goatboy

Hmm . . . Not sure I agree with that . . . . guess it depends on how you do it, but I climbed right where the climber is pictured, all three times I've been on the W Ridge. Reckon it depends on how you define "normal route." Anyway, staying right on or near the ridge crest was more exposed and more exciting for me. Nice work on sending it car to car in march!

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Thanks, I'm home now and will consult my WA Ice book, which is excellent, by the way. . . cheers.

Sure, usually that would be the case. It depends on the outcomes of the activity. If the goal is to foster the utmost safety, guide uphill, positioned to stop a fall, is clearly best. If the goal is to teach leadership or practicing team arrest, a student or client could be uphill. If the descent warrants placing protection on the way down, such as pickets, then the guide would be first or in the middle of the rope team to place gear as they descend. So, to me, it's really situational. In the incident described in the article, it could have well been a situation where placing protection could have assisted the team in arresting the fall . . . . Always a judgment call, complicated by many factors....

Having heard different versions, what are the Three Rules of Mtn Guiding? Also, where does the figure of 214 people come from? I assume this is number of fatalities on Aoraki (Mt Cook), but what's the source?

Yeah, sad for sure. I don't remember the "guide knot" reference -- can you elaborate?

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Sorry, I don't have a Vantage guidebook handy -- is this the big falls visible from the Sunshine Wall (upvalley) or elsewhere? How long is the approach? Thanks for any info!

Just spoke with ranger who was unable to offer definitive information. I will go check it out and post update when I get back.

Does Air Canada have cheaper flights to New Zealand??

Anyone have recent info regarding road access and approach to Jeff Park Glacier right now? Curious about snow levels and general approach conditions. Thanks!

I agree that it's not spray, but at some level, the nature of the TR dictates the nature of the responses. In other words, there are some parts of the TR which might belong in Spray, so why shouldn't the responses be allowed to adopt some of the same voice and style as the original post? OR, move the whole damn thing to Spray. I don't see much in the way of usable climbing route reports in this TR anyway. Anyone disagree with this perspective? Regardless, thanks for an enjoyable post and humorous perspective on Worth-Leavin' (uh, Leaven-worth).

Daniel, Have you climbed the Early Winter Couloir? Any more info about that route would be great. Thanks, S

Thanks -- does anyone have any good road conditions websites bookmarked? If so, care to post them here?

I am curious if anyone knows the status of the road and how high one can get at this time? Just to see the range of responses, I am curious if people here prefer climbing Cooper Spur car -to car or from a bivy at the Tilly Jane Hut, or via another strategy? Thanks!

Thanks to all of you for all the great info and updates! We're planning on being down there in December, around Christmas . . .

Sounds great. I'll get the guidebook and shoot you a few questions soon. I really appreciate it!

Thanks, Geordie. We were considering climbing Batian (the highest summit) but also wonder about the climbing season and such. Waiting to get a guidebook which I've ordered, but thought I'd plug in to this community and see what folks have to say. What I find out will influence our choice of route, times, and possibly party size/strategy as well. Thanks, Steve

My wife and I are thinking of going to visit family in Africa and attempt to climb Mt Kenya while we're there (via the Standard Route). I have some specific questions about the route and would very much appreciate hearing if there's anyone out there with experience on the mountain who could answer a few questions for me. Please PM me or reply here if you prefer. Thanks! - Steve

To ride the lifts while carrying climbing gear you need a special permit from the forest service, attained off-site (not at Timberline). It's also not available until "climbing Season" officially begins (what the hell does that mean, anyway? I'm pretty sure I, along with a bunch of others, climbed it this past weekend. Were we 'out of season?') That's what the employee at Timberline help desk/ticket counter told me this past Friday. Soooooo, we skinned up instead. Which was fun.

No, never needed to, really -- the pickets were nice to have along, but I really didn't want to stop in the midst of all the falling ice to place gear that didn't seem necessary, given the relatively moderate angle of the slope. Perhaps ONE ice screw may have been reasonable to bring along, for quick placement . . .

Nice work on the route. Great photo of Hood with the shadow -- I took one of those photos once, and felt like I was in the right place at the right time . . . Did you climb Saturday morning or Sunday morning? I was one of the folks camped at the saddle Fri Night/Sat morning -- and the parties that passed through our campsite were actually very quiet, relatively speaking -- thanks for that! Nice styrofoam snow, squeeky and secure, eh?

The downclimb to the glacier felt more like a descending traverse, on very firm snow with good pre-existing steps. There was one short, exposed traverse across which crossed very hard snow for about 20 feet, but not so steep that it warranted much concern. I was able to french technique across that while daggering in with my single tool. Note: We were roped from the time we left Illum Saddle to the summit, but some folks were soloing the couloir, and I believe that it would be very reasonable to do so -- we stayed roped due to the constant rain of falling objects from above, and the fact that we were below other parties who couldn not help but dislodge some chunks from time to time.

The photos in this TR seem rather small, please go to the photo gallery if you want to see larger ones. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY Climb: Mt Hood-Leuthold's Couloir Date of Climb: 2/26/2005 Trip Report: Friday afternoon (Feb 25th) my wife Tamara and I skinned up to Illumination Saddle to make camp for the night. Here's Tamara: And here's our campsite: Saturday morning we were awoken from the sleep of the dead around 3 AM as some parties starting funneling through the saddle en route to various objectives. Fortunately (?) for us, we fell asleep again - for awhile - before waking at 6 to make coffee. It was 22 degrees inside the tent when we awoke. At about 7:30 we departed, heading for Leuthold's Couloir alongside two other parties of two who had arrived on the scene. Despite recent reports of heinous post-holing on the West Slopes of Mt Hood, we found hard-frozen snow and excellent neve for the great majority of the day, very pleasant conditions, and little wind. Conditions in the couloir ranged from firm snow, to short sections of alpine ice, to styrofoam neve, with a steady "rain" of spindrift and occasional fusillades of ice and rock and snow chunks, ranging from minor to heavy at times. Here's a shot of the party ahead of us (Tod and Aaron) in the couloir, below "the hourglass" but entering into some 45 degree alpine ice, scoured by small avalanches. The climber is seeking shelter as best he can from a rain of ice. After climbing the couloir, we side-stepped up the upper slopes, gaining views of other volcanoes as we rose, eventually popping out of the ice-shelves and into the sun: Here we looked back at a compelling image of Yocum Ridge: Soon, the Hogsback ("Dog") route with its usual entourage came into view: True to form , there was a dog on the summit! We dropped down the Pearly Gates and hung a hard right to get away from the crowds and to investigate an alternate desecent, with the hopes of dropping down closer to our campsite. Here's a shot of Tamara descending through the sulfurous mists of the West Crater Rim route: Arriving back at camp, we made some hot drinks and ate the remaining food, packed up, shouldered our loads and headed out on skis, vibraciously fumbling our way through the crud until we reached the groomed slopes below . . . arrived back at the car in about 35 minutes. There, we found a cold Pilsner Urquell. All in all, a very enjoyable trip and I highly recommend the conditions right now! Go get it! Gear Notes: One ice ax per person Aluminum Crampons Two pickets 30-m rope Approach Notes: Good snow for skinning all the way to Illumination Saddle