[TR] Mt. Hood - Reid Glacier Headwall 3/8/2008

[arabianice]

Trip: Mt. Hood - Reid Glacier Headwall

 

Date: 3/8/2008

 

Trip Report:

We started from the timberline parking lot at about 4 am. We reached the top of the palmer lift a little less than two hours later, and saw a pair of skiers at our next landmark, illumination saddle. The sun was beginning to rise, so we quickly put on our crampons, and started to traverse across the top of zigzag glacier to the saddle. The view from the saddle was breathtaking. We saw the skiers tracks going down the initial steep slope towards reid glacier. I remember being very impressed that they were able negotiate the ice at the top on a pair of skis.

The ice near the top of the saddle changed to knee deep snow as we headed towards our target, the base of leuthold couloir. In my haste to start ascending before large ice chunks began falling, I started up the couloir next to (south) leuthold, not stopping to verify our location. This turned out to be a serious mistake. Although both of us had the impression that we were on the wrong route, we continued up, knowing that down climbing hundreds of feet of 40 degree snow would probably force us to abandon the climb. Despite being on the wrong route, the initial climbing was perfect. The slope was comfortably steep, the weather was good, and the view was exceptional. Tiny chunks of ice constantly ran down the slope occasionally hitting us in the hand or helmet. From the smooth expanse of the reid glacier headwall, we could see all the way to Mt. Jefferson and the Sisters, which seemed to jut out of the cascade foothills with authority.

We continued up the relatively steep initial slope until we reached two towering rock bulges with steeper ice in between. At this point the climbing started to get a little harrowing for our abilities. After continuing up steep ice, 50-60 degrees, we encountered a vertical mixed section with more steep ice to follow. We roped up for the mixed section the old fashioned way because it was too steep to put our harness's on. The rock was bad, and the ice would have been much more manageable if we would have had more than a single mountaineering axe each. After reaching the end of our 40ft rope, i dug a belay on a ridge with a slightly lower angle. My belay seat straddled a large cliff going down to leuthold couloir, and for the first time we could clearly see our intended route. The ease of leuthold's slope made us envious.

The next section had more of the same steep snow and ice. What looked like easier terrain turned out to be near impossible. We soon reached a vertical snow face in a rock corridor that thwarted numerous attempts at various weaknesses. There was so much debris coming down that a belay for the first was out of the question. Finally i chose a weak snow chimney to the right and desperately chicken winged, chimneyed, and fought my way to the end of the rope. The only obvious belay spot was blocked by a large chunk of hanging snow. My attempt to carefully scrape off enough to make room for a seat resulted in a massive chunk of ice and snow coming off and nearly knocking me off the mountain. After digging another seat i belayed Andrew up this horrifying pitch. The summit ridge was now within 30 feet, and we simul-climbed the rest of the way to the top. I don't think either of us had ever been so relieved, the last few hours had been pretty spicy. Careful to not let down our gaurd yet, we traversed the summit ridge, and spent some time on the summit, enjoying the view that spanned for hundreds of miles. We descended via a version of the south side route and made it back to the car at about 7 pm.

 

Gear Notes:

2 or 3 pickets, ice screws, rope, helmets, ice tools (at least one), ice axe.

[nkane]

That's how it's done!

 

Good job!

[ivan]

lesson: always have a second tool - think of it as training weight, and isn't the climbing 1000% more enjoyable when you have one?

 

sounds like my first attempt at luetholds!

[arabianice]

Yeah we learned that lesson the hard way...bludgeoning rime ice with my dull club of an axe did not inspire much confidence. Can you recommend any good ice tools?

[ivan]

if you fancy the idea of actually taking up ice-climbing someday, you oughta post that question in the ice-climbing forum - if you don't see that in the future, just about anything you can pick up cheap will be good (i'd recommend getting an ice-hammer though, as it's great for pounding in pickets and pins)

[jport]

Nice job Arabianice! Fun route, eh? I agree, it's kinda "spicy" right now through a few of those slots... lots of rotten rime! Even with two tools, that kind of ice doesn't inspire much confidence.

Hopefully this experience will psych you up for more routes like Reid!