bgrass

South-Side compatriots - I'm hoping to collect a little beta/have some assumptions confirmed. I haven't been up on Hood since the early days of my climbing 'career' 8 or more years ago. I was there in an August and the 'schrund was wide open and the Pearly Gates (?) were littered with bowling ball-sized and larger rocks. IF my memory is correct, the schrund was passable on climber's left if you wanted to be sporty and then immediately traverse under a chossy looking cliff band with little to no margin for error above the schrund. Not really my idea of a good time so we turned around. I was hoping to take a couple of low-experience level friends on a moderate route on Hood, but based on reading the thread (and the fact no one has posted a TR for 3 weeks on the south spur!) I'm guessing the schrund is open and I would be back to my 'sporty' route around it. Can anyone confirm or deny this assumption? Assuming the south route isn't safe for newbies, I've heard mention a number of times about going the 'old route' on the south spur, which I believe is one gully west of the normal route. What I don't know is if you still have to get above the 'schrund to access this alternate route. If that route is viable, anyone have a recommendation for a source of more info? Any other moderate route suggestions on Hood or Oregon volcanos? Thanks in advance for the input. And by the way, this is my first post, so please be easy on me!