Leaderboard

Ha, I didn't even know that was a thing. My bad, I didn't understand the motivation. Sounds like fun no matter what ends up getting skied.

That's a good suggestion. Newton Clark Headwall is listed in the 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America. My guess is that's (directly or indirectly) motivating DFMedia to tick that line, as supposed to a partial line or something less known.

Have you considered Cooper Spur? I've down-climbed it many times. It's also a big fall, but for whatever reason, I never thought too much about it. One of my favorite solo routes. Leaving your skis at the bottom of Cooper Spur's "Chimney," summiting, down-climbing, and skiing down from there would give you about the same amount of vertical on skis. Of course, it's a bit more of a traverse if you're starting at Meadows. But not much more than the traverse to Wy'East from Timberline. (??)

I've descended the route and think it would be fine. Granted this is as a person with lots of experience on snow. Obviously your own comfort relative to the conditions you encounter may render a different opinion. Regarding self arresting on the traverse, if it's firm/soft enough you could fall you then the chances of self-arresting are limited. Don't just assume you can stop it. Either have conditions and know-how that you will not fall, or don't do the traverse. Worst case scenario for the traverse should be, it's not in your comfort zone so you back off and still get to tick the ski line.

I never saw tracks or shared the route with another party. But that was decades ago, maybe it's more popular now. Re skiing the route, well, I'd say if you down-climb the chute and the traverse, and ski down from there then it's hard to lay claim to skiing the route. Still a great day on Mount Hood! But not a ski descent of the WyEast route, IMO. Laps on the Newton Clark would be more enjoyable for an old guy like me.😀

I've climbed this route four times, always in winter. Yes, the last bit leads you out in a rising traverse above the Black Spider before you enter the Wy'East Chimney and climb up to the summit ridge. The initial traverse is left arm uphill if you're kicking side steps--the weak side for most. Otherwise you can face in. I'd say the traverse is 40-45 degrees, and the chimney might even approach 50-55. (Probably just a bit steeper than the last bit at the top of Cooper Spur Route.) I recall belaying the upper chimney at least once when it was hard packed. The entire traverse and chimney are fatal falls as the Spider is just below you. I've never down-climbed the route; always went down the south side. IMO, the route is steeper than Leuthold and Cooper Spur. But not as steep as the upper part of Sunshine. But that big drop just below is intimidating, I recall. One more thing: Crossing the White River Glacier is no big deal. Well, it wasn't in the 80s 90s 00s. Crevasses were few and obvious. Not sure how much of that glacier is even left now.