billbob

This morning, June 24, 4:15am So I'm peeking out my tent at 4am, 9,600' on Hood, parked right off the SS climber route. After a windy night we have a windy morning and white-out conditions. Not much point in an early start today, but right as sleep resumes I hear a voice outside "Hey, anybody in that tent?" Having camped by this busy trail before, I know that various characters are going to pass by. But then the voice says "I got a climber here who can't make it, so I'm going to put him next to your tent out of the wind. I hear him tell someone "take my jacket, stay put and I'll be back in about 4 hours". Well this sounds interesting, so I get out to find some old guy sitting next to the rocks next to my tent. Hmmmm. It's 4:20 am, winds 30 gusting 35, temp 25F visibility nil, location about 20 feet from a 500 cliff down to the White River Canyon glacier, and now there's this old guy who's gonna freeze his ass off next to me for the next 4 hours. Turns out he's 66 and had wanted to bail on his guided climb and the water bottle in his daypack is already half-frozen. His guide, a well-known NW area pro whose name will not be disclosed, decided to take the one other person in his party up to the summit. The old dude is John. John isn't sure about much at this point and appears disoriented and out of sorts. John asks for help putting on his windpants. Says The Guide told him he could go ahead down if another guide comes along. I kick down my ice-covered tent and pack fast. Watching me, John asks if he can walk down with me, so apparently he has something going for him. He asks for help getting his crampons on. Once up and moving he does great and we get him down no worries. Sure, I wasn't going to wait for the weather to clear up and go up myself anyway, or fool around with my climber babe/tent mate. Note to self: Do not ever, under any circumstances, camp near a summit route. Never having been up with a guide, I gotta wonder about ever wanting to do so in the future. Is it standard practice to park non-performing clients or someone asking to bail w/o shelter or a bag, even In conditions so shitty you wouldn't let your dog out in? Today there's this old guy driving home to Everett thinking how he's gonna sell his gear and quit climbing. There's also a Guide out there who (IMO) made a poor judgement call, but then maybe I'm the one who is wrong. Please tell me I'm not.

OK, so my gf wants to write a book and call it "Sexy Summits: Peak Experiences of Hard Climbers" or something like that. Says she likes to get it on top of big mountains. Is this a size thing or what? Sure, I can perform on top of Rainier or anywhere but the damn cold usually keeps us between the bags. Summer makes it easier to find a nice sunset to keep things a bit warmer but then there's the crowds to contend with. She's serious about the book and wants potential contributors (to write chapters, I mean! She's my GF and I found her first :-). Anyone think something like this would sell? Somehow I can't see it being published by The Mountaineers...

The usual Hood circus was almost entirely focused on going up the WCR route last weekend, crossing over the HB for good measure. Maybe its a good time to do the "technical" Pearly Gates route ? BTW, whilst sliding down on the sucky snow and dodging large ice chunks on Saturday, I thought I glimpsed the collapse of the snow bridge over the HB bergschrund.

Ya, I cut off the fanny pack straps. Can't imagine ever using the lid in such manner.

Too funny! Good TR and great pic with that cloud layer below (was that from snow kicked up by all those boots?). Now you just have got to get on those other routes you mentioned !

Love mine, yeah it's kinda heavy but tough as nails and fairly waterproof. I like it more than my Mystery Ranch pack.

Call Mt Hood Rangers office for the North side- 541-352-6002 and ask when they will open the road to Cloud Cap. Last year it wasn't until late June.. They usually wait until the snow is gone. You can always drive to the gate, then hike up the old trail marked with blue arrows. You'll see the trail and markers as you walk up the road. Otherwise you can always skin up. Cloud Cap campground site has running water but that isn't turned on until they open the road.

JG-Please try again your post, don't see the referenced route description or photos, only the one link for annotated photo... Thanks!

In reference to the recent Oregonian blog on last weekend's five climber incident, where the Oregonian included excerpts taken from the CC.com site, several issues are raised that should (IMO) be discussed here. For starters, if we assume that any and all news media are reading our posts and taking our comments out of context as they wish in order to further their own agenda, then must we mitigate and edit our writings every time we want to speak our mind so as to prevent such unwanted news clips? Kinda sucks, doesn't it? One of the great things about CC.com is that members are free to express whatever thoughts they have, even if it is inflammatory or bullshit or whatever... How can people here continue to give their opinions, to employ the means of this much-loved venue, if The News is always watching and waiting to spin things in ways that ultimately work very much against us climbers? Yet there appears to be no realistic mechanism to prevent this from happening and still keep an open forum. News media will continue to exploit whatever sources they can find if they believe it will further their goals. Is the result of that to be an increased public opinion against climbers, thenceforth bringing about an increase in novel legislation focused on limiting the heretofore rights accepted by NW climbers as our basic rights? We just went through the MLU issue and one has to wonder - what will be next?

Half my gear is Arcteryx, wish I could afford more. Any data on breathability/permeability of Proshell? Will it be on softshell stuff?

Having been caught in Hood SS white-out conditions 5 times over the past 5 months, about 75% of my trips up there, was wondering if a sign should be posted at the registration area stating that a high probability of white-out conditions exists during the winter-spring period. People might heed such a warning. There currently is posted some information describing how to descend by compass but it only relates to having an initial position at Crater Rock. People obviously underestimate weather conditions on Hood. I know I did and was damn happy that I knew how to use my GPS. Were these guys really experienced climbers as per the news reports?

"Arcteryx Cheap"??? Sounds like "Military Intelligence".

Sounds like you were on Hood sunday. This is a new Arcteryx product?? Breathes almost as good as their best softshells? Spill it, man!

FYI - My Trango 3.1 suffered two broken poles from winds est. 80-90 mph on Hood last spring. They said it was because I didn't have it rigged correctly and that may be true since all the internal stays between tent and fly weren't hooked up. Still, they replaced the poles and ripped fly on warranty. Was glad it was only an over-nighter trip. Point is that some 4- season tents take a long time and lots of work to set up while others are way more user friendly. Makes a difference after a long day. In really bad weather it can make a really big difference.

FYI - My Trango 3.1 suffered two broken poles from winds est. 80-90 mph on Hood last spring. They said it was because I didn't have it rigged correctly and that may be true since all the internal stays between tent and fly weren't hooked up. Still, they replaced the poles and ripped fly on warranty. Was glad it was only an over-nighter trip. Point is that some 4- season tents take a long time and lots of work to set up while others are way more user friendly. Makes a difference after a long day. In really bad weather it can make a really big difference.

Ya, Went up SS Sat, pitched camp at 10K just E of Crater Rock. Heard the wind screaming below until about 6am. The chutes were plugged w/ thigh-deep slush over ice. Long walk back.

Couple weeks ago the bathroom by the climber's register was open. Maybe they learned. The main parking lot is well lit and has marked areas for overnight parking, suggest using far left side. Don't park by the Lodge. Bring lots of beer and leave a six-pack under rear bumper, it's said to bring good luck on your climb...

Various ideas from a wasted break-time at work: Little paddles at the back of skis could turn mini-generators, preferably with various types of paddles to suit conditions, more preferably wherein the generator load could be varied to the slope angle or disconnected when skinning uphill. In another example of the invention, a propellor could be mounted to the head of the skier to generate additional current. Wires from the generator would be attached to various sensitive body parts to generate muscle spasms to assist skier in attaining ultimate syle. Finally, a small turbine could be mounted at the anal orifice of skier, whereby said anal generator could be powered by typical climber foodstuffs or said skier could simply hold open their mouth while traveling downhill at speed, allowing free air passage through the intestinal passage and effectively funneling large quantities of air by virtue of the over-developed mouth on many skiers. Hope this helps!

All testosterone-pumping and posturing aside, riding the machine still looks like fun and I'd like to try it just once. What's the big deal with that? Give my old bones and stainless steel body parts a break for a change. Besides, I heard it has a wet bar...

Ya got a good point, but just once I'd like to try it...

If you give more advance notice then you might get more takers... I tried this tactic a couple months ago with little success, but now that the climbing season is near, there would be more potential riders. I can posssibly take 2-5 seats if on a weekend.

Hey Heather, We are gonna miss you! You have brought CS a long way during your reign. Daniel says "Hi". Best of luck to you... Where are you moving to ???

Having camped at about the 9,600' level to the right of Crater Rock prolly 10 times over the past two years, I can list some pros and cons thusly: Pros: acclimatization is somewhat improved, the scenery is outstanding if weather is good, summit day effort is less, and you get a more (IMO) "alpine experience". Cons: If the weather turns then you sleep poorly if at all, sometimes you choke on sulfur fumes from above, you have to carry a ton more stuff, setting up camp can take considerable effort since level sites are tough to find, and if the weather gets really bad you risk having your tent destroyed. In short, it really depends on what sort of climbing experience you are after and how much time you have. Did I mention that camping entails carrying a LOT more weight? Try getting to the top of the Palmer with a 50+ lb pack in 2 hrs. Try descending with that same pack in whiteout with ice, high wind, freezing rain, etc. Doing the overnight w/ skis is even tougher. Some people wait for summer before slogging up for overnighters. Some take the opportunity to practice w/ snow caves or just bivy sacks. The nice thing is that the S Side is a good place to practice such skills given the (relatively) easy bail out options.

I just had new Garmont AT boots fitted by Jeremy at The Mt Shop in PDX, for the money it was a deal. He definitely knows his shit and has great stories, too.

One could argue that Trolls play an important part in stimulating discussions by presenting different perspectives from outside the climber community. Open discussion is a worth-while thing. Alternatively, they could just be argumentative jerks with no redeeming values whatsoever as they attempt to foment unwarranted concerns among the non-climbing public through exaggeration far beyond that which is supported by the current data. Hmmm...