I had an incredible morning climbing the Grunge Couloir on North Timpanogos. This is the chute that goes right up the middle of the two North summits on Timp on the back (East side) of the mountain. The route has about 6K elevation gain, and is definitely one of the most sketchy climbs in the Wasatch, but it was tons of fun. The couloir (chute) is about 1200 feet straight up on steep (up to 62 degrees) snow, and there are plenty of hazards to keep your attention.
The main concern is rock fall. While we were in the chute we saw at least 200 rocks tumbling down at a high rate of speed. Now most of these were small, but if they hit you it would not be good. There is a main runnel with two smaller runnels that funnel the majority of the rock fall right down the chute, so we had to make sure to stay away from them as much as possible, although at times they were unavoidable. The scariest section by far is where the walls of the chute become very narrow (Probably 5-7 feet) and all of the rock fall goes right through that funnel, so you have to cross your fingers and move fast. It was definitely an adrenaline rush, and luckily we made it through without a single rock coming down on us, which is amazing since we saw several before and after.
At the top of the chute the slope is very steep and you have to work your way out trying to avoid some massive cornices. My heart was pumping hard for sure. It took us just over an hour to get through the couloir and then it was a short easy climb to the summit of North Timp. After that we had a super fun glissade on our butts of almost 3000 feet down the Cold Fusion Couloir.
We had an early morning start, meeting at 4:00 AM, and I got just over 2.5 hours of sleep. I am pretty tired. I will post some pics of the climb in the next day or two. | 