Thunder Mountains Traverse

On the summit of South Thunder Mountain

Date: June 20, 2010
Distance: ~13-14 miles
Vertical: ~7000 feet gained
Time: ~11 hours
Peaks: South Thunder Mountain (11,154 feet), North Thunder Mountain (11,150 feet)
Route: Bells Canyon to upper reservoir to Bells-Cleaver saddle, north ridge to S.Thunder summit, Thunder Bowl (Class 4) ridge to N.Thunder summit, glissade descent of west couloir to Thunder Bowl basin, re-climb to Bells-Cleaver saddle, follow Bells Canyon back out
Crew: Jake, Andrea, Bradley

This was our first big Wasatch excursion and it was an instant classic. The Thunder Mountains are seen from all over Salt Lake City, but rarely climbed due to the fact that its simply a long, hard day to get them both. Andrea and I were lucky enough to hike and climb with Bradley, a Wasatch Mountain Club veteran. He taught us a lot about route-finding and climbing the classic routes in this area.

We started at the Bells Canyon trailhead just after 6am. It took about 3 hours to hike the 5+ miles up to the upper reservoir. That's when the fun started. We had some mixed scrambling and snow traversing until we reached the Bells-Cleaver saddle, then followed the ridge up to the South Thunder summit. The ridge was a combination of climbing on consolidated snow and class 3 scrambling with awesome exposure and unbelievable 360 degree views. It only got better from there... after reaching the summit of South Thunder, we backtracked a little bit until we hit the connecting ridge to North Thunder. This was a super fun mile-long ridge that included a handful of class 4 moves. Andrea handled her first long ridge traverse and class 4 climbing like an absolute champion (this was the longest ridge "run" I had ever done as well). From North Thunder, we found a nice couloir to glissade, then climbed back up to the saddle, and hiked down the 5-6 mile "beatout" to the car. Towards the bottom, we got held up for a while as paramedics were hauling out a guy who had taken a fall at some waterfalls and broken his legs (story). Tough week for the Bells Canyon trail, as earlier in the week a guy was stabbed on this trail!

I've had some amazing days in the mountains over the past couple years, but this one immediately goes on the short list of the best. It was a challenging but very fun route, one that is seldom traveled and peaks that are rarely climbed because of the commitment required to reach them. The weather and conditions were perfect; not a cloud in the sky, and the snow was perfectly consolidated (very limited post-holing). Bradley was an excellent guide - he set a nice pace and taught us a lot about the area. And finally and most importantly, it was just awesome to complete a route like that with Andrea. Major kudos to you for this one babe! You killed it! And actually, the best part might have been that we were in such a calorie deficit by the end of the day that we got to have ice cream, mac & cheese, and then ice cream again when we got home!


The area of interest relative to SLC


Our approximate route


Crossing the stream in Bells Canyon


Teamwork = dry feet!


Reaching the Bells-Cleaver saddle with Lone Peak behind


Attack stance?


Another great view of Lone Peak


Starting the hike up the ridge to South Thunder


Andrea and Bradley making their way up


Andrea working her way across the ridge


Every move resulted in more and more views like this


HIGH above SLC


On the big boulders just below South Thunder's summit


Panoramic shot from South Thunder, with some important peaks labeled


About 1/3 of the way into the traverse, with some of the route and the crux wall labeled


Andrea working across the snow below the ridgeline. We downclimbed a bit to bypass a class 5 section of the ridge.


Bradley kicking steps back up to the ridge


Climbing a super-fun little pitch about halfway across the traverse


Andrea and I working the ridge


Andrea working her way across


Thunder Bowl from above


Bradley and I starting the 4th class crux wall


Helping Andrea on the first move of the crux wall


Working the last move of the crux wall


Andrea pulling herself up over the final move on the crux wall... some serious exposure here!


On the ridge, nearing the summit


Andrea on the North Thunder summit


A look back at a lot of the route once we reached the Cleaver saddle (bottom-right)


Andrea looking up Little Cottonwood Canyon towards Alta & Snowbird


North Thunder summit


Glissading on perfect snow down the west couloir


Andrea and I glissading


Glissading is a nice reward and easier on the legs


Our glissade route in yellow and then hike across the basin in red


At the botton of Thunder Bowl


Thunder Bowl from below


Looking back up Bells Canyon a few hours later, almost back at the trailhead