NEKiwi

Thanks for the advice everyone. Just put up TR here. Best HT

Trip: Mt Hood - South Side/Hogsback Date: 3/18/2010 Trip Report: A mate and I (both from out of town) headed up the south side from Timberline last Thursday. Left from the (frozen over) Timberline parking lot at 2am, followed the bootpack, the lifts, the compass, and finally our noses till we could see the hogsback outlined by a faint glow of the sun sometime around 6. Can't say much about this portion of the day, was a touch on the tired side and couldn't see much apart from the stars. Saw the outline of a lone climber making his way up the Hogsback as we got up there. Very nice of him to break the traverse across to the Old Chute for us - thanks again if you read this. We made the summit at about 8am. Snowpack was pretty solid. Had a few small pieces of ice from our friend a hundred yards ahead as we went up the old chute, but nothing major. Spent a good half hour on the summit, was surprisingly calm. Headed back down the same way (old chute, hogsback). Without a doubt an amazing day. Counted a total of 10 people heading up to the summit via Hogsback, plus a bunch of mountain rescue folks out for training (thanks for the effort, we all really appreciate it). All in all the day couldn't have been better for our first time on Hood. Our lone friend heading up the Hogsback Summit From the old chute on the descent Looking down the Hogsback at the rescue dudes Cheers y'all HT Gear Notes: Ice axe Crampons no rope

billbob, Thanks for the advice. Had a great day up there today, will post TR when have photos. Thanks again all! HT

Awesome, cheers for the pic and description, certainly helps with getting the bearings. HT

Great to hear. Sounds like it's well traveled, so route finding shouldn't be too much of a difficultly. Thanks for the info Steve. Cheers HT

I'm going to be in Portland in a few weeks time and am considering climbing Hood with a mate of mine. We've both done a bit of mountaineering but neither of us have been on Hood. We're looking for a relatively non-technical climb, which from the sounds of things might be Hogsback. From what we've been reading it looks to be in and decent this year. I seem to remember seeing that the Pearly Gates are real icy. What's the best alternative route to the summit from here? I've seen a couple of mentions of the Old Chute - is this way off to the left as you come across the Hogsback? Additionally, does anyone know of a trip report that documents the climb with photos of the landmarks? Thanks all! HT