If you’ve always wanted to climb the Grand Teton, but just haven’t quite gotten around to it yet, don’t worry. Now you can do it online.
Add bagging an iconic peak in a picturesque national park to the long and growing list of chores folks can accomplish via the Internet, thanks to a new multimedia “eClimb” developed by Grand Teton National Park.
Cyber-athletes can click their way to the Grand’s 13,770-foot summit via a web-based interactive feature and make the exhausting trek without breaking a sweat, according to a statement released this week by the park’s public affairs office.
The new online tour up the Grand allows anyone to explore the beauty and wonders of the rugged Teton mountains while learning about the geology, history and adrenaline rush of scaling the granite ledges and spires that form the Grand Teton massif: the highest peak in the Teton Range and second highest mountain in Wyoming.
Web “climbers” can choose from images, audio clips and videos at more than a dozen stops along their virtual tour, including a segment capturing the drama of a mountain rescue in a virtual landscape.
At a time when national parks are looking for new ways to engage and recruit new visitors, the Grand Teton eClimb is not meant so much as a substitute for the real thing, but an enticement for a real visit, said Vickie Mates, Grand Teton’s chief of interpretation.
“We hope children and adults alike enjoy this virtual journey to the alpine zone and the summit of the Grand Teton,” Mates said. “And we hope that those who discover our suite of electronic experiences will also be tempted to make a live visit to Grand Teton National Park.”
Mates said the cyber-climb is also a way “for visitors who either don’t have the time or the ability to reach such a high mountain summit” to get a taste of what the climb is like.
The Grand Teton eClimb is the third in a series of web-based, interactive programs that help orient visitors and educate them about the wonders of Grand Teton National Park. A String Lake eHike and videos of the Moose-Wilson corridor offer two other opportunities for virtual tours of the park.
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