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| Grunge Couloir   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: Utah, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 40.41620°N / 111.6669°W Route Type: Snow/Ice Climb Time Required: Most of a day Difficulty: Very Steep Snow/Ice
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| Page By: GlennMerrill Created/Edited: Jul 3, 2005 / Jul 8, 2005 Object ID: 165702 Hits: 1543 Loading... Page Score: 87.03% - 4 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
Take UT 92 east from the Alpine / Timpanogos Cave National Monument exit #287 off I-15. Continue up the Alpine loop, which is to the right at the junction to the Timpooneke Campground and Trailhead.
To get to the base of the couloir you have two main options. The first option is to climb up a gully into the Woolly Hole Cirque. This is the most direct, but involved scrambling up a gulley with loose rock. We went up the gully second from the right and followed it up until we encountered a cliff then we went right around the cliff and finished going up a smaller gully. The other option is to go up the north ridge. This climbs more gradually, but involves more bushwacking. It starts up the ridge using the Great Western trail, then you bushwack up the ridge through some aspen trees. A good game trail is past the aspen trees and will take you up until the ridge become more clear of trees and brush. Refer to the map for a better idea of the routes.
Route Description
The route is straight forward once you start up the couloir. You want to keep your eyes and ears open for rockfall. You want to stay away from the runnel as most rockfall above you will get funneled down it. The couloir gets steeper as you climb it. It is mostly 40 to 50 degrees steep, but gets up to 62 degress at the very top. Once you get to the top there is a cliff and you go to the right to get up to the summit ridge.
DESCENT
There are many posible ways to get down. You can desend the west or northwest ridge down to the dirt road and then walk down the dirt road back to your car. This is the easiest way down, but requires a long walk down the dirt road. An other option is to come down the north ridge. The only tricky part is at 10,200' where you encounter a cliff that block acces to the rest of the north ridge. We decided to rap 80' off a tree to get down. In Kelsey's book he says there is a ramp up through the cliff to the ridge above. It also looks like you could scramble down and around. After getting down the cliff band you can go down the north ridge approach.
Essential Gear
Crampons, an ice axe, and helmet are a must. Those with two ice tools will perfer them. Maybe a rope and a couple pickets. We only used the rope for the 80' rappel. Some webbing for rappeling if you take a rope.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
Images
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Wasatch Range (South)
