Wister: The Uber-Mountain-Mutt

It was a package deal; she came with a dog. Or maybe the dog came with her.  No matter, it was good package. The dog was a mutt: half loyal retriever, half intelligent collie, and half athletic greyhound — a dog and a half. Amy, my future wife, named him Wister after a favorite peak in the Teton Range.

 

Forrest, Wister, and Amy on the 11,106-ft Summit of Table Mountain

Photo by Tom Flynn

Back then I was guiding full time for Exum Mountain Guides. Half my summer was spent in the Wind River Range — a canine paradise where Wister often joined me. My clients adored him. In 2003 John Pearson, a regular at Exum, wrote this about climbing 12,792-ft Temple Peak with Wister:

“Up over the big rocks, the smaller rocks, more boulders and some snow, then the talus (small rocks), then the scree (gravel, dirt wet with drippings from snow and ice), and slippery — I hate this stuff!    We get to our gully, put on climbing harnesses — already had rock hats on, Forrest ropes us up and away we go to the real climbing. Hold it!  What about Wister? That is some kind of mountain dog.  He climbed with us, rolled around on the steep snow banks to keep cool, and made the summit before us — showing us where it was.  Forrest would say, "find the trail Wister, find the trail".  And dang if Wister didn't most every time find the trail, even through snow. He did it from scent even if nobody had been on trail for a long time. I know, you think I got into some loco weed or something.  I cannot believe Wister The Mountain Dog!” 

Wister on the 13,804-foot Summit of Gannett Peak

Client praise earned Wister an official place on the Exum Guide Roster with the following bio: 

Uber-Mountain-Mutt and Exum canine guide Wister Brennan McCarthy has guided for Exum since 2001. His blend of Black Labrador, Border Collie and Greyhound makes him the perfect backcountry companion. He has the friendly and loyal traits of a Lab, is smart like a Collie, and has the athleticism of a Greyhound. Because of Grand Teton National Park regulations, Wister’s main territory is the Wind River Range, where he has over fifty summits and many extensive treks to his credit, including six successful ascents of Wyoming’s highest point, Gannett Peak (13,804′)–higher than the Grand Teton.

Wister is adept at route finding (sniffing out climbers’ trails buried under snow), and he continues to amaze clients with his strength and agility on third-class terrain. His favorite substrates for travel are snow and ice. He is impressively skillful when crossing snowfields or glaciers and on ski descents–having four built-in crampons can be quite an asset! While fifth-class terrain is a bit out of Wister’s league, he enjoys accompanying wilderness-lovers to the base of their climbs and is helpful in keeping an eye on camp. In addition to ascents and descents in Wyoming, Wister has also successfully climbed other high points throughout the United States, and has traveled to New York, Utah, Montana, Idaho and South Dakota to explore peaks and wilderness.

Wister and Forrest Planning a trip to the Wind River Range

Photo by Amy McCarthy

Wister was the best ski partner I ever had. Unlike my wife and regular ski buddies, he rarely doubted my route finding or disagreed where the best skiing was going to be. Wister was ever-ready, eager, competent, and always willing to do another lap.  He was equally happy on long epic traverses, big vertical peak climbs or short cross-country trails. Backcountry skiing in Jackson Hole was the only activity he enjoyed as much as climbing and hiking in the Winds. On many a days when I was feeling lazy or too busy, Wister would give me “The look”, his way of telling me to quit staring at a computer screen and take him skiing. I was always better off when I listened.

Wister + Powder = Bliss

Wister loved fresh powder snow. After a big dump he would run outside with boundless enthusiasm and roll and bark, immersing himself in the cool white fluff. Lower angle slopes or traversing in deep powder were less desirable when skiing, Wister needed gravity and speed to “porpoise” like a dolphin. Wister preferred straight-lining the steeps.

On Teton Pass, Wister’s favorite runs included Twin Slides, Chicken Scratch Shoots, and the Bear Claw. In the spring after the lifts shut down, Wister and I would often skin up Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and descend famous runs like:  Four shadows, Zero-G, The Haas Couloir, and Corbet’s Couloir. On the west side of the Tetons, in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Wister chalked up descents of Mount Taylor, Housetop, Fossil, Bannon, Jedediah Smith, Meek, Table, Beard, and Rammel. Together, Wister and I completed many epic ski tours including multiple traverses of the Snake River, Gros Ventre, Absaroka and Beartooth Ranges.

Wister and Uncle Wes Traversing Montana’s Beartooth Range

In April of 2007 Wister united his two greatest passions, skiing and the Wind River Range, when we skied Wyoming’s High Point — Gannett Peak. The four-day, 50-mile tour was one of 2,000 Step-It-Up 2007 climate change awareness rallies at iconic places in all 50 of States. To raise awareness about how climate change was melting Wyoming glaciers, nine of us successfully summited and skied Gannett Peak. Jackson Hole News and Guide Editor, Angus Thuermer, was with us and wrote the feature article: Going Green On Gannett. Angus captured a photo of Amy and Wister skiing Gannet’ts Gooseneck Couloir, which later graced the cover of the Mountain Gazette.

Wister and Amy skiing the Gooseneck Couloir on Gannett Peak

Photo by Angus Thuermer

While not a favorite activity (not aerobic enough), Wister often joined me on packrafting adventures. In 2008 we enjoyed a packrafting and canyoneering loop on the Escalante River in Utah. Moe Witschard’s photo of Wister and Amy running one of the rapids won first place for Water and Boats in the 2009 Mountain Gazette Mountain Dog Photo Contest.

2009 Mountain Gazette Mountain Dog Photo Contest
Photo by Moe Witschard

Wister’s notoriety continued to grow, as did my pride in him. A writer for the Jackson Hole News and Guide, Kelsey Dayton, read about Wister on the Exum website and decided to write a feature story about Wister and Amy. The story, Wister, the canine climber, is a summit hound, was picked up by the Associated Press and went viral. 

Wister and Amy on the Summit of the 13,745-foot Fremont Peak

Photo by Travis Garner

Ruff Wear makes the best outdoor dog gear, the Patagonia of the canine world. One afternoon my phone rang, it was Greg Freyberg, Ruffwear’s Director of Marketing, asking if Wister would join their list of professional canine athletes and become a Ruff Wear Ambassador. We were honored, and on Wister’s behalf, I accepted. One summer Wister even attended the Outdoor Retailer Show and demonstrated how to use a Ruff Wear DoubleBack Climbing  Harness. We even set Wister up with his own Face Book Fan Page.

Wister’s Credentials

A dog’s life is too short. Wister and I overlapped in the prime of our lives and later shared the pains of arthritis and stiff morning muscles. Unfortunately, his body began to fail faster than mine. At nine years old Wister had ACL surgery. He rebounded well and with a healthy diet of Mulligan Stew stayed active in the mountains for three more years. Wister and I continued to make regular ski runs on Teton Pass and long summer forays into the Wind River Range.

Around that time I got an idiot-proof video camera and made my first YouTube video of Wister and Amy skiing the Bear Claw on Teton Pass. At twelve years old Wister continued to find bliss in powder skiing.  Sadly it was one of Wister’s last ski runs. I feel very fortunate to have captured it on video and have the digital memory.

“Powder snow skiing is not fun.  It's life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality.”

 - Dolores LaChapelle

Not long after that run Wister lost his mojo. We learned later at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital he had idiopathic pericardial effusion, an excess of fluid around his heart. The hospital’s Dr. Nic Cabano was able to drain the fluid by surgically creating a small hole in his pericardial sac. I got my Wister back, for another year.

Wister Recovering at the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital

That summer Wister had his mojo back and bagged a few more peaks. One especially memorable weekend Wister, Amy and I returned to the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." 

- John Muir

That fall Wister turned 13. When the first snow fell Wister barked and got excited. We even made a few short ski runs on Teton Pass together. By spring, however, it was apparent his ticker was failing. We returned to CSU and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Dr. Jess Barrera and all the hospital’s competent and compassionate staff provided Wister with greatest kindness and care for his final days.

That following summer Amy and I retuned Wister to some of his favorite mountains: Mount Glory, Gannett Peak, Jackson Peak, and Sheep Mountain. Amy and Wister even climbed to one summit he had not been to before — Mt. Wister.

Wister’s Collar, Mt. Glory 
Photo by Brad Boner

Ode to Wister

O Wister!

Thou sleek of form!

Thy eyes of dawn

And tail of dusk!

Thou quick an nimble

Light of foot

Strong of heart!

O Wister!

- Merr Lundahl