I did pre-apologize to Darrell about this one, but he ended up still walking away mad.
The plan was to tick off the Generator Couloir up Big Cottonwood Canyon.
This was a bad idea for many reasons, first of which was just the lack of low elevation snow which meant booting up this stream.
#2 is unrelenting bushwhacking through snow covered trees and bushes.
Laughing it off is the only way to stay sane and continue on.
We hiked up an open creek for a long long time. It was really beautiful though and plenty of crisp cool water to drink.
Or, to fall into!
I mentioned we climbed the stream for a long time? Darrell works his way over one of the many little waterfalls.
Not funny anymore? We graded this a 7 on the suckfest scale.
We finally hit snow and base of the chute. Waist deep sluff piles didn't make the going any easier though.
Deep snow gave way to steep ice at the choke of the chute. Not having ice climbing gear we tried to bypass the chute.
We ended up on really steep rock slabs covered with deep snow. Fun times!
Soaked to the bone from inside and out we continued upward by envoking the powers of the spider monkey.
Luckily we had 30m of rope to belay some of the sections that felt like full on alpine climbing. Yes that is Darrell yarding on the trees and his whippets.
Low on energy and not liking where we were or where we were heading (couldn't get back into the chute), we opted for retreat!The 600ft of skiing we did actually mange was really nice!
We then booted all the way out the creek and to the car. A shit show? Yes, I would have to say so. But also, great training and a good bit of suffering in preparation for some big trips to big lines in AK.
I've never been so soaked skiing the Wasatch. Maybe next time we'll heed the warning sign at the trailhead?
Darrell is speaking to me again, but some of the words are not so kind. It’s been a tough spring, getting shut down of several attempted lines. I think it’s the pressure of winter coming to a close and still wanting to get on a few lines that have been on the to-do list for a long time. We won’t forget this one anytime soon.
0 comments