In 1929, Glenn Exum began climbing in the Teton Range with Paul Petzoldt, who had been guiding small numbers of clients since 1925. Together they formed a partnership that became the Petzoldt-Exum School of American Mountaineering.  Pictured above are some of the early Exum Guides – from left to right: Willi Unsoeld, Glenn Exum, Eddie Exum, Barry Corbet, Al Read, Jake Breitenbach, Sterling Neale and Bob (Robert) French.



Glenn Exum was a man of exceptional integrity, endowed with a charismatic and commanding personality. He was handsome and debonair, with a resemblance, some say, to Errol Flynn. He was also a superb athlete and gifted climber. We are honored that his name graces our company.



In 1931 when Glenn was 18, he climbed a new route on the Grand Teton, solo, with no rope, in a pair of borrowed leather-cleated football shoes that were two sizes too big for him. At the end of Wall Street is a crucial passage that allows access to the south ridge of the Grand Teton, a gap at the top of a terrifically exposed chimney. Seeing no way to climb across the gap, Glenn walked back and forth along the ledge seven times until he finally picked out small handholds and a boulder on the ridge crest. Later he wrote, “When you get to the eastern extremity of Wall Street, why there isn’t any place to jump from! So I climbed as high as I could, until I was sort of secure, and jumped from a standing start!”



Once across, Glenn was committed to the ridge, since no retreat was possible. He climbed the now famous pitches on the ridge and reached the summit. The Exum Ridge, named for his first ascent, is now the most popular route on the Grand Teton.



In the mid-1930’s, Glenn was invited to climb in the Alps. While there he observed that European guides merely tied a rope around their clients and pulled them up difficult sections of a climb without giving them instruction in climbing techniques or rope handling. On the descent, the guides lowered their clients instead of having them rappel on their own.