dwillym

Last minute idea but worth a shot. I've climbed Hood multiple times but would rather not climb alone, even on the standard route. Looking for anyone up for a slog early tomorrow. I move reasonably fast. Weather is looking solid, it'll be cold & clear overnight, and avy danger looks ok. Planning on basic south side approach and summit via Old Chute. PM if interested.

My camera fell off my bag at some point on the hike out from North Sister, near the Pole Creek trail, on Sunday, May 13. Probably within a mile of the trailhead, but we bushwhacked quite a bit so it won't be on the trail proper. So it could be anywhere really, but worth a shot to post. Blue Pentax Optio W60 in a blue fabric case. Thanks -

Thinking about a standard s.s. Hood climb on Tuesday, weather is looking good at this point. Temps are increasing so I'd likely start early. Let me know!

Trip: Mt. Hood - Wy'East Date: 4/18/2010 Trip Report: Had a looooong trip up the Wy'East route on Sunday with a group of 10. Skies were clear and the weather was solid. The snow felt good but there were a few inches of powder on top of the condensed stuff. Dropped down across the White River glacier around 7500 feet or so, and climbed up towards and to the right of the Steel Cliffs. The bulk of the elevation was gained here on moderate slopes in full sun and with great views. At about 10500 feet we gained the top of the cliffs and things leveled out. There were a few spots among the rocks where you'd punch through so tread carefully. It was pretty cool to see the standard route from this perspective. We moved along the cliffs towards the crux, which involved a short climb up & around a mushroom, then a traverse across & up to the summit area (see below). Snow conditions weren't good enough for arresting a potential fall so we protected with two 60m fixed lines to prussik along. Slope was about 45 degrees on the traverse. A tumble anywhere on that portion would not have been pleasant. We started just before 3am and were on the summit by 1pm. Most of us descended the old chute, and a couple guys rappelled down the PG. There was a lot of downtime with the rope set-up and we were a large group so things took some time, but it was hard to complain about that many hours on the mountain when it's so damn beautiful up there. Looking West towards the Hogsback Fixed lines - up & around that mushroom & across & up (gulp) Gear Notes: Axe 2nd tool Crampons 2 Ropes Pickets

There weren't many obvious tracks in the couloir that I noticed, but those that I did see tended to follow straight up the middle of the gully. I don't remember seeing many places you could take a wrong turn to the right, at least not after the hourglass. I used this picture for reference. Leuthold is the gully practically in the center with the right turn/left turn of the hourglass visible about halfway up (and the mound of snow far above on the horizon). Maybe you guys took one of those gullies to the right? http://www.skimountaineer.com/TR/Images2004/HoodReidGlacier062104-1200.jpg

I didn't see any cracks, billclimbs.

Trip: Mt. Hood - Leuthold Couloir Date: 3/20/2010 Trip Report: Had a great first trip up Leuthold yesterday with 5 others. Started from the parking lot at 3am and back at the car just before 2pm. Long day but very worth it. We cut left at the top of the ski lifts to the saddle just North of Illumination rock, and climbed down a steep incline to cut across the Reid. There's a large bare rock formation in the center of the slope; you cut below that and bang a right immediately after and the gully is directly above you. It was obvious and easy to find, and the snow was mostly fantastic (avy danger was predicted as low for Friday night/Sat morning via NWAC). We all took a few hits from falling ice (mostly on the slope before the hourglass). Nothing huge, but those little golfball-sized f**ckers hurt. A lot. There's actually a funnel of snow & ice chunks constantly running down the middle of the chute all the way down from the hourglass. It's like there was a faucet running somewhere up there. We used some good steps/made some of our own up until the hourglass. Once through that section the snow was quite a bit firmer and we front-pointed up most of that slope up to the queen's chair using a 2nd tool. 40-45 degrees at the most but no ice. None of us had done the route before but understood generally where you top out along the ridge, but you come out a lot closer than we expected. We assumed there was a much longer traverse to the summit, or at least some more elevation after the top of the steep parts of the gully, but after the queen's chair you just go up a few more feet and boom, you're in the sun and suddenly there are all these people. Additionally, some trip reports indicated that the traverse is sketchy enough at times that you either need to practically get out on the north face for a short section, or downclimb a bit to join part of the old chute and come back up, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I've seen pics of the north face thing and it's basically a step down towards the edge of the face with your back to it, but that wasn't really the case for us. You have to step down in spots but you're pretty much on the ridge the whole time. The traverse is definitely catwalk-ish and there's a lot of exposure, but nothing that's any more dangerous than the gully you took to get up there. We downclimbed the old chute and plodded our way to the parking lot. It was great to see and experience a different side of the mountain with more of a challenge, better scenery (Yocum Ridge is stunning), and less crowds. This was a route I've wanted to do for quite some time and the conditions couldn't have been better. Looking east to Illumination saddle Heading up towards the hourglass Yocum Ridge to the west The slope after the hourglass Traverse Gear Notes: Rope (didn't use) Pickets (didn't use) Crampons Ice axe 2nd tool Red licorice

Tried those places, but wouldn't you know it, I just remembered I'd called every place except the Mountain Shop on NE Broadway, and they do indeed carry ice tools. Looks like I jumped the gun. Thanks!

Anybody know where I can rent an ice tool in Portland? I need a shorter ice axe (45-50cm) with a leash, not for anything vertical, just higher-angle mountaineering. Thanks.

I got up there this morning (5/30) at about 5am. This was my 4th summit of Hood and by far the best yet. I believe I was 2nd at the top, and the first guy left right away and I had the summit & sunrise all to myself for about 15 minutes...priceless! I did the Old Chute as well, though everybody seemed to be taking the far left option when I started up. As I progressed up the right side of it (where most of the people are going in the first pic in the previous post) I noticed the option I took is far superior - it's generally less steep then the left side (except for the last 30 feet or so), and the runout is better - if you fell at least you have the dirt/fumarole area below you, as opposed to the steep, lasting-forever slope to the east of crater rock. I'd post some pics but they look like everybody else's. It seemed like half the groups coming up after me were roping up. It was crazyness.

scottb, thanks for the clarification - i re-checked the route and i meant to say WF gully, not CG. It's the route just to the left of Casaval Ridge that I tried before and would like to do again. Wheepickle, i'll PM you and maybe we can meet up for the ascent at least, as I won't be doing any skiing.

Looking for some climbing buddies to head down to Shasta this Memorial Day weekend from Portland. Would drive down early Saturday 23rd, hike into camp that afternoon, and summit next day via Cascade Gulch. Tried this before and the timing worked out well, last time we headed back Sunday night, but could extend into Monday as well. I'm in great shape and have done Hood & Adams (s.side both) a bunch, but my technical skills aren't quite honed, so Cascade Gulch seems like a good route (but I'm up for suggestions). I'm prepping for an "expedition seminar" on Rainier in late June and need to get my climbing on.

anybody thinking of doing Adams 8.8/8.9? I'm planning on heading up there tonight, starting around midnight for a 'quick' up & down of the south side as long as the weather is decent.

i posted some pics in this thread: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Main/60138/Number/818578#Post818578

Nevermind! I was up there Friday 7.19 so here's my own report on conditions: Conditions were stellar - a near-full moon, 100% clear skies, good temps, hard snowpack, and no rockfall (we did hear some on the steel cliffs, but nothing in an area that mattered for s.side climb). The bergschrund is huge and everybody is taking a left to go up the old chute, but you can also drop down the side of the hogsback, over a dry patch, and then up. Back in May we did the old chute and it put us closer to the summit - now you top out on a knife-edge ridge a bit farther west (it's easy but very narrow for a bit). It really was a spectacular climb. We fully expected crappy snow and definite rockfall, but the temps must have been just right. This was my third time up and it was by far the most beautiful trip. [just used the basics: crampons, axe, helmet]