JACKSON, WYOMING – Lisa Lander of Narrowsburg, owner of Lander’s River Trips, Lander’s River Mart and Lander’s River Cafe, pulled off a near-impossible feat late last month. After setting a goal of standing on the summit of the Grand Teton in Wyoming 18 months ago, the 63-year-old grandmother accomplished just that on July 31. 

At 13,775 feet, the Grand Teton is the highest peak of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park. It is the second-highest peak in the state of Wyoming behind Gannett Peak of the Northern Wind River Range at 13,810 feet. 

The original plan, Lander says, was to reach the summit of the mountain last year for the 100th anniversary of the first woman, Eleanor Davis, making it to the top. She had flown out to Wyoming with her college roommate at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, Jane Black, but bad weather turned them away from the summit. 

“After last summer’s disappointment, I was pretty sad but picked myself up and recommitted,” said Lander. “I found a new partner since Jane didn’t want to attempt it again.”

Lisa noted that Jane had stayed in the tent at high camp instead of attempting a summit because she didn’t feel well. With her new partner, Lander successfully summited on the West Teton, known as The Enclosure, on August 20, 2023, since it didn’t carry as many dangers as the Grand Teton. She said that no one else was on the summit that day. 

“It still hurt since I had trained hard,” Lander stated.

But she refused to give up and recommitted to training hard again starting in February. She went on a strenuous, 24-week training schedule which included an altitude mask, a 38-pound weighted backpack and a lot of hiking on double black diamond ski hills. Lander said that she trained for one to two hours every day. 

Then on Wednesday, July 31 at 4:15 p.m., Lander finally stood on top of the Grand Teton. 

“It was the toughest adventure I’ve ever attempted,” she said. “I wasn’t sure I could do it but I decided that it would be best to summit in one day and then camp at the saddle between the Grand Teton and Middle Teton.”

Lander’s Exum guide for both the initial attempt and the successful summit of Grand Teton was Aaron Diamond of Honesdale, whose father, Dr. Paul Diamond, was her kids’ pediatrician. 

Lander said that they set off with an aggressive pace to reach camp in five hours, a seven-mile trek with about a 5,000-foot elevation gain while wearing their heavy overnight packs. She said that Diamond decided they should attempt to summit that afternoon.

“The weather was good and we had maintained the pace without too much trouble,” Lander said. “We set out for the summit and four hours later, I stepped on top of the Grand Teton. It was overwhelming to be there and I still can’t quite imagine I did it at 63. It was a dream, which with some dedication and hard work, became a reality.”

After making the summit, Lander said that they still had three hours to get off the summit to camp which was at 11,600 feet.