[TR] Mt. Hood - 5/10/2009

[Maine-iac]

Trip: Mt. Hood -

 

Date: 5/10/2009

 

Trip Report:

This is my last free weekend before my summer adventures and I vowed to ski the Pearly Gates this year, so that was the main goal of the trip. I also wanted to check out the Reid Headwall as it looks really fun!

Was skinning by 215am or so, and reached I Rock by 5am; changed out the skis for the 'pons, and dropped of the backside of the saddle. Right away I was wallowing in the snow we got earlier on in the week. I managed to traverse, to the start of the route, and up about 20m. I was a little worried about the berg that was covered up, but either the snow was deep enough that I walked right over it, or I just went above it.

Full moon over I- Rock

 

Looking up towards the Headwall

 

How many people can you count? I counted 40.

 

This is ONE rope team, with two people either way out front or in the very back, cant remember.

 

 

After spending way to long and not going anywhere I retraced my steps, and headed over to the hogsback. Since I had not been able to get a straight answer about the pearly gates, I decided to climb up and have a look.

The left gully had about an 8 foot step up

 

And the right one had about a 25 foot 40 degree ice/rime ramp

 

After not being able to climb that, I down climbed back to the Hogsback, traversed over to the old chute route then toped out. When I wanted to ski down, that mega-rope team was starting their downclimb, which annoyed me because I dont like it when I get hit with falling ice, so I tried to yell down to them that I was going to drop in. Of course they never heard, and after a few sprays of ice to try and get their attention I said screw it and dropped in. The ski on the was great, it was hard to hold an edge though so you had to be careful. I skied over to the west crater route and skied that. That was quite nerve racking, it was a good 60 degrees of VERY hardpacked snow. Once back in the T-Line resort I found a few new features to play on!

 

With my pack on I was getting up to the lip, and at the end is a nice quarter pipe.

Overall it was a good day, and I added about an extra mile to the standard S. Side because of all of the randomness that I did.

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Without the skis my pack weighed 23 pounds!!! WTF did I have in it.

[scm007]

Sick man, totally jealous

[letsroll]

Nice work my man. YOu did not finish the gates because you did not have tools? or cause you did not have a belay?

 

23 lbs? WTF, maybe when you started with water,but not after.

 

Gawd I hope it was not Mazamas. Sure they may take 10 up, but on one rope team seems like a bit much.

[LostCamKenny]

Gawd I hope it was not Mazamas. Sure they may take 10 up, but on one rope team seems like a bit much.

 

One would hope that the Mazamas exercise more caution than that, but never underestimate the stupidity of people in the masses!

[Plaidman]

I stayed off the mountain and did some moderate rock climbing.

Damn it!!! It looked so good. I was going by the high avey warning. Bummed now. I am going to get up there. The Gates look sick. Thanks for the photos. Now I won't be able to sleep until I git er done.

[Maine-iac]

I didnt finish the gates because for some lame reason my crampons dont fit super tightly to my boots. I have the flicklock ones and they dont lock all the way because of the walk feature of my boots. I had only one "tool" (BD Venom) and my glacier ax; but it was the crampon issue that kept me off of them

 

There was also a group from Northern Idaho college or something up there, so they might have been the ones in the mega team. Not sure though.

 

I brought all of the gear one would need for a rescue/ team travel. So I had a 30m rope, pickets/ screws and what else one carries for that stuff. I figured that if for some reason I had to bail out of a weird spot that I would just rap out, so if shite hit the fan for somebody else I would not be completely useless in helping out.

[scm007]

Do you carry avy gear when you go by yourself? I generally have not, but with the amount of people out there seems like it would be a good idea.

[Frikadeller]

That's rad! That scene you saw on sunday was almost the same scene it was on saturday, minus the ten man rope team. But on saturday there where more people riding plastic sleds.

 

Wow, you said that the snow was super hard on the WCR? Hmm... It seemed pretty soft on saturday, but I came down that later in the day in full sun.

 

I looked for you in the P-lot, but did not see you. I left around 2 ish though.

 

 

Thanks for the great Pearly Gates beta.

 

 

This looks totally do-able!

Edited May 12, 2009 by Frikadeller

[Maine-iac]

I had full avy gear; a few solo attempts I have joined up with other people, and its nice to have that stuff. And I figured I wouldn't be the only person with a beacon, so if something happened I'd rather have one than not.

 

I got there around 4pm, so sorry I missed you; And I also saw a number of people with sleds. The snow was starting to soften up a fair amount, but I was out of liquids so instead of waiting around I peaced out. The gates are totally do-able(!!!) I was bummed my pons wern't fitting well. I gave the right gully a few goes but it wasn't going to happen.

[bchris]

Amazing photos! Looks like the avy danger was in vain. Wish I would have gone up

[letsroll]

I didnt finish the gates because for some lame reason my crampons dont fit super tightly to my boots. I have the flicklock ones and they dont lock all the way because of the walk feature of my boots. I had only one "tool" (BD Venom) and my glacier ax; but it was the crampon issue that kept me off of them

 

There was also a group from Northern Idaho college or something up there, so they might have been the ones in the mega team. Not sure though.

 

I brought all of the gear one would need for a rescue/ team travel. So I had a 30m rope, pickets/ screws and what else one carries for that stuff. I figured that if for some reason I had to bail out of a weird spot that I would just rap out, so if shite hit the fan for somebody else I would not be completely useless in helping out.

 

Get those crampons jerry rigged asap. Good thinking on taking gear for getting out or helping others. I would have just been very conservative with the idea what I go up I have to down climb and taken no extra gear.

[TofuTodd]

Just FYI I was on that "10 man" mazamas rope team. It was actually (2) 5 man teams both using running belays. He were just going to do i-rock and the snow conditions were so perfect we went for it. 8 of our 12 climbers are new and that was our first time standing on hood. Yes, roping up wouldn't have been necessary for more experienced climbers, but the leader had us newbs so what was he to do. Anyways, regardless of your skill its nice to know if a big chuck of ice smashes you on the head you won't go ragdolling down the mountain. Maineiac, I'm talking about ice from you! j/k i was the guy directly downslope from you where your ice was pelting me. we knew what the hell you were doing but just wanted you to get on with it!! sliding on edge / getting our attention with ice / growing the balls to drop in while we were getting zinged. yeah, maybe we deserved a little ice. let that be a warning to everyone, the mazamas basic climbing class just ended and there are going to be a ton of us out there. Going back next weekend too. i'm sure the running belay will once again be in effect! So go early and fast or get stuck in traffic. I feel bad for the 2 man team who came up behind us off the hogsback and had to go wide up the west and sunny side of the old chute to avoid us, looked super hot in that sun with extra soft snow. think they were the last ones up.

Edited May 16, 2009 by TofuTodd

[eldiente]

Just FYI I was on that "10 man"

 

Sorry but this is why many people (myself included) get a tad upset with the Mazamas. It is disrespectful to other climbers and to the natural environment to push such a large group of climbers up a Hood. Why do you do this? I'm stoked when people get out and want to learn how to climb, but why do it in such large groups? Why can't you just partner up with another person and go as as a two man team? Please explain? Better yet, why can't you just go up solo? Hood is always going to be busy during nice weather, but the large teams create a lot of problems for other users. Do they talk ethical considerations in the Mazamas 101 course?

 

Other question, why rope up at all? If your roped up and not placing good pro, you'd be better off soling. Being roped to other inexperienced climbers ain't safe.

 

-Nate

 

 

 

 

[ivan]

there are no ethics on any popular route on any mountain, so don't expect them - assume its the mall at xxxxx feet

 

my fav was taking the aforementioned ragdoll fall down the west crater rim a few years back while solo and the 30 some odd folks in the vicinity not even batting an eye or even asking if i was alive

[TofuTodd]

Hey Nate, this was my first climb with them. In the class they do cover ethics. They cover restricting group size, letting people pass, giving right away, and carrying out *everything*. I have to say they are extremely good at everything but the large groups part, but adhere to the law of 12 people max. Many people passed us as we were roping up. we got off the trail when we stopped. I didn't feel we were being asses. As for the 1 or 2 at a time thing? The mazamas putover 250 people a year through their basic climbing education program and have thousands of members. Having one climb leader per student is just not possible.the bttom line is that They need more climb leaders... These are just people who love getiing people into the sport and give their own time up for it.

[Frikadeller]

Having one climb leader per student is just not possible.the bttom line is that They need more climb leaders... These are just people who love getiing people into the sport and give their own time up for it.

 

You know, you don't have to climb with the mazamas every time. There are plenty of other people that climb the mountains. (Not trying to harsh the Mazamas, just sayin') As a good example, I climb solo alot, and just this weekend, I happened to hook up with another solo climber as we where skinning up and decided to climb together. It's that easy sometimes. there is also plenty of "plans and partners" forums, here and on other sites, so.... there is no real excuse to keep a party small (3-5 people)

[letsroll]

Tofu Todd. Glad you go up and had a good time. I am happy to hear that you had a positive experience in the Mazama Basics School. I took that class had met my climbing partners for the following 4 months of solid climbing.

 

Two rope teams is legit. Not everybody feels like they can learn from books alone, or have people who KNOW what they are doing to teach them. Trying to find climbing partners to teach you is a very unefficent way of doing things. If people don't like large groups on the MOST popular route on hood go climb else were. This is to be expected or go and change the number of people allowed on a climb. Yes it sucks to get behind one of these groups but if I was THAT worried about it I would not be climbing the South Side of Hood.

 

Tofu, climb with the mazamas as much as you want and when you feel you are ready you will solo or have developed climbing partners and head out with smaller parties. In the mean time forget these other fools.

 

After all it is the South Side of Hood WTF.

[LonelySummit]

In the mean time forget these other fools.

 

After all, it is the South Side of Hood WTF.

 

As a Mazama and BCEP assistant; no kidding man! It's the southside - it IS like the mall. At least we can climb all the other peaks with friends and not just stick to SS hood for the rest of our lives. NO disrespect to anyone else.

[Maine-iac]

If you saw the ice coming down, why didn't you look up and have a chat with me??? I was solo after all and hadn't really chatted with anyone that day! (there is some humor in that, so don't take too literally). On the way up the old chute I was hit in the face with a chunk of ice by a group not yelling ice when they knocked larger sizes down, and as you guys were new I wanted to let you know what was happening above you.

As an FYI I skipped out on the line that I actually wanted to ski to save you guys from the ice fall. Also, I will charge that line as hard as the next person will, so a lack of balls wasn't really the issue.

 

Glad that you got up there, and hopefully you enjoyed yourself so that you will do it again!!!

[rocky_joe]

In the mean time forget these other fools.

 

After all, it is the South Side of Hood WTF.

 

As a Mazama and BCEP assistant; no kidding man! It's the southside - it IS like the mall. At least we can climb all the other peaks with friends and not just stick to SS hood for the rest of our lives. NO disrespect to anyone else.

 

Note to all CCers: if you say you mean "NO disrespect" it immediately negates any overtly harsh biting words.

 

LonelySummit: Are you really trying to say that only Mazamas climb anything other than the Cattle Drive routes? While the South Side may be a popular route it does not (EVER) negate common decency among climbers. Slower groups and climbers should be considerate of those moving faster and vice versa.

 

Those on the rope team: Thomas (Maineiac) is quite right tho...y'all shoulda let him know you understood what he was saying, he was after all making an attempt to show you the courtesy that you failed to show quite a few others that same day.

[rocky_joe]

Just FYI I was on that "10 man" mazamas rope team. It was actually (2) 5 man teams both using running belays. He were just going to do i-rock and the snow conditions were so perfect we went for it. 8 of our 12 climbers are new and that was our first time standing on hood. Yes, roping up wouldn't have been necessary for more experienced climbers, but the leader had us newbs so what was he to do. Anyways, regardless of your skill its nice to know if a big chuck of ice smashes you on the head you won't go ragdolling down the mountain. Maineiac, I'm talking about ice from you! j/k i was the guy directly downslope from you where your ice was pelting me. we knew what the hell you were doing but just wanted you to get on with it!! sliding on edge / getting our attention with ice / growing the balls to drop in while we were getting zinged. yeah, maybe we deserved a little ice. let that be a warning to everyone, the mazamas basic climbing class just ended and there are going to be a ton of us out there. Going back next weekend too. i'm sure the running belay will once again be in effect! So go early and fast or get stuck in traffic. I feel bad for the 2 man team who came up behind us off the hogsback and had to go wide up the west and sunny side of the old chute to avoid us, looked super hot in that sun with extra soft snow. think they were the last ones up.

 

5 person teams are arguably more dangerous than soloing, even and especially with "newbs."

 

If a chunk of ice hits you in the head with enough for to send you "ragdolling"--you're dead already...no reason to take your partners down with you.

 

inter team communication isn't always necessary, but in the situations you mentioned...you should have let the 2 man team pass you and should have communicated to thomas that you were aware of his actions and ready to respond should something go wrong. That's probably not your fault, but good stuff to consider your next time up and for Mazama leaders on this site to know. It may be the mall but its everyone's mall...share.

 

 

[LonelySummit]

After looking at all the past posts, this seems to be norm for crowded days on the SS. No biggie though; we all are more alike than anyone we probably spend the weekdays with. That's one reason this sport is great; diversity. We can all have a beer after the weekend is over and tell our workmates about our "hike" when they ask.

 

Just to change the subject a bit: Rocky, I noticed a sled in your photo "83"; did it work well? The disk I took this weekend just shattered and pinched "one of the boys".

[TofuTodd]

manieiac, sorry about this lack of commincation. For what it was worth we couldn't hear you so I assumed you couldn't hear me. Also, I didn't realize you may have been simply waiting for us to tell you to go. So your means of sending ice down on us to alert us to your line just came across as hesitation or just taking things slow as you set up your line. I switched from looking up at you to looking away so I wouldn't take ice to the face and relied upon my team members in the clear to alert me to any big ice. No hard feelings at all and don't worry I don't take anyone on these forums too seriously. My post was really in humor even though it doesn't read that way at all...

[rocky_joe]

LS--sled worked fantastically. 3k in 40 mins!!! (from I saddle to the parking lot) picked them up for 18 buckaroos at some ski shop in sandy. it'll take some convincing for me to climb the SS without a sled descent again...lol.

[letsroll]

LS--sled worked fantastically. 3k in 40 mins!!! (from I saddle to the parking lot) picked them up for 18 buckaroos at some ski shop in sandy. it'll take some convincing for me to climb the SS without a sled descent again...lol.

 

wait till you step up to the dark side and try AT gear. You will be saying it will take some convincing for you to do the SS with out skis