Pete Wojcik Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) My brother and I took advantage of the good weather last week and decided to give Hood a try. Our initial plan was to start at the timberline parking lot early Friday morning, head up the south side to the hogsback ridge, and from there try either the old chute or the pearly gates. There was a 1-2 inch breakable ice crust that stepped down into softer snow around the timberline parking lot when we arrived Thursday afternoon. After talking to ski patrol and others coming down it looked like these conditions would continue on up at least to the top of the Palmer. NWAC had forecasted three avalanche problems for the day; Wind Slab, Loose Wet, and Cornices. The temperatures were also forecasted to reach near the freezing level on the summit during mid-day. We wanted to mitigate the risk of the loose wet problem (south aspects) and any ice fall that may be encountered passing the rime ice towers on the traverse to and from the old chute to the hogsback by starting as early as possible and getting down before the sun hit the south facing slopes. We started from the parking lot at 1:30 am. There was some wind gusts in the parking lot but after ascending about 1000’ it completely died down and was calm until we reached the summit ridge. I was definitely grateful for this…I had heard a few stories about high winds up to the hogsback. The breakable ice/wind blown layer was pretty firm in some places making for easy cramponing past the Palmer. After reaching the hogsback we decided to give the old chute a try. There was a nice bootpack and easy steps to follow all the way up the chute (thanks to everyone before us kicking steps!). The first 100 ft or so from the old chute to the summit on the summit ridge was a bit sketchy but we felt comfortable soloing it. We made it back to the hogsback just as the sun was starting to hit those south facing slopes in the crater and didn’t have any issues with icefall from the rime ice towers. The snow began to soften up around the hogsback area when we started descending around 10:45 am. We postholed a bit on the east slope of the hogsback but after that we didn’t punch down much further than our ankles and the ice/wind blown layer was still pretty firm in some places even down to the parking lot. Some notes/observations: - The bergschrund looked completely filled and several folks were passing directly over it. - Bring a helmet! I got nailed in the head by a piece of the breakable ice/wind blown layer that was kicked off by a climber above me while descending the old chute. I saw a couple of people heading to the summit without one so I thought I’d mention it. Link to GPX file: https://caltopo.com/m/80VQ Times: 1:30 am: Start at timberline parking lot. 4:00 am: Top of the palmer lift. 7:30 am: Hogsback ridge. 9:00 am: Summit. 10:00 am: Back at Hogsback ridge. 12:15 pm: End at timberline parking lot. Ready to head up the hogsback in the morning. Making our way to the old chute. Looking up the old chute. Old chute. Top of the old chute. Watch the edge! Summit ridge after exiting the old chute. Summit! POV video of the summit ridge headed back to the old chute. [video:youtube]c8BvZZ-tdIU Headed back down to the hogsback. Hogsback ridge. Sun halo and a couple of climbers headed up to climb the Devil’s Kitchen Headwall. One last look at the hogsback. Edited April 9, 2016 by p_dub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Wojcik Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 I've been unable to post this trip report. After entering everything and checking it via preview, I click submit and it deletes everything and shows a blank post. I read a couple of other reports with this issue but no solutions. I have been trying to troubleshoot this and have not found a solution. It seems like after entering a certain amount of text or some defined length of the document it will delete everything and give a blank document after submitting, i.e. I can submit short sections of the trip report and see it after submitting but after a certain length it will delete everything and give a blank document after submitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunkiemike Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 It seems like after entering a certain amount of text or some defined length of the document it will delete everything and give a blank document after submitting, i.e. I can submit short sections of the trip report and see it after submitting but after a certain length it will delete everything and give a blank document after submitting. Maybe it's too long because you tend to repeat yourself. (Sorry, trying to be funny. Sux that you can't post it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Wojcik Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 My brother and I took advantage of the good weather last week and decided to give Hood a try. Our initial plan was to start at the timberline parking lot early Friday morning, head up the south side to the hogsback ridge, and from there try either the old chute or the pearly gates. There was a 1-2 inch breakable ice crust that stepped down into softer snow around the timberline parking lot when we arrived Thursday afternoon. After talking to ski patrol and others coming down it looked like these conditions would continue on up at least to the top of the Palmer. NWAC had forecasted three avalanche problems for the day; Wind Slab, Loose Wet, and Cornices. The temperatures were also forecasted to reach near the freezing level on the summit during mid-day. We wanted to mitigate the risk of the loose wet problem (south aspects) and any ice fall that may be encountered passing the rime ice towers on the traverse to and from the old chute to the hogsback by starting as early as possible and getting down before the sun hit the south facing slopes. We started from the parking lot at 1:30 am. There was some wind gusts in the parking lot but after ascending about 1000’ it completely died down and was calm until we reached the summit ridge. I was definitely grateful for this…I had heard a few stories about high winds up to the hogsback. The breakable ice/wind blown layer was pretty firm in some places making for easy cramponing past the Palmer. After reaching the hogsback we decided to give the old chute a try. There was a nice bootpack and easy steps to follow all the way up the chute (thanks to everyone before us kicking steps!). The first 100 ft or so from the old chute to the summit on the summit ridge was a bit sketchy but we felt comfortable soloing it. We made it back to the hogsback just as the sun was starting to hit those south facing slopes in the crater and didn’t have any issues with icefall from the rime ice towers. The snow began to soften up around the hogsback area when we started descending around 10:45 am. We postholed a bit on the east slope of the hogsback but after that we didn’t punch down much further than our ankles and the ice/wind blown layer was still pretty firm in some places even down to the parking lot. Bring a helmet! I got nailed in the head by a piece of the breakable ice/wind blown layer that was kicked off by a climber above me while descending the old chute. I saw a couple of people heading to the summit without one so I thought I’d mention it. Link to GPX file: https://caltopo.com/m/80VQ Times: 1:30 am: Start at timberline parking lot. 4:00 am: Top of the palmer lift. 7:30 am: Hogsback ridge. 9:00 am: Summit. 10:00 am: Back at Hogsback ridge. 12:15 pm: End at timberline parking lot. Ready to head up the hogsback in the morning. Making our way to the old chute. Looking up the old chute. Old chute. Top of the old chute. Watch the edge! Summit ridge after exiting the old chute. Summit! POV video of the summit ridge headed back to the old chute. [video:youtube]c8BvZZ-tdIU Headed back down to the hogsback. Hogsback ridge. Sun halo and a couple of climbers headed up to climb the Devil’s Kitchen Headwall. One last look at the hogsback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Wojcik Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 March 18, 2016 My brother and I took advantage of the good weather last week and decided to give Hood a try. Our initial plan was to start at the timberline parking lot early Friday morning, head up the south side to the hogsback ridge, and from there try either the old chute or the pearly gates. There was a 1-2 inch breakable ice crust that stepped down into softer snow around the timberline parking lot when we arrived Thursday afternoon. After talking to ski patrol and others coming down it looked like these conditions would continue on up at least to the top of the Palmer. NWAC had forecasted three avalanche problems for the day; Wind Slab, Loose Wet, and Cornices. The temperatures were also forecasted to reach near the freezing level on the summit during mid-day. We wanted to mitigate the risk of the loose wet problem (south aspects) and any ice fall that may be encountered passing the rime ice towers on the traverse to and from the old chute to the hogsback by starting as early as possible and getting down before the sun hit the south facing slopes. We started from the parking lot at 1:30 am. There was some wind gusts in the parking lot but after ascending about 1000' it completely died down and was calm until we reached the summit ridge. I was definitely grateful for this...I had heard a few stories about high winds up to the hogsback. The breakable ice/wind blown layer was pretty firm in some places making for easy cramponing past the Palmer. After reaching the hogsback we decided to give the old chute a try. There was a nice bootpack and easy steps to follow all the way up the chute (thanks to everyone before us kicking steps!). The first 100 ft or so from the old chute to the summit on the summit ridge was a bit sketchy but we felt comfortable soloing it. We made it back to the hogsback just as the sun was starting to hit those south facing slopes in the crater and didn't have any issues with icefall from the rime ice towers. The snow began to soften up around the hogsback area when we started descending around 10:45 am. We postholed a bit on the east slope of the hogsback but after that we didn't punch down much further than our ankles and the ice/wind blown layer was still pretty firm in some places even down to the parking lot. Bring a helmet! I got nailed in the head by a piece of the breakable ice/wind blown layer that was kicked off by a climber above me while descending the old chute. I saw a couple of people heading to the summit without one so I thought I'd mention it. Link to GPX file: https://caltopo.com/m/80VQ Times: 1:30 am: Start at timberline parking lot. 4:00 am: Top of the palmer lift. 7:30 am: Hogsback ridge. 9:00 am: Summit. 10:00 am: Back at Hogsback ridge. 12:15 pm: End at timberline parking lot. Ready to head up the hogsback in the morning. Making our way to the old chute. Looking up the old chute. Old chute. Top of the old chute. Watch the edge! Summit ridge after exiting the old chute. Summit! POV video of the summit ridge headed back to the old chute. [video:youtube]c8BvZZ-tdIU Headed back down to the hogsback. Hogsback ridge. Sun halo and a couple of climbers headed up to climb the Devil's Kitchen Headwall. One last look at the hogsback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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