Chad_A Posted November 17, 2004 Posted November 17, 2004 Climb: Mt Hood-North Face: Left Couloir Variation Date of Climb: 11/13/2004 Trip Report: Teamed up with Ade (Ade), Al (Allistair?), and Pat(?), we accomplished a feat we didn’t think we’d be able to finish: an ascent of the North Face. We figured the conditions would be right, judged by the previous forecasts of the week, but now, the unknown variable seemed to be the weather. After driving up to Cloud Cap under an overcast sky, with occasional flurries, it didn’t look promising. Nevertheless, we awoke to a starry sky at 0200, and began to pack. Soon we were hiking up, and the trail was well beaten; on the ridge following the moraine to the south of the Eliot, it was bare, with some snow here and there. After dropping down on the Eliot moraine, we followed the left side, until we could see slots hidden under the snowpack; there, we took the time to rope up. We put all four of us on a rope, and had more rope in our packs, in case we wanted to split into two teams, and pitch ice climbs out. Soon, we arrived at what we thought was the prominent rock prow that marks the base of the route (more accurately, that if you stick close to the rock prow, it appears that it leads you to the right gully). This wasn’t to be true, as after a 55-degree wind slab (with a few slots to be discovered), we looked to the climber’s right (north), and it was obvious that the gullies were about a fifteen-to-thirty minute traverse away. It dawned on me that we’d bypassed the bergschrund and the ice climbing altogether (Damn!) We found a quick rest, and I swapped leads to Ade, who placed protection, as it could be found, on the traverse toward the gullies. After reaching them, the decision was made to start up the left gully; at this point, the summit was on the agenda, and it was time to get on with it. Ade continued to lead up to a rock outcropping, where Al switched places with him on the rope, and continued on with the lead. We considered unroping, but Pat (who was doing great on his first snow outing in quite a while…good job, Pat!) preferred to stay roped and do running belays; so we continued upwards, placing nuts and cams where placements were accessible in exposed rock, and every once in a while, ice was good enough for a screw placement. (Accidental shot of Pat and Al on route:) After a bulge of WI 3-4 in the gully, and yet another toward the top of it (the gully), I resumed the lead, which took us near the top of Cooper Spur. After placing a couple of screws, and kicking steps into rotten powder, I’d had enough; my hydration tube had frozen hours ago, and I was finally beginning to feel the effects of the dehydration. Generously, Ade retook the lead, and once on less steep ground, we unroped, and stashed the rack in the packs. Less than ten minutes later, we were on the summit. Al and Pat at the summit: Now out of the shade of the North Face, we basked in the sun, took pics, and then headed down. There’s still a small ice bulge in the Pearly Gates to be descended, but otherwise, very nice. At 7000 feet, we descended back into the clouds, and shortly thereafter, were at the van at Timberline…where I found that my girlfriend had misunderstood my time to be back home, and had contacted the sheriff’s department. I felt bad for the confusion. Probably just wasn’t clear enough. At any rate, the shuttle system seemed like a very viable plan. I’m sure that everyone had a great time, and I’m looking forward to climbing with all of them again. Next time, though, I’m going to be sure to be patient, and to ascend the bergschrund section that leads to the right gully. I’m looking forward to that; hopefully, it will prove to be a whole new animal. And a bit more challenging! Thanks for having me at short notice, gents, and for a great climb. Hope to do it again, sometime. Feel free to add/ subtract inaccuracies of descriptions; I certainly don’t want to speak for everyone else in the group! It's too bad we missed out on the ice bits, but I think the variation that we ended up doing would be great for parties who don't feel up to the ice pitches. Just be sure to assess the snow slope; it had a few hidden slots that I found, and it would, obviously, be very avalanche prone in less-than-ideal conditions. Note: sorry about the non-correlation of the photos with the TR. I didn't get to take pics lots of places I would've liked. It was nice to be on a different side of Hood, for sure. Gear Notes: Small rack of rock gear, and handful of screws, some slings, and two techical tools. If you do what we did, and bypass the ice climbing, a standard axe and a second tool would be fine. Approach Notes: The hike up is best case scenario. 4WD gets you to the parking lot, and a 2WD will get you 90% of the way there, if you have a bit of ground clearance. The climber's trail up to the Eliot is mixed rock and snow. Quote
Chad_A Posted November 17, 2004 Author Posted November 17, 2004 Yeah, yeah...piece of shit website. Photo hosting sucks. I even tried to upload them to this site, but it kept having error messages. I'll get them fixed. Stay tuned. Quote
iain Posted November 17, 2004 Posted November 17, 2004 After a bulge of WI 3-4 in the gully Hmm, don't remember that in either of those gullies. Quote
Chad_A Posted November 17, 2004 Author Posted November 17, 2004 After a bulge of WI 3-4 in the gully Hmm, don't remember that in either of those gullies. Oh, it's there, trust me. Quote
cicleclimb Posted November 17, 2004 Posted November 17, 2004 I didn't think the NF would be in with all the warm weather. Very nice. Quote
ivan Posted November 17, 2004 Posted November 17, 2004 nice. the pictures show a beautiful day w/ all those clouds. i probably would have felt paranoid the whole damn time that i was gonna get swallowed up in them. Quote
Gaper_Jeffy Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 Wow, neat photos! Any of Snowdome or Cooper Spur? (sorry to sound like a broken record) Quote
Chad_A Posted November 18, 2004 Author Posted November 18, 2004 Thanks again for the compliments; unforunately, I don't have many pics of the Spur itself; the best I have is the one I posted where you can see the clouds at about the 6500-7000 ft level. I've heard that there's supposed to be 3-5 more inches up there in the next few days, though Quote
Chad_A Posted November 18, 2004 Author Posted November 18, 2004 So, I've been corrected. I will elaborate on the left gully water ice that we went over. It was about eye level, and it was water ice formed over a bulge of rock. A step, if you will. I hope no one thought I was trying to indicate a full pitch; just a short section of water ice. It was about eye level, or a bit higher, when standing at the base of it. I used the word "bulge" to describe it, to convey it's shortness. I'd guessed 3/4, but true, it probably was much more like 3. I had no idea that this was such a sensitive issue. Quote
Chriznitch Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 nice job guys! I'm jealous. Here's some food for thought on the ice grading. Based on this info you'd have to say WI-2 WI1: Low angle ice; no tools required. WI2: Consistent 60º ice with possible bulges; good protection. WI3: Sustained 70º with possible long bulges of 80º-90º; reasonable rests and good stances for placing screws. WI4: Continuous 80º ice fairly long sections of 90º ice broken up by occasional rests. WI5: Long and strenuous, with a ropelength of 85º-90º ice offering few good rests; or a shorter pitch of thin or bad ice with protection that’s difficult to place. WI6: A full ropelength of near-90º ice with no rests, or a shorter pitch even more tenuous than WI 5.Highly technical. WI7: As above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered columns. Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality. WI8: Under discussion. Quote
layton Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 the base of the left hand gully ice is way steeper and longer than the right as of now. WI4 (3 weeks ago). Quote
Chad_A Posted November 18, 2004 Author Posted November 18, 2004 nice job guys! I'm jealous. Here's some food for thought on the ice grading. Based on this info you'd have to say WI-2 WI1: Low angle ice; no tools required. WI2: Consistent 60º ice with possible bulges; good protection. WI3: Sustained 70º with possible long bulges of 80º-90º; reasonable rests and good stances for placing screws. WI4: Continuous 80º ice fairly long sections of 90º ice broken up by occasional rests. WI5: Long and strenuous, with a ropelength of 85º-90º ice offering few good rests; or a shorter pitch of thin or bad ice with protection that’s difficult to place. WI6: A full ropelength of near-90º ice with no rests, or a shorter pitch even more tenuous than WI 5.Highly technical. WI7: As above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered columns. Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality. WI8: Under discussion. Ok, fair enough. WI2 it is; I was just going on the angle, itself. Mike, I hope to get up there to do the ice pitches. I'm glad I did the route for sure, but it's my intention to do it from the 'schrund on up, and hopefully, the right gully next time. I'm sure that it will be good for another send this season. Quote
iain Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 The upper step (up high) in the right (standard) gully is usually the hardest, often because it is thin and difficult to protect. The left gully is usually considered the easier of the two. Both gullies tend to take on a slogging nature after snow starts filling them in, though the steps don't disappear. At least one of them has been skied. Quote
Chad_A Posted November 18, 2004 Author Posted November 18, 2004 That's a great pic. It's hard to gauge the steepness of that right there; I'm sure it's very steep. Pics seem to make it hard to interpret accurately. Is that thinner section, on the climber's right in the pic, the start to the right gully? Or is it farther to the right, out of the picture? I'm going to try to make an effort to do that this year, but I don't know if it'll happen or not I'm guessing, though, that with the snow up there from yesterday and today, and with some warmer weather coming up, that some nice cold nights/warm days might set up some more ice. One can always hope, anyway Oh, and iain, are the steps that you're referring to the rock bands that are mentioned in Oregon High? Quote
cj001f Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 At least one of them has been skied. Left Gully by Doug Coombs (1997), Right Gully by Stephen Koch (snowboard 1992) Quote
cj001f Posted November 18, 2004 Posted November 18, 2004 I dunno. That'd be a bit of a huck. Stephen's been having a Q & A in the couloir mag forum recently; might be interesting to ask him directly. Quote
layton Posted November 19, 2004 Posted November 19, 2004 right now the left is way steeper and longer. Quote
iain Posted November 19, 2004 Posted November 19, 2004 I heard one of those guys rapped some of it with a slung 2x4 somehow. Quote
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