You may have seen it - here's a view of Aetna's Grand Couloir, from Monarch Pass -
1. This classic line should only be done as a snow climb and is skied by many people each Spring. Park in the small, Boss Lake trailhead parking area or across the highway at Monarch lodge and start your day by walking up Forest Service (FS) road 230 -
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3. Pass the turn-off for Boss Lake after 1.5 miles (
4) and continue another mile to reach a corner, where the view opens up to the southwest -
5. Walk around the corner and turn right to enter the large run-out below the Grand Couloir -
6. If you've previously only viewed the Grand Couloir from Monarch Pass, you might be surprised by how low-angle it looks from this vantage but don't be fooled, this foreshortened view cannot hide the fact that there's 2,900' of gain between you and the summit.
Continue northeast across the openness of the run-out and begin your ascent of the Grand -
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8. Pass through a narrow-ish section between 11,600' and 11,800' to reach easier ground, near a slight turn in the couloir -
9. Once above 12,000', the remaining 1,800' to the summit becomes obvious -
10. Continue climbing north -
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15. Between 13,100' and 13,400', the couloir steepens to approx. 38 degrees and is the crux of the route. Above 13,500', angle northeast (
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17) to gain the summit ridge and the top of Mt. Aetna -
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GPX File
WARNING!
