Fairweather

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.

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 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.

Klenke. Seriously. Going tough places that nobody's ever heard of, where almost nobody goes, and coming back humble.

Cancer sucks, it tried to kill me a few years back. Still, at the end of the day, there is no "it." Just some bad code that never got edited and went to press. No malice; not even aware of its own existence. Condoriri! Time falls away But these little wonders These small hours Still remain

Black Ice Matters!

No, but it may have had "certain features" that rendered it really scary to REI shoppers.

It has all the elements of a Seattle Tragedy.

Just a rumor--totally unconfirmed. Sources are saying it was an older model MSR Sumner with an illegal rubber-coated shaft. Again, no confirmation on this. Early reports incorrectly claimed it was an orange fiberglass Stubai with a glide ring and a "snap link" still attached.

Historically, there seems to be a correlation between politically-motivated murders and ice axes.

Lock up your tools, old guys! Sheesh. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/say-what-now-woman-pleads-not-guilty-of-fathers-ice-axe-murder-over-leaving-lights-on-election-results-video/ar-AA1uG8WC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

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I've never had a social media account. No FaceBook, no Twitter, no blogs. Not then, not now, not ever. Spent a few months on NW Hikers back in the day--before they banned me. 😁 Used my real name too. Lo, my years in the wilderness were spent mostly in the wilderness. Forward, why the drip drip echoes here? Why all the empty row houses, wind-blown papers and climbing ivy like one of those syfy shows? Where'd everyone go? Ivan the stormtrooper? The fat goatee light bulb guy? The chocolate commie? The Seattle ambulance chaser? Minx? The 8-year Greener grad? RBW66? That hairy Canadian guy. The dope-smokin' arborist? Was it really age? Are their testicles mummified at the bottom of some unnamed couloir? or trapped in some woman's purse? Hopefully they're running rivers, at least. Times change, I guess. Both here and in the mountains. But what the hell happened? Was it Covid? All the Woke bullshit? Declining sperm counts? (It's a national crisis.) A final surrender to PNW groupthink? I don't like it. But my wife hasn't left me, my dog is still kind of happy to see me. I think. I still wake up hard and my vote still counts. For now. Cheers.