[geeking out on geology]

My understanding was that most of Oregon from around that area north was all Columbia River Basalt if you dig deep enough....Thanks to Missoula Floods it's mostly buried under rich topsoil scoured out of eastern Washington and Idaho. Ancient flows of the Columbia emptied out around Newport, so it could very well be.

[Another accident on Hood]

in a white out. I'm glad all will be okay, but jeez, it does seem like a lot of folks are not looking at long range (beyond 24 hours) forecasts these days. It seems like holing up at Illumination Saddle for another night would have been the thing to do rather than trying to trudge back to Timberline in those conditions.

[Leuthold Couloir route conditions......]

Thanks Ivan...I just saw that trip report....some great pics there....yeah, I remember some of those gullies looking pretty tempting the last time I was up there. Good times.

[Leuthold Couloir route conditions......]

Hey guys, anyone been up around the West face of Hood lately? I'm planning to lead a climb through the LC in a couple weeks....planning on camping at the saddle; was wondering what the descent and traverse was like down and across the upper Reid....if anyone's been up the couloir lately, any updates on route condition are all the better. Thanks!

[NY Times Mt Hood article from January 19]

Good article.....thanks!

Dang....I'm itching to get back up there myself.

[how do you respond to this?]

Somebody referred to diabetes as a disease solely having to do with dietary habits.....this is bs. There is Type 1 (early onset) and Type 2......they might as well be two different diseases...Three people in my family had Type 1, and my family's pretty active....I lost my bro at 38 years old to diabetic complications....I'd climbed many a Cascade peak with him before this incident, so obviously he was in good shape.....so just an fyi, don't confuse Type 1 from Type 2(which is the one fat people often get).

[[TR] Mt. Adams- Mazama Glacier 7/1/2006]

Climb: Mt. Adams-Mazama Glacier

 

Date of Climb: 7/1/2006

 

Trip Report:

I finally managed to get back up to the Mazama Glacier Route on Mt. Adams over the weekend. I was stymied there back in Sept. '01 by a maze of crevasses and ultimately poor conditions. This time I figured we'd go earlier in the season; The price for that however was that we had to circumnavigate from Cold Springs since as of last weekend the road into Bird Creek is still closed. Hiking and routefinding from Cold Springs over to the Mazama route was an adventure (the Round-the Mountain trail is still buried in snow)- it took us seven hours; We were rewarded though by a vacant Sunrise Camp which after seeing the hordes at Cold Springs, I'm sure was quite a different experience than the zoo over on the Lunch Counter. I'm not sure, but I think it's possible we were first on the route of the season, as there was not evidence that anyone else had taken the trouble to hoof it back into that side of the mountain since roads have been snowed in. There was one other group of three that went in there that day; they at least had the benefit of a GPS which I'm sure would of made life easier. After setting up camp, taking in the wondrous views of Mazama and Klickitat glaciers, and sipping some of my uncle's homemade corn whiskey, we saddled in for early bed (the sun goes away pretty quick on that side of the mountain!)...

The alarm was set for 3; we left camp at 4:15. The glacier is still mostly filled in; any crevasses there are pretty obvious. There is kind of a spooky fracture line that seems to cross almost the entire width of the glacier that sort of creeped us out, but it was easily passable. The upper slopes of Mazama just steep enough to kick your arse, but nothing worse. There does seem to be a hard ice layer about a foot down (I heard warnings of wet slab avalanche danger, but nver felt too threatened).

By about 8:00 we reached Suksdorf Ridge and the Pikers Peak, and there the circus commenced. Man, avoid the South Spur route if at all possible. The whole wilderness experience pretty much evaporates at that point.....there must of been a hundred or more people stomping up there. Anyhow, we summited at 9:30; the wind was gusty, but not too bad -the summit was unfortunately cloudy, but we did get some hazy views of Rainier and Hood.

Going down was a little sloppy; snow was very soft; descent down Mazama required some extra attention, but pretty straightforward.

Hiking back out to Cold Springs once again was an adventure since our tracks had mostly melted out. Luckily I had set a bunch of wands which made life a little easier. All in all a great climb- I definitely recommend this route as an alternative to South Spur...

 

Gear Notes:

rope, ice axe, crampons, couple of pickets, crevasse rescue gear

 

Approach Notes:

hiked in from Cold Springs as road into Bird Creek still closed.

[[TR] Mt. Hood- South Side 4/23/2006]

The bergsgrund is definitely melting out some; our experience was early in the AM; the couloir was very icy at that time, but it did soften up by our descent an hour later...maybe sketchy wasn't the right word, but definitely a different look about the route from years past, which actually made it more fun.

[[TR] Mt. Hood- South Side 4/23/2006]

I took 3 beginners up yesterday...pearly gates were sketchier than any time I'd seen them in the past 8-9 years.....I set a few pickets...made everyone feel better if nothing else...he's right though, quick self-arrest review is likely enough, but depends on confidence of the 'beginning alpinist' too....

[[TR] Mt. Hood- Hogs Back 4/24/2006]

I can attest to Alpinerack's route surmisal....I just got off the summit yesterday -no 4 hours here though, jeez!! -but we were first on the summit that morning.

 

The bergshrund is certainly becoming more recognizable, although still definitely bridged. I also saw that deep post hole he refers to; that was creepy. I took a bigger than normal step over it!! One thing not mentioned though is the different personality the hogsback and pearly gates have this year. They've definitely shifted from years past; in fact climbers are now using a chute to the left of the traditional one used in past. We were up there early, and it was very icy and steeper than most years. Hogsback also seemed a little steeper this year. I set a few pickets above the 'schrund and around the corner up into the gates. Summit was windier than hell and I think we were all nervously anticipating our decent back through the gates....all went smoothly.