Finding solitude in the Wasatch backcountry during the winter can be a difficult task due to the area's popularity and ease of access. After doing some research on summitpost Me and Matt decided get away from the hustle and bustle and head west into the Deseret Peak Wilderness to ski the Twin Couloirs. The Twins are to two north facing couloirs, the eastern at 36 degrees, and the western at 38 degrees. According to summitpost, an ascent of 1300 feet will get you to the top, and is an alternative route for the summit of Deseret Peak. The morning of December 3 we drove out to Grantsville to start our Deseret adventure. Unfortunately, after driving down South Willow Canyon road we came upon a locked National Forest gate 4 miles below the trailhead. With about an inch of snow on the road, it could have been easily driven, but the winter closure force us to start skinning. After destroying our skins for 4 miles we finally made it to the Loop Campground and hit the trail up to the Twins. Our goal was to skin straight up couloirs, as seen in the topo below, rather than come up from the Mill Fork drainage.
However, we ended up in the Mill Fork drainage after following the sign for Deseret Peak. After hours of laborious skinning and ominous weather, we decided to accept defeat. Despite gaining a few thousand feet of vert, we were able to ski/board a fraction of it due to thin snowpack. Skinning down eventually transitioned to hiking, and we finally made it back to the car as it was getting dark. Below is a link to our Garmin trip report for the misadventure.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132780548
I won't mention Brian and Matt's attempt at the Twins, except that is was another defeat.
Which brings us to last weekend. Me, Matt, and Dani decided to head up to the Wilderness once again to scramble up the Twins and bag Deseret Peak (11,031 ft). Driving down South Willow Canyon provides a spectacular view of the Stansbury Mtns and the prominence of Deseret Peak...completely different than the Wasatch. With no winter closure, we were able to drive all the way to the Loop campground. As a side note, there are bolted climbs along the way if anyone is interested in the Tooele/Grantsville climbing scene. Bushwacking along game trails, we finally made it to the base of the Twins.
We decided to scramble up the western couloir (right side in pic), which I have to commend Dani's effort because she did 1300 ft of class 3 with only one arm. After reaching the top, we jumped on the established trail up to Deseret Peak. From the top, there seems to be great ski/board terrain to be had in the Stansbury Mtns...provided an above average snowfall. I'm excited for what this year's winter will have to offer, and especially stoked for skiing down the Twins.
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| Matt and Dani at the top of Deseret Peak supporting RSL |
