Skiing the west face of Mount Timpanogos

On my bucket list has always been to ski the west face of Mount Timpanogos in Utah. On May the 5th, 2011, a few guys from a local club were hiking (booting) and skiing to the top of the true summit (11,749 ft.) via Everest Ridge or the west face, as I call it. My friend Jim Knight invited me to do an alternate route the same day and ascend to the top of the East Summit via the Aspen Grove/Primose Cirque route (from the northeast side) and then descend the west face. I was worried about the descent route being too steep or icy for my limited ability, but as it turned out the maximum gradient was perhaps only 35 degrees and had many wide-open areas providing stress-free skiing. On previous trips, skiing down Primose Cirque had more challenging terrain and was frequently littered with avalanche debris. It took us about five hours to make the ascent to the southeast summit (approx. 11,722 ft.), arriving at about 11 a.m. We then descending off the windblown and crusty summit bloc and met the others at the main snowfield saddle, which sits above Emerald Lake (totally covered this year). At the saddle, I foolishly dropped a ski and it slid about 800 to 1000 feet down the wrong gully before it luckily came to a stop. I booted down to it and then rejoined the others as they descended.

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Author: Rando Richard

I’m an old guy (age 69 in 2023) who enjoys aerobic, endurance sports. I call myself a cardio-junkie. Perhaps the more appropriate term would be “ultra” endurance sports. Since I was a teenager I have always enjoyed “slow twitch” outdoor sports like backpacking, ice climbing, running, mountaineering, hiking, alpine skiing and randonnée skiing (alpine touring, backcountry skiing or skimo). In 2005 I starting running with more regularity — except this time it was not for the intent of getting ready for a mountaineering trip, but as an end to itself. From 2005 to 2007 I managed to eek out two seasons of ultramarathons — that is competitive trail runs up to 50 or 100 miles. Due to a nagging ankle injury from the 80s (an accident while ice climbing in the 1980s where my lower tib and fib were badly broken), I had to cease that grueling, but rewarding activity. I then migrated into ultra distance road cycling or randonneuring. The rides are called brevets (pronounced bruh-VAY, it’s French) and are minimally supported — they are similar to ultrarunning and backpacking where one must be self reliant. Although brevets are non-competitive, they do have have cut off times to qualify as a finisher. They are usually are done in groups, which can have a competitive slant to them. Today, I continue to participate in long distance cycling including some ultra-racing, randonnée skiing (a blend of cross country and downhill disciplines) and still get out on an occasional mountaineering trip. Since 1996 I have been designing, manufacturing and selling camera bags. That is Kinesis Photo Gear (kgear.com). In 2005 I started selling cycling bags under the Kinesis label and eventually expanded it to including other sports like SUP (stand-up paddle boarding and some skimo). Consequently, it become eoGEAR — the “eo” stands for endurance outdoor. My wife and I are empty-nesters now and we live and work out in the boondocks of central Utah, half way between Salt Lake City (great powder) and Moab (great red rocks). Well, I guess that is all for now. Safe travels mate! Perhaps I’ll see you on the road or trail. — Richard Stum

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