Climb: Mount Hood-North Face Right Gully

Date of Climb: 11/20/2004

Trip Report:
As the pitchers of beer emptied at the last PDX PC, the idea of a NF climb took hold. Crackman, MtnHigh and I decided to take advantage of the dry Fall weather and what could be the last of the high pressure systems. The road to Cloud Cap is still passable with a 4x4.

The 2am start was a bit too aggressive. The approach was bomber, and we cruised it faster than we had anticipated. We didn't want to get to the bergshrund before daylight, so at 5am, with 30mph winds and blowing ice crystals chilling our bones, we crawled into a moat by the "Cookie Crumble". We waited for the sun to rise and hopefully for the winds to die down. For an hour and a half we huddled together, shivering away the cold. Are we having fun yet????

At first light we crawled out of our hole and made our way over to the elusive entrance of the NF gullys.

The climb was fantastic! The crux was probably getting over the shrund and then it was clear sailing from there. The ice steps were nicely covered and the gullys alternated between kickable crusty sugar, and firm neve. The only bummer was the cold and wind. The wind was brutal and it came from every direction. Never underestimate how cold this climb can be if conditions are right.

12 hours after leaving the car we made the summit and basked in the warm sunshine of the south side. The plan was to descend Cooper Spur and go directly back to the truck at Cloud Cap, but MtnHigh pussed out, wanting to descend the S side. So after an uneventful trip down, we stumbled into Timberline Lodge, beat and sore and with no ride to Cloud Cap. My better half agreed to pick us up, but she was not happy about it and had plans until later that evening. In an effort to to preserve my love life, MtnHigh was able to coax his grandfather into giving us a ride. Thanks Clair! Crackman and I piled into the back of an old Taliban era Toyo pickup for the ride up the Cloudcap road. It was dam cold and very bouncy in the back of that thing, but it just felt good to be making our way home. We got back to PDX around 11pm Sat. night, 24hrs after leaving. All in all an awesome day on the hill!

I was very surprised at the lack of people on the North Side given the stellar conditions! Sounds like everyone was epic'ing on the South Side!

Eliot Glacier Approach



Sunrise on the Eliot



The Burgshrund (Crux)



MntHigh Crossing the Shrund



Above the Shrund, Left and Right Gullys



Crackman at the Top of the First Ice Step



The Second Ice Step



Crackman at the bottom of the Third Ice Step



Above the Gullys



Mixed Action Below the Summit





Crackman Topping Out



Down Climbing the South Side



More Pictures


Gear Notes:
Pickets, screws, rock gear, used it all except the pins.

Approach Notes:
No problem driving to Cloud Cap and the trail was free of snow on the ridge all the way down to the Eliot.

I'd downclimb sunshine before the spur in those conditions, but maybe that's just me.

as always, nice pix. that last pic is exactly what i'd love to see a newbie try to downclimb on the s side w/ 1 axe!

getting bored w/ the n side yet pat? might have to move towns 'fore too long...

Fun climb, long cold day. It's amazing how many shots Shred can take (photos that is, bourbon is another story), all without slowing down a bit. Here are a few more pics including DA MAHN in the action.

Shred and MtnHigh in the Right Gully


Mtn High leading the last ice step


Shred mans the belay


Shred exiting the right gully onto the upper slopes



Oh and here we are waiting in the RamsHead for our ride
.

Nice work you guys. Great pictures.

You shoulda called, Crackster, I was drinking MultoPorter in the Ram's Head between 3:00 and 5:30PM!!!

Nice TR

JT, you've got to be kidding, we must have just missed you. We probably spent over an hour, sitting downstairs by the fireplace, making calls and trying to figure out how to back to Cloudcap. Only after a ride was secured did we allow ourselves the pleasure to head up to the bar and indulge ourselves with food and brew. It had actually crossed my mind that you or one of the other PimpZ might be up on the Mnt. but didn't have any #s with me.

Hey boys, sounds like you had a good trip. Fun guy and I hit the left gully on Sunday with cool temps, but very little wind until the upper third of the mountain. Conditions were very similar for us as they sound like they were for you. We pussed out on the first ice step, but threw in some tremendously hideous semi-frozen mud on the right side. Good times!!

This was the view we had once over the first ice step

Nice climb and great photo's. Pat, I went to your "more photo's" section and you had some more great shots, well done. I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw this one though. Truly worthy of an 8x10 for the office wall



Congrats on a great climb.

P.S. My doctor says I should be ready for climbing by January, now I just have to get myself back in shape. I want to check off Sandy Headwall this year if your interested?

Craig

if you like seeing shit like that, you'd love doing the w butt on denali. at the 17k camp, after a massive windstorm, there were dozens of frozen piss-puddles standing 12 inches above the ice like ornate, disgusting drinking fountains

a few more fun ones for ya from the big d

note the raised "flower"