monkeyboy

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It all depends on the conditions.Mt Hood can be a a nice easy stroll or considerably more difficult. Sounds like you would benefit from some instruction and mentoring from some experienced partners, climbing club, or guide service.

This hike would suck if it is pouring down rain. You will be more likely to get cold and wet and possibly get hypothermia if you are not equipped with extra dry clothes and good rain gear. It might be slick too. I would try to wait for a dry day. If you can get some training in snow travel and you can wait until next spring it would probably be even more fun.

I have been involved as a student, instructor and leader for both the Mountaineers and OSAT. I think the level of experience and quality of instruction are about the same in both groups. If you are just looking to climb the big mountains like Rainier and Baker OSAT is probably a better choice. They focus solely on that aspect of climbing and graduation includes a climb of those peaks. If you are interested in rock climbing and a more all around alpine climbing education the Mountaineers is a better choice. Also you can continue on after the basic course and into more technical climbing in the intermediate course.

I lost a mesh stuff sack with two headlamps and my wallet in it on 7/8/12.

One rope it is then. It will be more fun with lighter packs for sure!Thanks for the beta and taking the time to respond.

I am planning on climbing the South Arete and am trying to decide on a rope strategy for 3. If one 60 meter rope with 3 climbers tied in will be long enough to reach the belays I would like to do that. Or should I have the second trail a rope and bring up the third this way? What you think?

It is routine for parties ascending Gibralter ledges to descend a different route. The decision to desend a different route was probably made before the climb.

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My partner bailed on me this weekend. Anyone interested in slogging up Colchuck with me on Sunday? I am planning on leaving Seattle Saturday about 6:00pm and bivy at the trailhead so I can get an early start.

Got a partner.

Any newbies or lazy veterans interested in doing some easy trad on Sunday? I am pretty rusty, but have experience. I used to lead 5.8 but haven't done much the last 2 years. I have all the gear as well as transportation from the Seattle area. Send a PM with your # and I will call.

I think you found my camera. Check your PM's

Jens, I could do this if you haven't found someone already. Check your PM'S.

Trip: SEWS - Southwest Coulour Date: 5/9/2008 Trip Report: Drove up to Washington Pass Thursday evening with "Lucky" Lukic and camped at pullout for Lone Fir campground. Toilet was accessible, clean, and had TP! Friday morning we woke up bright and early and powered up on coffee and oatmeal.Drove back to the pass and parked a little west of the hairpin curve. Limited parking near here, maby room for 3 or 4 cars. Started on route at 8:00 with blue skies,and firm snow.Sweated our way up to the upper pass where a brief break was in order. Saw a couple of skiers hanging out on a nearby peak, guessing they were waiting for things to soften up a bit. I wished I had my crampons on for the traverse over to the base of the coulour but managed ok without them. Our strategy was to get all geared up here and ready so when we wanted to pull the rope out we would be ready to simu-climb, or belay pitches. We decided Lucky would lead so I gave him the pickets, ice screws, and stoppers. Since he had the rope in his pack he was now pretty much carrying all of the gear. Some steps from prior ascents near the beginning led to firmer steeper snow with no steps. Lucky and I were feeling pretty good with our 2 tools working so we decided to just keep climbing and not use the rope. About 1/2 way up Lucky's crampon started to come off. He was able to step a little off to one side and get it back on without as much as a single curse word. All I could think was that I was glad it was not me! We arrived at the top of the coulour at 11:15 and called it good there. A short down climb led to our first of 3 raps. Trying to rappell over rock with crampons on was interesting. I probably should have taken them off like my smarter than me partner but I was too lazy. I was still not entirely happy with down climbing the rest so Lucky earned my everlasting thanks by lowering me down an extra rope length. At one point a nice large chunk of hard snow came whizzing down towards me and I looked down just in time to get a loud thunk on the head.Helments are good. We downclimbed the rest. At this point the snow near the bottom was starting to soften a bit and ball up on our crampons. Lucky wanted to stop and take off harness and stuff here, but I convinced him to keep going a litle further to the pass.Did I mention lucky still had all the gear! We took another brief break and basked in the glory of a sunny day in the mountains. From here it was a nice but bumpy glissade down about 600 feet, followed by a little traversing to get right of the big tree.From there one long fun glissade led us right to the highway.Back at the car by 2:20. Wrapped up the trip with a stop at Good Food in Marblemount. The only thing I like better than climbing is a big fat greasy burger after climbing. I highly recommend this route. Get yourself some! Gear Notes: ice ax, second tool, crampons, rope, brain bucket Approach Notes: Hairpin curve approach.