Desey Posted May 5, 2003 Posted May 5, 2003 Going up south from Timberline,,traverse to West up Sand Hedwall, come down regular route... anyone have info? Looks like there has been alot of snow lately Quote
iain Posted May 5, 2003 Posted May 5, 2003 Just traversed over to Sandy HW Saturday. It's all good in the hood, go for it. Too bad you have no weather to work with right now, and snow is falling again up there. A few folks were bailing off of Leuthold's at the saddle, but I didn't press them for why. There was some drifting snow that they seemed concerned about, but I didn't see much in the way of tracks over there so I can only assume they made that assessment at the saddle. Cross low over Yocum for easy travel (down a ways around a rock buttress after crossing the Reid). Quote
Pro_popper Posted May 5, 2003 Posted May 5, 2003 Veta? Ah! Ze traverze iest zehr einfach. Komm und Rutz vith me am wochenende. We vill be zogether. Quote
ivan Posted May 6, 2003 Posted May 6, 2003 just got back from hood monday afternoon...lotz a new snow up there. spent two days at illumination saddle doing denali training type stuff. the snow and conditions were excellent saturday, but i'd give it a few days to calm down now...the new snow was very dry and a fierce wind has blown it all over. as it partly cleared y-day could see several avalanches had already come down luetholds and up on crater rock....on a side note, the illumination saddle is a sweet place to camp. the wind was fucking roaring at the actual gap, but just a few feet away we were snug behind our snow wall...drifting over the ridge was a big problem though...after two days our 4 foot high wall was level to the slope, and we had to dig the entire thing out 4 times. Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted May 6, 2003 Posted May 6, 2003 Ivan, was that you heading up with a sled on Saturday early afternoon? Quote
ivan Posted May 6, 2003 Posted May 6, 2003 si, senor, that was i and my wily, crafty companion from cali-fornia....first time i'd lugged one of them big bastards up a hill before, not exactly an alpine-style feeling, but damn did i eat good for 2 days! was difficult to fight the suicidal urge y-day to just ride the damn sled down the palmer, especially over those huge ramps beside the ski slope. Â so what happened to the folks going up luetholds? the snow conditions on saturday seemed excellent...i was pissed we didn't get up to i-rock earlier on saturday (got soaked at smith rocks and slept in) b/c it seemed a perfect opportunity to climb that cool point...looks like a melt-water icesmear is forming up in the center of that big cliff on illumination...was completly plastered y-day so didn't give it a thought Quote
Ursa_Eagle Posted May 6, 2003 Posted May 6, 2003 I have no idea what happened on Leuthold. I was just doin' the south side (again... I was up there way too many times last week). Conditions on the south side weren't bad at all. Hell, we even got a nice "cool breeze" the whole way up! I saw you at the top of palmer, but by the time I got over toward you, you had started moving, and I figured that you wouldn't want to stop again. I just dragged a sled up Tam MacArthur Rim a few weeks ago as part of a expedition training class, so I understand completely about how much fun they are. Turns out the "sled-tree well" attraction is one of the strongest forces known to man. Â Too bad you didn't ride it down, that would have been entertaining (both to participate in and watch!) Quote
Pro_popper Posted May 7, 2003 Posted May 7, 2003 Are you getting nervous watching your count down clock... Quote
ivan Posted May 7, 2003 Posted May 7, 2003 nervous? fuck...more like totally bored w/ school and ready to get the hell out of here. Â Â Quote
mike1 Posted May 7, 2003 Posted May 7, 2003 I can't speak for the other two groups up there, but when we woke up to start all we saw was white. We gave it another hour and after seeing no change assumed the weather was early and we would be packing it in. After sleeping in a bit we saw it had cleared but we were running late so we bailed. Of course in hind sight I think we could have climbed. ‘tis still early… Quote
iain Posted May 8, 2003 Posted May 8, 2003 13" of pow reported at T-Line on Mon morn! Dunno what's up there these days. Quote
erik Posted May 8, 2003 Posted May 8, 2003 iain said: 13" of pow reported at T-Line on Mon morn! Dunno what's up there these days. Â eweve let me down! Â Quote
Timcb Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 So for Sandy, what kinda pro would yall recommend? I take it that all the new snow eliminates the need for ice screws.. but then how many pickets? And this is a two tool climb, yes? Thinking about heading to illum saddle saturday, then picking between south side and sandy headwall for a sunday ascent. Quote
iain Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 you'll see all kinds of gear on sandy hw. It can be done quite reasonably with a single ice axe but 2 tools are fairly common. There are sometimes short steeper bulges of alpine ice when the route has been scoured. These can be a surprise to people who read about sandy being an average of 45-50. The route can be more intimidating later in the year as it turns to harder ice. Early season it is quite an easier climb. I have felt comfortable soloing it, which says something about its steepness (I'm pretty much a pansy) but a fall would be quite severe. I would recommend simulclimbing with 3 pickets and 2 shorter screws if you don't mind that much weight. Good luck! One of the best on Hood. Say hi to Erik on the south side on your way down! Quote
ryland_moore Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 then picking between south side and sandy headwall for a sunday ascent. Â That is a big difference! Why south side and not Leuthold's or something just to the right on the headwall? Much better than S.Side! Plus you will avoid all of the trains heading up this weekend. I counted 60+ on the summit last Mother's Day weekend and many more heading up S. SIde. Stay away from crowds and it will be much more enjoyable (at least for the ascent). Quote
iain Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 can you believe this forecast? seems more like March than May! freezing levels don't get over 5 grand or so and snow is still accumulating. what's up? Quote
erik Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 accomplished routes on hood  s side(iain's mom guided my up this one back in the late 80's) cooper spur leutholds   so my friend i am well versed in your only mtn!  love it and love it some more!  here's a beer to iain's mtn!   Quote
iain Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 I will not be at hood this weekend. I know this troubles you greatly erik. note that many on this board have been on hood far more than I Â btw cooper spur blows! Quote
ivan Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 why so anti-cooper spur? jes-us y maria! clearly not a difficult climb, but a sweet view of the elliot most of the way up, steeper than the southside, and there' s an elegant simplicity to following a single feature all the way to an alpine summit... Â perhaps you were once anally-raped by a priest at tie-in rock? that's why i can't go back to baskin-robins....oh, vanilla-pistachio, how i hate you! Quote
MtnHigh Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 ivan said: perhaps you were once anally-raped by a priest at tie-in rock? that's why i can't go back to baskin-robins....oh, vanilla-pistachio, how i hate you! Â Eric(Ivan) You're a fucking riot Quote
rbw1966 Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 Lets not forget that Ivan teaches high school. All those pubescent hotties must be driving him insane. Quote
ivan Posted May 9, 2003 Posted May 9, 2003 rbw1966 said: Lets not forget that Ivan teaches high school. All those pubescent hotties must be driving him insane. we don't let mr. dark out during the day....but, oh, the sweet nights....  good thing i'm nowhere near seniors  fukin false teeth Quote
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