Leaderboard

Trip: Mt Hood - South Face Steel Cliffs Trip Date: 02/10/2024 Trip Report: Went up the east side of the rock at the bottom of the cliff band of the South Face. Both little chutes prior to gaining the South Face were filled with deep unconsolidated snow. Not a ton of snow at the top of the face so avoiding the vents wasn't hard but I did frog over the flat area because it was obvious that there were holes lurking underneath. A hollow sounding crust, roller balls, wet unconsolidated snow on the Wy'East portion was unnerving. Hoping the snow events later this week will fill out some of the routes. A few more shots here https://imgur.com/gallery/mQ2vNxF. Gear Notes: Two tools, crampons, helmet Approach Notes: Walked up nice groomed trail to the top of Palmer lift

Maybe you're well aware of it, but that is exactly what lead to the demise of a few climbers from out of the PNW that flew in with a vacation window and tried to make it work despite the weather (see that famous Mt Hood incident, etc). Good on you for recognizing that! IMO there are things to do no matter what the weather, but sometimes they are just a little more mellow/less exciting... like going to crag at Mt Erie. Anyway it can make it more fun too as you can create a whole list of possibilities and research them all.

Ok, great. Thanks to both of you for the advice. I think I'm likely guilty of just looking at when I have off, and hoping that some of the routes I want to climb happen to be condition, so it probably makes the most sense to just evaluate conditions and decide where to head out to at the last minute.

March is historically difficult to line up stable weather windows in the Cascades as well.

All of those Enchantments routes come in their best shape with repeated melt/freeze. Otherwise it is mostly just scratching around on cold snow and dry rock.....so it will all depend on the temps. Early March is typically pretty cold up high, even on a year like this so I wouldn't think that you'll find much in great climbing shape. That said, all will generally be climbable with the right weather and avy conditions. The good news is that if climbing conditions aren't great, ski conditions usually are a lot better, so maybe look at what is in store right before your trip and plan accordingly. And, if you are casting about all over the Western US, that is another story. I am sure you can probably find something, somewhere to climb. But I only really know our backyard....