Mount Owen - 12,948' - Koven couloir - Class 5.4
june 2014
As part of the acclimatization plans Josh and I had for Peru, we decided to try and climb Mount Owen in the Tetons. Even though we didn't quite reach the summit, we had a great time and Josh got to see the Tetons for the first time. We parked at the Lupine Meadows Trailhead and started up the Avalanche Lake Trail. It was a smooth hike in however since I was carrying my plastic boots and ropes, my pack was heavy. We reached continuous snow about a mile before Avalanche Lake at which point we left the trail and hiked up along the ridge which dropped very steeply to our right into Glacier Gulch. This allowed us to stay off snow most of the time as well as shorten our hike in. We reached the nice saddle a couple hundred feet above the lake where we had a great overlook of Mount Owen and Teeniwot Peak. I scouted the route down into Glacier Gulch which involved a very steep traverse on snow covered ledges to get around the large cliffs on the north side of Disappointment Peak. A couple skiers ran past us as we hiked up with all our climbing gear who planned to ski a short couloir on Disappointment Peak. Right as we arrived at the saddle, we saw them riding down.
After I finished scouting the route, we set up camp and cooked a nice dinner. We had this beautiful spot to ourselves. The sunset was spectacular and we went to bed as early as we could. The nights are short, limiting our sleep time. We managed to get up at twilight and start working our way along the exposed traverse down. The steps we kicked the previous afternoon helped since the snow hardened up at night. A slip here without an immediate arrest would be death!
We made it into Glacier Gulch and began ascending moderate snow up the series of end moraines. The glacier that once filled this basin is essentially gone making travel here especially difficult in the summer when all the loose talus is exposed. We were able to make quick work across the moraine though and reached the base of the Koven Couloir. We racked up and I started up the first easy pitch which involved some low 5th class rock climbing with crampons on. I got to a nice ledge when the rope ran out and belayed Josh up. I then continued up a nice chimney to a large flat area above the rocky buttress at the base of the couloir. Josh followed and we began simul-climbing up the couloir. The first half was very moderate but when we reached the steep walls of East Prong to our right, the couloir steepened to 50+ degrees and the snow conditions were horrible. We carefully climbed roped together placing a picket every 30 meters. Eventually, I ran out of pickets as the leader and not wanting to wait for Josh to climb to me, we continued solo until I reached the col at the top of the couloir. Here I was greeted with a small flat spot in a moat, and a piton I used to belay Josh up.
It was late morning by this point and we still had a lot of climbing to go. The bad snow conditions really slowed us down. Every step would blow out underneath our feet and with 55 degree snow that's a problem. From the col, we continued left up a snow arete and up a chimney. Some steep snow and 4th class rock got us up this 45 meter chimney that Josh led. The snow was so bad, Josh placed a picket in 20 degree snow above the chimney to belay me up. At this point it was after noon, and we decided it just wasn't wide to continue. The east ridge itself is rated 5.6 and I wasn't feeling up to leading that in plastic boots, nor did I know where the route even went so we began our descent.
Since we didn't want to downclimb anything we just climbed due to the dangerous snow conditions, we rapped off a picket down the chimney and made it safely back to the col atop the Koven Couloir. Then we made 4 double rope rappels down the couloir. The first one was off the piton at the top with the next 3 being off slung boulders. We got the ropes stuck twice forcing each of up to re-climb 60 meters to fix them. This added 2 hours to our descent that wasn't necessary. After the 4 raps, we were about halfway down where it mellowed a bit but was still a huge pain to descend since we couldn't plunge step. We even started some small wet slides as we descended. We made two more raps down the rocky buttress at the base and by this point, the ropes were drenched in water, doubling their weight. The hike back to our tent was tiring as we had to traverse exposed snow once again and by the time we reached the tent it was nearly dark.
We went straight to sleep. I had vastly underestimated that climb and next time I will go in July when the snow is in better shape. The following morning we slept in and dried the ropes in the morning sun. The hike out was uneventful and long.
After I finished scouting the route, we set up camp and cooked a nice dinner. We had this beautiful spot to ourselves. The sunset was spectacular and we went to bed as early as we could. The nights are short, limiting our sleep time. We managed to get up at twilight and start working our way along the exposed traverse down. The steps we kicked the previous afternoon helped since the snow hardened up at night. A slip here without an immediate arrest would be death!
We made it into Glacier Gulch and began ascending moderate snow up the series of end moraines. The glacier that once filled this basin is essentially gone making travel here especially difficult in the summer when all the loose talus is exposed. We were able to make quick work across the moraine though and reached the base of the Koven Couloir. We racked up and I started up the first easy pitch which involved some low 5th class rock climbing with crampons on. I got to a nice ledge when the rope ran out and belayed Josh up. I then continued up a nice chimney to a large flat area above the rocky buttress at the base of the couloir. Josh followed and we began simul-climbing up the couloir. The first half was very moderate but when we reached the steep walls of East Prong to our right, the couloir steepened to 50+ degrees and the snow conditions were horrible. We carefully climbed roped together placing a picket every 30 meters. Eventually, I ran out of pickets as the leader and not wanting to wait for Josh to climb to me, we continued solo until I reached the col at the top of the couloir. Here I was greeted with a small flat spot in a moat, and a piton I used to belay Josh up.
It was late morning by this point and we still had a lot of climbing to go. The bad snow conditions really slowed us down. Every step would blow out underneath our feet and with 55 degree snow that's a problem. From the col, we continued left up a snow arete and up a chimney. Some steep snow and 4th class rock got us up this 45 meter chimney that Josh led. The snow was so bad, Josh placed a picket in 20 degree snow above the chimney to belay me up. At this point it was after noon, and we decided it just wasn't wide to continue. The east ridge itself is rated 5.6 and I wasn't feeling up to leading that in plastic boots, nor did I know where the route even went so we began our descent.
Since we didn't want to downclimb anything we just climbed due to the dangerous snow conditions, we rapped off a picket down the chimney and made it safely back to the col atop the Koven Couloir. Then we made 4 double rope rappels down the couloir. The first one was off the piton at the top with the next 3 being off slung boulders. We got the ropes stuck twice forcing each of up to re-climb 60 meters to fix them. This added 2 hours to our descent that wasn't necessary. After the 4 raps, we were about halfway down where it mellowed a bit but was still a huge pain to descend since we couldn't plunge step. We even started some small wet slides as we descended. We made two more raps down the rocky buttress at the base and by this point, the ropes were drenched in water, doubling their weight. The hike back to our tent was tiring as we had to traverse exposed snow once again and by the time we reached the tent it was nearly dark.
We went straight to sleep. I had vastly underestimated that climb and next time I will go in July when the snow is in better shape. The following morning we slept in and dried the ropes in the morning sun. The hike out was uneventful and long.
