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Anybody been up Lethould Lately?


plurpimpin

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Looking at climbing Leuthold Couloir on Hood this weekend and was wondering if anyone has been up that way lately? Any beta on the conditions? Saw that a guy on Turns all Year tried Reid Headwall back on Tuesday but got turned around because of post holing in waist deep snow. Hoping that will have consolidated by this weekend but means plenty of snow in the couloir.

 

Mostly debating whether or not to bother with a 2nd tool. Any advise? First time up this route.

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cannot give recent beta but have been up a handful of times. generally don't need it if you're comfortable on steep with a single ax. however, if you aren't, it might be cheap insurance for the weight of a 2nd.

 

I have never encountered conditions (spring or winter) that required a second tool, personally. The hourglass can have some ice or rime around it but nothing crampons and an ax can't manage and above and below have been just typical snow steepness like the old chute. Though I'm sure under the right conditions it can be icy as all getout.

 

my advise, watch for any bergschrund gaps of the reid glacier against the headwall.. and know the route, in the dark..or even light it could be easy to veer right too soon, or veer left once you're on the right path. But if you're half capable you'll be fine. I guess a good rule of thumb would be, if you find yourself up against anything vertical, you're not on route.

 

enjoy the break at queen's chair, nice little spot. wish i could get out on saturday..

 

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always nice to have a 2nd tool, but little old ladies in woolen dresses did it w/ alpenstocks a long time ago, so ya know, it'll go...

 

there's pretty much always waist-deep powder down on the reid - it'll get better as you get up the coulior

 

there won't be a schrund

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Awesome guys, thanks for the beta. Won't worry about bringing a 2nd tool, you guys confirmed my suspicions. I was only wondering from the abundance of 2nd tools I've seen in trip reports. I feel like alot of people break out tech tools way more than necessary... like the guy I saw a few weeks ago heading up the pearly gates swinging a pair of tools that then got passed by a dog.

 

Hopefully snow on the Reid won't be too much of a hassle since we'll try to keep our skis on until the base of the couloir.

Edited by plurpimpin
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Awesome guys, thanks for the beta. Won't worry about bringing a 2nd tool, you guys confirmed my suspicions. I was only wondering from the abundance of 2nd tools I've seen in trip reports. I feel like alot of people break out tech tools way more than necessary... like the guy I saw a few weeks ago heading up the pearly gates swinging a pair of tools that then got passed by a dog.

 

Hopefully snow on the Reid won't be too much of a hassle since we'll try to keep our skis on until the base of the couloir.

 

Let us know how it goes.

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Just did the route today. I haven't climbed snowy mountain routes other than the south side of Hood in about 8-10 years. So I'm sure I'm not the best gauge of how difficult something is. I've climbed the route with a tool and axe in the past. I had two tools today and although I appreciated them on more than a few occasions I think a tool and an axe would have been ideal. There's some steep terrain on the Reid depending on how high you cross. Traversing below the rock ribs was a bit of everything, hard alpine ice, styrofoam, unconsolidated snow to knee high. Once in the couloir you can stay in deeper snow, or utilize more ice on the sides, whatever you prefer. There were a couple spots where it seemed like I HAD to be on front points, no snow to plunge into. Lots of front pointing on the route in general. Up top be ready for deeper snow from ankle to thigh, then some of that chandelier ice Hood is known for, before you hit the summit ridge. Had it to myself today despite a million people on the SS route.

Edited by Jarred_Jackman
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i popped over and took a look this afternoon. sorry to be contrarian ivan, def some bergs cracks to be mindful of. i've actually never seen it filled in completely, high snow year, low, etc, december, february, april, seems like there is always a gap or two open.

 

3vbSGuF.jpg

 

 

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We went up Leuthold Sunday, the route was in great shape. The bergshrund was small and easy to get around. We postholed up to thigh deep on the glacier but things firmed up some when we got into the couloir. Postholing up to calf deep here and there in the chute below the hourglass but you could find firm snow for the most part. The wind picked up when we got up above the hourglass and was pretty brutal once we got up on the summit ridge. I would estimate it was in the ballpark of 50mph so we ran up the ridge and then headed down old chute as quickly as we could.

 

We each had a single axe and at no point did I see any need for a second tool. We felt totally comfortable the whole way up. Icefall wasn't too bad, there was lots of small stuff coming down - marble to golf ball sized with an occasional baseball.

 

In all a really fun route and I'd like to go do it again.

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It took us about 9 hours from lot to summit but that included an hour of my partner playing tiddlywinks with gear on the Reid after a wardrobe/crampon malfunction. The wind also slowed us down alot on the summit ridge once out of the couloir. I think 7 hours would be a very reasonible time for the climb if you keep moving and have decent conditions.

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