Chad_A

Wow...got pretty bare up there. Actually, the gully to the right would be the NEBC. The NBC is off to the right. Thanks for the info, Marko. I'm looking forward to getting up there again

No, no one has responded yet; I'm guessing that most people haven't begun to frequent the area yet. Kinda too early for the snow/ice routes, and too late for the rock routes. John, you could certainly find out for us, and get the ball rolling, though

That's a great pic. It's hard to gauge the steepness of that right there; I'm sure it's very steep. Pics seem to make it hard to interpret accurately. Is that thinner section, on the climber's right in the pic, the start to the right gully? Or is it farther to the right, out of the picture? I'm going to try to make an effort to do that this year, but I don't know if it'll happen or not I'm guessing, though, that with the snow up there from yesterday and today, and with some warmer weather coming up, that some nice cold nights/warm days might set up some more ice. One can always hope, anyway Oh, and iain, are the steps that you're referring to the rock bands that are mentioned in Oregon High?

I'd like to take my girlfriend up to do the NBC on Colchuck. Any idea on how much snow the area's had? I figure by mid-December, it should be sorted, but I'd like to go earlier if possible. If anyone has any input, please let me know. Thanks!

Ok, fair enough. WI2 it is; I was just going on the angle, itself. Mike, I hope to get up there to do the ice pitches. I'm glad I did the route for sure, but it's my intention to do it from the 'schrund on up, and hopefully, the right gully next time. I'm sure that it will be good for another send this season.

So, I've been corrected. I will elaborate on the left gully water ice that we went over. It was about eye level, and it was water ice formed over a bulge of rock. A step, if you will. I hope no one thought I was trying to indicate a full pitch; just a short section of water ice. It was about eye level, or a bit higher, when standing at the base of it. I used the word "bulge" to describe it, to convey it's shortness. I'd guessed 3/4, but true, it probably was much more like 3. I had no idea that this was such a sensitive issue.

Thanks again for the compliments; unforunately, I don't have many pics of the Spur itself; the best I have is the one I posted where you can see the clouds at about the 6500-7000 ft level. I've heard that there's supposed to be 3-5 more inches up there in the next few days, though

Hmm, don't remember that in either of those gullies. Oh, it's there, trust me.

Thanks! Pentax Optio S50.

Yeah, yeah...piece of shit website. Photo hosting sucks. I even tried to upload them to this site, but it kept having error messages. I'll get them fixed. Stay tuned.

Climb: Mt Hood-North Face: Left Couloir Variation Date of Climb: 11/13/2004 Trip Report: Teamed up with Ade (Ade), Al (Allistair?), and Pat(?), we accomplished a feat we didn’t think we’d be able to finish: an ascent of the North Face. We figured the conditions would be right, judged by the previous forecasts of the week, but now, the unknown variable seemed to be the weather. After driving up to Cloud Cap under an overcast sky, with occasional flurries, it didn’t look promising. Nevertheless, we awoke to a starry sky at 0200, and began to pack. Soon we were hiking up, and the trail was well beaten; on the ridge following the moraine to the south of the Eliot, it was bare, with some snow here and there. After dropping down on the Eliot moraine, we followed the left side, until we could see slots hidden under the snowpack; there, we took the time to rope up. We put all four of us on a rope, and had more rope in our packs, in case we wanted to split into two teams, and pitch ice climbs out. Soon, we arrived at what we thought was the prominent rock prow that marks the base of the route (more accurately, that if you stick close to the rock prow, it appears that it leads you to the right gully). This wasn’t to be true, as after a 55-degree wind slab (with a few slots to be discovered), we looked to the climber’s right (north), and it was obvious that the gullies were about a fifteen-to-thirty minute traverse away. It dawned on me that we’d bypassed the bergschrund and the ice climbing altogether (Damn!) We found a quick rest, and I swapped leads to Ade, who placed protection, as it could be found, on the traverse toward the gullies. After reaching them, the decision was made to start up the left gully; at this point, the summit was on the agenda, and it was time to get on with it. Ade continued to lead up to a rock outcropping, where Al switched places with him on the rope, and continued on with the lead. We considered unroping, but Pat (who was doing great on his first snow outing in quite a while…good job, Pat!) preferred to stay roped and do running belays; so we continued upwards, placing nuts and cams where placements were accessible in exposed rock, and every once in a while, ice was good enough for a screw placement. (Accidental shot of Pat and Al on route:) After a bulge of WI 3-4 in the gully, and yet another toward the top of it (the gully), I resumed the lead, which took us near the top of Cooper Spur. After placing a couple of screws, and kicking steps into rotten powder, I’d had enough; my hydration tube had frozen hours ago, and I was finally beginning to feel the effects of the dehydration. Generously, Ade retook the lead, and once on less steep ground, we unroped, and stashed the rack in the packs. Less than ten minutes later, we were on the summit. Al and Pat at the summit: Now out of the shade of the North Face, we basked in the sun, took pics, and then headed down. There’s still a small ice bulge in the Pearly Gates to be descended, but otherwise, very nice. At 7000 feet, we descended back into the clouds, and shortly thereafter, were at the van at Timberline…where I found that my girlfriend had misunderstood my time to be back home, and had contacted the sheriff’s department. I felt bad for the confusion. Probably just wasn’t clear enough. At any rate, the shuttle system seemed like a very viable plan. I’m sure that everyone had a great time, and I’m looking forward to climbing with all of them again. Next time, though, I’m going to be sure to be patient, and to ascend the bergschrund section that leads to the right gully. I’m looking forward to that; hopefully, it will prove to be a whole new animal. And a bit more challenging! Thanks for having me at short notice, gents, and for a great climb. Hope to do it again, sometime. Feel free to add/ subtract inaccuracies of descriptions; I certainly don’t want to speak for everyone else in the group! It's too bad we missed out on the ice bits, but I think the variation that we ended up doing would be great for parties who don't feel up to the ice pitches. Just be sure to assess the snow slope; it had a few hidden slots that I found, and it would, obviously, be very avalanche prone in less-than-ideal conditions. Note: sorry about the non-correlation of the photos with the TR. I didn't get to take pics lots of places I would've liked. It was nice to be on a different side of Hood, for sure. Gear Notes: Small rack of rock gear, and handful of screws, some slings, and two techical tools. If you do what we did, and bypass the ice climbing, a standard axe and a second tool would be fine. Approach Notes: The hike up is best case scenario. 4WD gets you to the parking lot, and a 2WD will get you 90% of the way there, if you have a bit of ground clearance. The climber's trail up to the Eliot is mixed rock and snow.

Ah, yes. I'm from Michigan as well. I know what it's like to plan from across the states. Most times it involved expensive plane tickets, big plans, crappy weather, that turned to drinking, moping, returning on a plane frustrated and broke, and one time, 2200 bucks worth of gear stolen from an airplane terminal. Hope you have better luck than I did!

PM sent...

I can't second that one enough. Especially if you're coming from far away, which it sounds like you are. Bring rock shoes and gear; if the weather's bad, grab breakfast at the Huckleberry Inn in Gov't Camp, and head to Smith. It's about 1.5 hours from Hood.

Well, a year ago, started having lots of pain in the feet, and achilles region. I found a podiatrist, and he diagnosed me with achilles tendonitis, plantar fascitis, and bilateral bone spurs (where the achilles tendon attaches to the heel.) He recommended NSAIDs, but couldn't take them, r/t a pseudo-allergic reaction. He fitted me with custom orthotics, and recommended stretching, and icing. He also recommended a stretching band to wear while sleeping, but I declined. Another thing he had me try was rolling my foot on a golf ball. Feels good; I think it's what's helped the most. My current questions are: amount of time/interval to ice? And, how long to stretch the calves? I have no doubt that lack of stretching the calves is a good part of my problem. Thing is, I've heard lots of differing information on stretching and icing, and I've lost a sense of what is too much/ too little. Also, just out of curiosity, what is the general consensus on prolotherapy these days?

Slayer rules. Whatever that guy has, is okay by me. I'm sure that it's going to be either Rando or a split board; after I rent the two of them, I'll know. First, though, I'm going to take Mountain Shop's advice, and "take an alpine skiing lesson, and rent some gear from them, in a package. Ski until you can't anymore. Then rent. At least, until you feel comfortable. Then make your final decision". Probably end up being a split board, but you never know. Not going to be tele. My knees suck. Seems like it'd be pretty brutal on them.

I'd had the Ecrin Roc for years. Clipped to the back of my pack on the way up the Boson Basin path; snagged on a branch, and it ruined the harness system. I called Petzl, and they're willing to replace it, even though it's not under warranty. I'd bought another Elios, but it's just not the same. Can't wait to get the Ecrin back. Petzl has great customer service, if nothing else. I'd recommmend them. My two cents worth, anyway.

Thanks for the valuable posts. It's been nice seeing the differing opinions. One thing mentioned that I didn't think about is the weight. I imagine that randonee is the heaviest? Yes? No?

So, iain, it is possible to ski reasonably with mtn boots? Or was it just a joke. That's how new I am to it! I have no idea. But I'm hoping to get an idea.

I felt bad after I checked my email this morning. I didn't realize how many people had known, or found out, that I was going up there. I had emails from people that I hadn't talked to in months wondering if I was ok. It really hit home to see the video posted on the web, and to hear the 911 call. I'm afraid to open the attachment to see what the helmet looks like

Sounds a bit on the sketchy side.

Wow, nice pics. Straight out of the '80s? Colors are...uh...quite vivid.

Prolly not, but I'm unknowing. The guy at the shop that I spoke to might've been implying randonee gear, not tele stuff. Forgive me if I sound stupid. Just ignorant to it all, at this point

In winter thus far, due to my ski/snowboard non-experience, I've either boot-tracked it in, or snowshoed on the approaches. I have pals who do the same, and then there's others that do randonee, tele, and another that does a split-board. I guess the sport of skiing itself could be fun, but mainly, I'm thinking of mountaineering approaches at this point, so I'm looking for input. At this point, it sounds like a split board might be a good option because snowboarding has a relatively quick learning curve, the shorter skis are easier to control, and snowboarding is more forgiving to descending in mountaineering boots. Feel free to give input, but this is what makes sense to me so far. Also, I know that conditions and different approaches demand different gear, so that's a given, but in general, I'm looking for preferences, and what has worked for people in the past.

The older Cirruses actually are filled with Thermolite. At least the two I have are. I look forward to replacing the jacket with a Montbell Thermawrap in the near future. Yeah, a few years ago they did go to the Thermolite insulation. I have the older older version, circa 1998, with Primaloft.