Maine-iac

As it seems the Oregon is in a bit of a heat wave; or at least it seems like it (95 currently), just wondering what is the coldest temperatures that people have experienced? Lets hear from some of you hardmen who are always posting TRs.

Lowell, nice page about the ski tour.

Thanks for the input guys. I kind of figured that the skis would just be used for an approach and not any technical downhill runs; but its good to hear that it really is not fun skiing with them. And I also agree that anything is better than snowshoes, and concur with Feck about the snowshoes on ski tracks, those ****s.

Hell yeah Sobo! My "goal" this year was to gap the bergshrund; but since we skied the Mazama chute when it was avy prone, I decided not to push my luck. Next year though....

So I know that my Koflach Degrees fit my Fritschis, but what is it like skiing with these boots? Anything that I should know before I go off and charge something worthwhile?

I feel like unless there is a directly seen benefit, like plowed snow-parks and stocked remote-site bathrooms (oh wait.... I'm going to be shitting on a rock for however long I'm in the woods, fuck those bathrooms) it is just more money that I have to spend. I already do the bulk of my outdoors stuff after the term ends and I can sell back my books so I can afford these gas prices. Unless I see exactly where this money goes I am going to pat Bill on the shoulder and give the man the finger. If there is a birthright to Israel than I should have a birthright to the woods. As for the Forest Service selling off logging rights that is bullshit, why the Hell would I want to see that ugly scar in a beautiful landscape; and don't say to raise money to fight fires, the government thought up the brilliant idea to suppress, so they can foot the bill.

Similar to what Mattp said about the off trail backpacking, being familiar with map and compass skills is a very worth while skill; and probably being able to ID things on a map with where they are in real life is also very important. Also being comfortable with the surroundings makes all the difference, e.g. skiing steeps at resorts before hitting the steeps in the BC. Just another note on leaving a trip itinerary in your car; if you are in an area of high crime put the note where nosey people can not read it.

Ski from the top and charge hard.

Just imagine if winters were cold here along the West Coast. Those Californians would get the price of oil down pretty quickly if they actually had to heat their houses. A good sweater and set of windows does an amazing job. Also YES to public transport; those Europeans have a few things figured out.

We saw all of the pits dug on the Hogsback and wondered why people were even bothering to do that... it is on a completely different aspect. We talked/watched a few people descend the Old Chute and felt it was safe. We made sure to hike fast up it, and ski carefully down it. I skied first, and made a few hard cuts up high and it felt very solid. My two friends watched and made sure nothing broke loose up above me, then they each skied one at a time with the others watching. I think skiers have a slightly different appreciation for avalanches than climbers do. We wanted to ski the entire cute, but the last 40 or so feet were a weird rim ice and snow mix so we downclimbed through that. But other than that the chute felt good. Cant wait to get back up there!!!

Skykilo, what time were you up there? I was part of the 3 skiers who skied the Mazamma chute (the photo on backcountry mag is of me), we reached the summit at 945am.

Was up there last weekend and yesterday. The gates are in, with 60 degree snow/ice last week I didn't place any gear except for the descent where i put in a picket for an anchor for a friend to rap. As of yesterday afternoon, nobody had gone through them so there will be new snow. Old chute was good yesterday, possibly some slab avys to come though. There was a solid boot pack from well below the hogsback up to the top of the hogsback, and then about 10 people did the traverse up though the old chute yesterday. There is a good snowbridge for the PGs. The snow has been freezing very well at night, and warming up nicely in the day. The sun hits the hogsback right about 9ish and the Old Chute is in sun completely by 11. Bring skis for the ride down!! http://www.backcountrymagazine.com/ * if you look closely you might be-able to see my smile!!!!

Skiing is in on Hood http://www.backcountrymagazine.com/ p.s. Im glad everybody decided not to summit yesterday, it made for a lovely empty summit, and we didn't have to worry about anybody getting in the way for our descent.

Nothing is better than face shots in June, well maybe July.

Ya it is open. Had friends go that way last weekend, and said they could drive right to the TH.

Fuck yeah! The only time I have put my skis away in the past two years is when I go home to maine during the summer. I would still climb in the rain, what happens if you have to back off of a climb because of rain? You cant be totally new to the experience. Climb and rap in the dark for the same reason.

I was up the S. Side of Hood over the weekend, and I found half a split board just laying in a pile of rocks between the climbers trail and illumination rock, I brought it over to the climbers trail and put it standing up in the middle of the "trail". It stayed there for all of saturday and until i came down around noon today (sunday). I left a found note at the climbers registration place, but figured this board reaches many more people. If you can describe its color and make, we can can figure out a return option. send PM for info.

I was up the S. Side of Hood over the weekend, and I found half a split board just laying in a pile of rocks between the climbers trail and illumination rock, I brought it over to the climbers trail and put it standing up in the middle of the "trail". It stayed there for all of saturday and until i came down around noon today (sunday). I left a found note at the climbers registration place, but figured this board reaches many more people. If you can describe its color and make, we can can figure out a return option. send PM for info.

Thanks guys for all of the info. I am thinking about bringing up all of my gear near to a camping spot near illumination rock, then going for the Summit, then descend back to the gear and try for the circumnavigation. I will be with a friend who is pretty new to mountaineering, so our main goal will be just the standard south side route, but if she is feeling good we will probably take two full days plus or minus one day to do the circumnavigation. I will post a TR about the trip, and try to get some current pics of what the glaciers look like for people to reference. Again, thanks for the info.

I am planning on having skis. Cobra, are you saying staying high above MHM is a slog versus dropping low (bottom of Heather Cannon) and then dealing with the runout of White River? If I skirt around the very top of Heather, top of Cascade lift cant I miss the moraines associated with the bottom of the White River glacier, staying above 7000?

I am thinking about doing a circumnavigation of Hood, and I was just looking for any advice for routing options. Ideally I would like to stay high on the mountain, going clockwise, try and stay just at the base of Yocum Ridge and right around the level of Ladd Glacier, then coming back up to around 8000 to cross Eliot Glacier. But looking at a map and from what i remember of the area above Mt. Hood Meadows it gets pretty steep and maybe a little difficult (not really looking for a technical challenge, but will have glacier gear), should i just follow Wy'East route back towards Timberline? I have a 4 day weekend the next few weeks so i feel that should give me plenty of time, weather permitting; but any advice would be great! Also, because of last weeks warm spell, are the cracks starting to open up a little, and the streams raging? Thanks, T.H.

3 fingered jack is starting to get quite rocky. Almost the entire actual mountain (viewed from the south side) is free of snow. Spent friday saturday and most of today on the lower slopes and it was melting very very fast. lots of running water and rockfall.

Have you ever done a Dulfersitz???? sure in a pinch i would do it, but never for fun. I mean if you like friction burns on your crotch and shoulders, and burning holes in your gear, than ya go for it.... I practiced it once, and i couldnt decide between having my ass on fire, or all of my weight on my balls.

Just got 10 days straight! Woohoo spring break. Sadly i was solo for all of it so it was mostly at Hood Meadows. But in the 10 days they got 98 inches of snow, so it wasn't too bad....

The guy in the red coat was contemplating the Mazama route, but alas, was picked up in the lodge of Timber line by dmuja. Getting those skis through the gates was not very fun, nor was coming down through them, but the ski from the top of the Hogsback was fantastic.