their pack rafting gear, as they hiked 3,600 feet up and over a 9,000ft peak, with lingering spring snow still covering the final 500 feet of the climb. Then it was down and into Bear Creek, where six miles of incredible class II rapids awaited. 

Bear Creek is pack rafting paradise, with narrow, tight turns, beaver dam drops, and constant splashy rapids. While most teams had an absolute blast, some teams less-experienced with pack rafting had some chilly and harrowing swims and spent some time at the fire at our manned checkpoint toward the end of the creek section.

Four miles of flat water paddling on the Palisades Reservoir brought racers to their take-out point, where they packed up their paddling gear once again and hiked a few more miles back to the transition area to hop on their bikes.

The second and final leg of the 24-hour race took teams on yet another huge climb, this time on bike, with a few optional points thrown in to keep things interesting for teams that wanted to go for it. A small cluster of trekking points during this leg offered teams some interesting navigation, and dot watchers enjoyed seeing the top teams make completely different choices yet end up in the same spot at the same time.

One of the last checkpoints on the course, before a ten-mile gravel grind to the finish, was in an alcove behind an incredible waterfall plunging into the Snake River below, that from the road you wouldn’t even know was there.

The race remained tight until the final mile, when team “Don’t Be Sorry, Be Better” pulled ahead to finish in 18 hours, 35 minutes, just under three minutes ahead of team “4-Hour Fuel.” Teams continued to trickle in over the next several hours, exhausted but generally in great spirits.

One of the most exciting finishes we’ve ever witnessed was when team “No Ragrets” came flying into the finish with six seconds to spare.

A big thanks to all our volunteers, for enduring countless mosquito bites, ringing the cowbells with gusto, and in general making the Ogre possible. To our racers, a huge congrats for conquering a brutal, unforgiving course. And of course, thanks to our sponsors for years of wonderful support.

Photos Darren Steinbach