The Grunge Couloir (NE Couloir of Mount Timpanogos)
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle Sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. The word grunge is believed to be a back-formation from the US slang adjective grungy, which originated in about 1965 as a slang term for “dirty” or “filthy”. (Thanks for the above reference from my favorite site on the web, www.wikipedia.com)
Let’s get filthy! Last Friday I headed an hour south for what might be one of the last ski outings of the season.
I parked at the Timpanooke campground (5:45ish) and took the trail that works through the trees and towards the ascent ridge.
The trail levels off and heads north. I broke off for the ridge here and encountered some road blocks.
It’s always worth the early rise to see how the great big ball of sky fire will present itself.
It’s true the Wasatch is too overcrowded. You can’t go anywhere without running into somebody these days.
First view into the chute.
Full view of the Grunge. I ditched some gear at this point seeing that I could get into the chute cleanly from the ridge.
Things became spicy at this point! The huge rock butress was waking up with the sun and washing the sleepy (skull crushing rocks) from it’s face. I had been at this exact spot last spring and turned back due to rock fall. Realizing this hazard is just par for the course I decided to carefully proceed.
Utilizing my mad dodgeball skillz I kept thinking to myself “If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge a rock” (really stupid now that I think about it from the safety of home). It was easy to run side to side out on the apron and avoid trouble. Yes, I had a helmet. (See I’m still being safe mom) Joking aside, this is a true hazard on this route and you should get an early start.
The chute was a beautiful place to be. It felt more like something from the Tetons.
Still plenty of singing missles in the chute, but I stuck close to the rock walls and used them as a shield.
Finally topping out (8:30ish) with a full view of “Happy Valley”.
Skiing has developed a rating system similar to the climbing world. The Grunge is rated S6, which is quoted as “Slopes continuously steeper than 55 degrees. Painful death from falling is highly likely”. Pretty simple then, don’t fall. I know I have some commitment issues and it took me a few minutes to sack-up and drop into this one.
The traverse from ridge into the fall line gut was steep and exposed, but the snow was perfect corn.
Chips Ahoy! The rest of the turns were on firm, but edgeable snow packed with chocolate chip rocks.
The apron was moneyballs!
Bushwacking back down the ridge.
Found the trail again and followed it back to the truck.
Kissing farewell to the the best ski season of my life! I love a climactic finish!
I’m going to borrow my dad’s favorite line that he uses about his profession/obsession “If I knew of something more fun, I would do it”.
OOps, I may have mis named the object of my drooling, maybe it’s cold fusion.
You are correct! The grunge isn’t visible from the valley. Go get em both!!
I found this while seeking info on the Sub Zero Line off the north-ish tip of the Timpanogos range. I know that rock fall sound, like a spaghetti western ricochet. I drool over that 3+K vertical 45ish angle chute every time I drive South, It’s been years since I had nearby friends to keep me ski mountaineering, and I’m trying to convince an adventurous friend to try it Saturday. Lately, I’ve heard an interesting psychological phenomenon whereby the goals we talk about are often not achieved or even substantially attempted. Hopefully this Maxim does not hold for written blog comments 😉
And don’t worry, nobody reads this blog, so it’s just between you and me. 😉 Looks like winter is sticking around for a bit. Should have time to go ski it.
These pictures are amazing. I have to admit i’m a little jealous that you do stuff like this. I would definitely like to, but I have a small fear of heights. And, as we can all see-this is pretty high! thanks for sharing this though, it’s fun to look at pictures of other people’s adventures.