Skip to content
Menu
Backcountry Fever
  • Contact
  • Experience
  • Highpoints
  • My Never-Ending List
  • Projects
    • Adirondack 46ers
    • Colorado 14ers
    • Seven Summits
    • Wasatch 7
    • Wasatch 11ers
Backcountry Fever
← Mt. Olympus from Neff’s Canyon
Denied Mt. Sunflower →

Cold Fusion Couloir to North Timpanogos

Posted on May 10, 2021August 20, 2024 by Backcountry Fever

I look forward to the season between winter snowshoeing and summer hiking…when avalanche risk is minimal, skies are blue, temps are mild and adventure is high!  This spring brought some adventurous fun up Mt. Olympus from Neff’s Canyon and now Cold Fusion to North Timpanogos.

Seeing Timp from my house every day, I’ve wanted to scale that route up to the North peak ever since my first mountaineering experience on Deseret Peak last year.

We started at Mutual Dell with the first 1.6 miles and 1,400′ up the Bear Canyon Trail.  This approach then follows the Timpooneke Road where we found patches of snow for the next 3ish miles.

The entrance of Cold Fusion is pretty easy to see at 7am.  Trail stats at this point were 4.4 miles in and 2,100′ up.  Here’s where the fun begins!

The lower part of this ravine climbs up through what looks like a wide half pipe, perfectly shaped to funnel a large flow of snow. I bet this is a wicked avalanche path when the conditions are ripe.

Slope angle is pretty tame for about the first third of the way.

Then the climbing intensifies with crampons and an ice axe (or two) required.

Even though this shot is out of focus, you can still see that we are square in the red zone of this slope angle now (38-40°).

The climbing continues as we near the top of this couloir!

We finally break out of the shadows and into the sun, although a cold front rolled in the night before and temps were 20° cooler today.

I didn’t get a slope angle measurement here for obvious reasons, but I was at the right place at the right time for this shot.

We are now at the top of the couloir with not far left to go.

It’s just a short walk along this snowy ridge to the false summit.

When we first saw this cairn, we thought we made it to the North peak of Timpanogos with Bomber Peak in the distance.  However a quick check of the GPS showed us standing on the false summit with true North across the way!

Down and over we go!

Navigating this cliff band looks more intimidating that it really was.

Looking back at the false summit as we continued up to the true summit of North Timp.

Huge cornices hanging off this North peak. I’d love to see when that breaks off and tumbles down.

Spectacular views of the main and south summits of Mt. Timpanogos.

Fantastic views to the northeast.  Can you see the parking area for Pine Hollow way down there?

As we headed down, skiers were still making their way up.

The snow remained pretty solid to do any glissading on, even by mid-afternoon.

This is one EPIC route that will need to be repeated again!

Final stats: 5,256′ in 11.8 miles.

Now I wanna do a Timp Traverse from North to South!

← Mt. Olympus from Neff’s Canyon
Denied Mt. Sunflower →

1 thought on “Cold Fusion Couloir to North Timpanogos”

  1. Rick Mandahl says:
    December 28, 2024 at 9:58 am

    Very nice account of your ascent. In June 1981, I climbed and skied solo this majestic couloir. This was a full decade before it was named Cold Fusion by the team inaccurately claiming first ski descent. I don’t know if I was first to ski the couloir in this range full of skiing and climbing tradition – but what a beautiful and worthy line.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

My 13th time on this summit, but 1st to enjoy some watermelon at the top 🍉 Thanks to Jocelyn, the "Watermelon Girl", who lugged that all the way up and was gracious enough to share it 😁

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mounttimp #timpanogos #timp #11er #hikethewasatch #summitshot #peakbagger #summervibes #watermelon #watermelongirl #goodvibrations

29 2
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18494366443068269
My 13th time on this summit, but 1st to enjoy some watermelon at the top 🍉 Thanks to Jocelyn, the "Watermelon Girl", who lugged that all the way up and was gracious enough to share it 😁

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mounttimp #timpanogos #timp #11er #hikethewasatch #summitshot #peakbagger #summervibes #watermelon #watermelongirl #goodvibrations

Summit Shack in Sight!

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mttimp #timp #wasatchfront #wasatchmountains #11er #summitshack #mountainlife #hikemore #hikerlife

19 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18350512492156368
Summit Shack in Sight!

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mttimp #timp #wasatchfront #wasatchmountains #11er #summitshack #mountainlife #hikemore #hikerlife

Veered right a bit of the South saddle (red line) for a more adventurous route up to Timp... but once we got up on the ridge, we saw we could have done an even more interesting way (yellow line) cutting into that cliff band and zigzagging along the shelves as seen in the 4th picture (taken from South Timp).

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mttimp #timp #timpanogos #mountaineering

30 1
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18083925961775519
Veered right a bit of the South saddle (red line) for a more adventurous route up to Timp... but once we got up on the ridge, we saw we could have done an even more interesting way (yellow line) cutting into that cliff band and zigzagging along the shelves as seen in the 4th picture (taken from South Timp).

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #mttimp #timp #timpanogos #mountaineering

Only a few patches of snow remain between Aspen Grove and Emerald Lake.

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #timpanogos #timp #aspengrove #emeraldlake #snowfun #springhiking #wasatchmountains #goatworthy

35 1
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18330819139163410
Only a few patches of snow remain between Aspen Grove and Emerald Lake.

#mounttimpanogos #mttimpanogos #timpanogos #timp #aspengrove #emeraldlake #snowfun #springhiking #wasatchmountains #goatworthy

For those interested in doing Deseret Peak... the snow is still in the couloirs, but only for a little while longer!

#deseretpeak #twincouloirs #mountaineering

27 1
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18047137721625663
For those interested in doing Deseret Peak... the snow is still in the couloirs, but only for a little while longer!

#deseretpeak #twincouloirs #mountaineering

The best way to slide down a snowy slope in Spring conditions is like this...

#glissade #glissading #springtimefun #mountaineering #slipperywhenwet #letsgooo

17 1
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 17851034010437154
The best way to slide down a snowy slope in Spring conditions is like this...

#glissade #glissading #springtimefun #mountaineering #slipperywhenwet #letsgooo

Didn`t get much mountaineering in this Spring, so trying to catch the last bit of something before the snow`s all gone.

#mountaineering #snowhike #wolverinecirque #abovebrighton #brighton #springadventures #springhike #westillhavesnow #utahhiking #mtmillicent #mtwolverine #patsymarley #ridgehike

25 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18071868488494094
Didn't get much mountaineering in this Spring, so trying to catch the last bit of something before the snow's all gone.

#mountaineering #snowhike #wolverinecirque #abovebrighton #brighton #springadventures #springhike #westillhavesnow #utahhiking #mtmillicent #mtwolverine #patsymarley #ridgehike

Not too many cold weather weekends left to go winter camping!

#coldweathercamping #wintercamping #wintercamp #uintas #sledsintow #stillwinterhere #winterfun

16 0
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 18363244447130614
Not too many cold weather weekends left to go winter camping!

#coldweathercamping #wintercamping #wintercamp #uintas #sledsintow #stillwinterhere #winterfun

Bagged Bierstadt today! Thought I could get Evans too, but took one look at The Sawtooth and went "nope"! I was also by myself... either way, that stretch looked intense even without the snow.

Get the full trip report at BackcountryFever.com/CO

#bierstadt #mountbierstadt #mtbierstadt #mtbierstadtsummit #winterroute #snowshoeing #snowshoeadventures #hikecolorado #hikeco #colorado14ers #colorado14er #14er #14ers #14ersummit #peakbagging #summitchaser

28 1
Open post by backcountryfever with ID 17901033000080878
Bagged Bierstadt today!  Thought I could get Evans too, but took one look at The Sawtooth and went "nope"! I was also by myself... either way, that stretch looked intense even without the snow.

Get the full trip report at BackcountryFever.com/CO

#bierstadt #mountbierstadt #mtbierstadt #mtbierstadtsummit #winterroute #snowshoeing #snowshoeadventures #hikecolorado #hikeco #colorado14ers #colorado14er #14er #14ers #14ersummit #peakbagging #summitchaser
Follow on Instagram

Recent Posts

  • It’s Mountaineering Season in Utah!
  • Echo Flask Hydrogen Water: Next Level Hydration?
  • Bagging Bierstadt from the Winter Route
  • We Upgraded to Oura Ring 4
  • 2024 Year in Review

Recent Comments

  • Rich Meziere on Bummed Out By A Broken BOA Binding
  • Backcountry Fever on Bummed Out By A Broken BOA Binding
  • Alex Cook on Bummed Out By A Broken BOA Binding
  • Rick Mandahl on Cold Fusion Couloir to North Timpanogos
  • Foot on Brasstown Bald from the Arkaquah Trail

RECOMMENDED READING

Categories

  • 14ers
  • Adventure Plans
  • Avalanche Awareness
  • Backpacking
  • Epic Hikes
  • Grand Canyon
  • Health & Wellness
  • Mountaineering
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Peak Bagging
  • Product Feedback
  • Reading References
  • Road Trip
  • Scrambling
  • Season Summary
  • Six-Pack Challenge
  • Snowshoeing
  • Social Media
  • State Highpoints
  • Technology
  • Uinta Mountains
  • Uncategorized
  • Uphill Training
  • Wasatch Front
  • Zion
©2025 Backcountry Fever