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Heyo! I'm traveling to Portland/Seattle for the last week of April/first Week of May, and I was really hoping to do the following early in the trip: 2 days on Mt Hood, camping at Illumination Saddle, climbing a route each day. Ideally skin up & ski down from camp, but booting it from there. 1st day be up to Illumination Saddle early enough to drop camp/ski gear and fire the Reid Glacier Headwall. 2nd day leave camp EARLY, drop down and around to Sandy Glacier Headwall. Pick up camp on descent. Main criteria for a partner is that they are fit, have glacier travel experience, and are at least reasonably solid enough on AI2 in order to simul most/all of either route. Someone to join in the skiing is ideal, or at least someone who doesn't mind me skiing down after 😜. I am shooting for the April 29/30 weekend, but can do later days as late as May 2/3. Also willing to work with people just doing car-to-car efforts - ideally there I camp alone and trade off between partners between the days, but could just do car-to-car if there are no other options.

Hey everybody, my name is Austin and I live in Hood River. Myself and three others are looking to climb the South Side Hogsback route of Mt. Hood next week and we are looking for someone with experience climbing this route to come along. We all have moderate exp, having climbed Adams, Shasta, and several 14ers in CO. However, would feel more comfortable climbing with someone who knows the route. All of us are in mid-20's and are in good shape but cannot afford the guide services. That being said, we could probably throw $100 bucks and a case of wine at our fellow adventurer. Cheers, Austin

Went up this weekend 11/3 to check out the drips on the Eliot glacier. A few of the climbs are kind of in. The climbable ones are super wet. The north gully also looks like it's pretty close to being in. The two routes I got on The north face. 11/3

I am in Portland for the summer and am new to the area. I am looking for someone to let me tag along or guide me up Mt Hood on either 7-7 or 7-8. I’m in good shape and have done many 14ers in CO. This seems like new exciting challenge. I’d buy you a beer afterwards!

Im looking for a partner to ski tour the south side climbing route of Hood, with the goal to summit Mt Hood on 5/25. l'll be leaving from Portland around 11pm-Midnight 5/24 (Thursday, night before and am more than happy to pick you up and carpool) and plan on starting on the trail from Timberline around 1am. I'm relatively new to ski mountaineering, with two seasons under my belt, but Ive done St Helens, Broken Top and Mt Washington before. Mt Hood is my current white whale. I've gone up to Hogsback twice but have turned back due to lame conditions one time and equipment failure another. Looking for a buddy to try and summit this thing for real this time!

Trip: Mt Hood - Reid Headwall - Iced up solo Trip Date: 12/09/2017 Trip Report: Went for a solo outing on the Reid Headwall last Saturday and found AMAZING ice conditions! Got lucky with great weather, no wind, and sick ice. By far my favorite route, and the best conditions I have found. I could tell you about it...but seeing is way more fun! Check out the climb in 4K! Gear Notes: Petzl Quarks, Petzl Lynx crampons Approach Notes: Timberline to I-Saddle

Friends, after being approached by both a guidebook company and an app maker last year, both of whom wanted to recruit local expertise to create a paid guide to Mt Hood's backcountry terrain, I decided that it was in the public interest to make that information available for free. After significant personal investment, a free guide to Mt Hood Backcountry is now available: MtHoodSkiMap.com Of course there will be griping from some about giving up 'secret' spots or facilitating beginner access to the backcountry, but in this age of GPS and 4G, both of these things are inevitable. I would rather that users discover the backcountry as I did-- using moderately imperfect information from a trusted source as a basis for personal exploration and learning. All of the information that I've provided is available elsewhere, but it's inconvenient, poorly written, or hard to find. By compiling this guide, I'm hoping to follow in the tradition of similar websites, like Run the Volcanoes (RIP), that serve as a touchstone for those entering this sport and the Mt Hood Backcountry with fresh eyes. Features: The Map: Based on Caltopo and marked with common routes, features, and roads, so you can change layers, zoom, pan, print, and apply slope gradient maps. -The Short Guide: A primer to the peculiarities of skiing in the Hood. -Weather/Forecast Links: Easy access to NOAA, NWAC, and more. -Backcountry Ski Routes: A detailed guide to common Mt Hood backcountry routes with photos, printable maps, and notes from personal experience. Please share this guide with friends, email me through the Contact link if you have corrections/contributions, and get out there to enjoy the 2017-18 season, which is already off to a good start. -Patrick Fink

Trip: Mt. Hood - "The Pencil" FA Date: 1/30/2017 Trip Report: We've always heard "The Pencil" come up as an obvious unclimbed line on the north side of Hood. Let me start by saying it's totally possible that some hardmen/women knocked it off back in the 80's or something but, as there was no record or beta that we could find, we're thinking it's a new route. Community, please let us know if this is not the case, certainly don't want to be making false claims! Our buddy Mike had really been eyeing it for a while and made an attempt recently but got turned back about 1/3 of the way up. When we saw the weekend weather forecast we moved it to the top of the list and Mike, Jacob, Tim and myself were all psyched to go for it. The line The prime weather and conditions brought Mt. Hood climbers out in full force, us among them. Originally we had planned to climb in 2 teams of 2 as it's always super fun to be in the mountains with your friends, but unfortunately Mike put a nail through his hand in a carpenters accident a day before and had to opt out. Major bummer as he was the driving force behind the objective. He was still psyched for us to give it a go and provided us with what beta he had from his previous attempt and a showed us a few old photos of the potential exits onto the north face. So Tim, Jacob and myself followed through and were in the lot by 2:00 and skinning shortly after. We approached via the standard slog up the south side and were the first to hit the hogs back at about 4:45 where we ditched the skis, ate some food, and tried hard to convince ourselves to take off the belay jackets. To start the day off we wallowed over to the Devil's Kitchen Headwall and group soloed the route by headlamp, putting us on the top in perfect time to see the sunrise from the top of Oregon, a first for me. Sunrise Descending the Sunshine After a few photos, some water and food we descended the Sunshine Route to Snow Dome. From there we roped up and made a beeline for the bottom of the route. Pretty uneventful minus a little harmless fall in the bergschrund by Jacob. We crossed it once more and I started up the thin alpine ice. We were happy to find solid sticks and moderate climbing up to an obvious slung horn. Pretty sure this tat was from Mike's last attempt on the line. I brought up Jacob and Tim and launched off onto the next pitch which turned out to be the crux. The climbing was mostly thin-ish ice of varying quality. Anywhere from hero and plastic to aerated and garbage, but for the most part sticky and secure, with the odd front point on rock placement. I followed the line of least resistance that took us through a few steep vertical sections and was about a full 60 meters of WI 3/3+. I placed a small but decent looking nut (always hard to tell the rock quality but it looked pretty good actually) and 2 screws on the pitch, prioritizing finding a proper anchor with the gear I had left. Thankfully the climbing was secure and I found a bomber ice and rock anchor in a perfect location right below the final ramp. Starting the crux pitch Tim in the crux Belay The next pitch was a very quick section of secure WI3- right off the anchor that gradually mellowed into a snowfield with easy neve. This took us to the top of the pencil proper in a 60M+ rope stretcher. Tim and Jacob actually had to start simul-climbing so I could reach good ice to build a belay, so to future parties, a 70 would have been perfect if using the same belays. We were atop the pencil, but above us was another short 30 foot section of WI3 that would take us up and onto Cathedral Spire. Thanks to Mike's beta and a photo he shared with us, we suspected that the top of the spire would connect down to the north face via a small snow patch. The section looked to good to pass up so we decided to try and finish the route in a direct line and headed up. Jacob dispatched the lead in style and brought us up. We simuled the rest of the snowfield to the top of Cathedral Spire. The beta paid off and we had a short downclimb in loose, unconsolidated snow to the notch above The Ravine and joined the north face. 3rd pitch start 3rd Pitch Jacob starting up Cathedral Spire From there we followed the finish of the North Face Right Gully to the top, where we popped over the summit and into the sun. For the second time that day we stood on top somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon. We celebrated a great day, reorganized, and descended back to our skis. Great skiing conditions capped off a perfect day of Oregon alpine climbing. Huge shout out to Mike for all the help with this one and letting us use his beta, knowledge and gear as well! Thanks for reading! Gear Notes: -4 screws, 1 stubby and 3 13's (could have used more although ice quality varied) -minor rock pro (.5-2 camalots could be useful as well as some nuts) -mini kb's (found a home for them, maybe not necessary) -2 pickets (solid in spots, but not on the route proper) -2 60M twins Approach Notes: Southside slog, up Devil's Kithchen Headwall, down Sunshine to Snow Dome, traverse diagonally in a straight shot to the pencil.

Trip: Mt. Hood - South Sizzle Date: 4/18/2010 Trip Report: Just what everyone wanted to see, ANOTHER South Side TR. Well, sit down and shut up cause here it is: We wanted to see the sunrise from the summit so we got there early. I could have sworn there was a Starbucks portable coffee shop in the parking lot cause there was a ton of cars and campers...even a tent. There were old ladies rolling mob deep into the place. I started to get nervous thinking I'd get shown what time it was by someone who was actually at Woodstock so we randomly hid their Carter Liver pills, got our shit together, and hauled ass. Once on our way we beat feet to the top of Palmer. It was epic, like Mt. Everest only not. We nearly got lost but the ski lift towers saved our lives. Good thing there wasn't a cloud in the sky or it would have been certain death. Once we got to the Palmer lift house it took 10 minutes to recover. We looked down the hill to see what looked like a Chinese celebration following us up. FUCK THAT! The next section up to Cathedral can only be described as a scene out of a Krakauer novel, epic yet smooth as cheerleader's ass. All rock formations covered in nothing but finely crusted snow. No skins or snowshoes needed. A quick look back brought the heavy reality of the situation to the forefront, the geriatrics parade was catching up to us! Damnit, Damnit, Damnit...They must have brought their oxygen bottles! We hauled ass up to the Hoggsback where we put on our crampons. One of the guys had some technical issues but after a half of a roll of duct tape and some bailing wire he was back in action...but then the unthinkable happened...a solo climber had caught up to our group! He must have cheated his ass off and used our perfectly broken tracks. The lone soloist carried Ice tools and spoke of a far away place laden in water ice called the Pearly Gates. He stated that in no uncertain terms should a daredevil attempt this death defying feat without tools and protection. After some conversation amongst my team of righteous friends we decided the course toward the Old chute would be better for drinking and grab-assery. By this time the Chinese New Year celebration had showed up and one group started up the Hoggsback after the Soloist. Once to the wall they started to break the trail to the Old chute, however, in a twist of fate they became perilously lost in a chute much too early. We made our way to the chute right of the old chute and up to VICTORY!!! (The lost climbers regained their bearing and followed us) At the top we met the Soloist and another group, all taking different routes. The sun rose and we took turns getting suntans and telling Yomamma jokes. We made our great escape before the AARP tried to hit us up for early memberships. We landed at the bar for a round of Ice Axe. The beer was refreshing but the waitress got snooty when she thought I made light of her "glandular problem"...we DID do her a favor by eating the extra pastries regardless of what she thinks. Look Ma, no hands! Did someone spill some honey? "Excuse me sir, we just climbed your mountain and what we need to know is...will you serve us your beer?" Gear Notes: Speedos and flip-flops, we took all the usual shit but this is all that was really needed. Approach Notes: The weather couldn't have been better. If you put Mt. Hood off for another day you may as well quit because you probably missed the best day of the year.