the most painful hood lesson i've learned is don't leave the p-lot in the midst of a driving rainstorm - musta poured a gallon of water out of each plastic boot up at silcox before bailing in a full-on hypothermic breakdown  
  
that said, my favorite hood climb perhaps was a solo of luetholds in a winter gale - clear skies, but at least 60 mph winds the whole day - never done a hood climb 'cept that one where i wore an 8000 meter down parka from p-lot to summit, w/o a single stop of more than 30 seconds!