[TR] Mt. Hood- Reid Headwall 11/21/2004

[ivan]

Climb: Mt. Hood-Reid Headwall

 

Date of Climb: 11/21/2004

 

Trip Report:

so everyone wanted to climb saturday but not sunday...which once again to my wife's delight left me heading up hood sans partner

 

i was bummed not to have gotten in on the n face gang bang, and simply couldn't settle for yet another trudge up the s side. having no 4x4 to brave the n side road, i figured i'd climb the reid as a substitute

 

left t-line at 3, and was at illumination at 6. saw a score of shooting stars over the gap as i was approaching. hung out for a bit to wait for the sky to lighten up and at 7 was moving up the reid headwall.

 

i'd done this once before w/ mtnhigh and shred and wanted to do a different variation. i aimed strait up the center of the face, passing a solidly covered 'schrund, and climbed an icy gully, staying as much as possible out of the line of fire of the small ice chunks falling from above. at this point i realized i'd actually repeated part of the route i'd climbed before, and decided to make it more sporty by going right and climbing through mixed ground. the conditions were fantastic. alpine ice about 2 inches thick covering everything made the trudge up the fun parts enjoyable, rocks well frozen together so not too much crapping raining down. before too long i found myself looking down, looking back at what i was climbing (rock w/ crusty snow and varying strengths of alpine ice, big rime feathers, etc) and feeling rather "in the moment."

 

the sun was beginning to shine on the tops of the wall, and i made out a gap between the jagged towers of the ridge. i figured i'd emerge on the w crater rim from there and could follow it to the summit ridge. the most technical and soul-satisfying bits of the reid climbing occured for the last 300 feet. i was camming a tool into place and then using the same hand to grab a rock edge, other axe scrapping through powdery snow in a crack, left foot on a crumbly rime feather, right spikes on a protrusion of volcanic crap. good stuff. very zen shit. the last placement vaulted me into the sun and i felt wonderfully warm and alive.

 

i figured the summit was pretty much in the bag and set off up the ridge, but was forced right by the big icy towers that make up part of the reid headwall. as i moved onto the west face of the crater rim the snow got sloppy and my cramps weren't sticking to anything, jsut balling up and getting heavy. i stopped to take them off, but discovered just a few feet later that there was very hard ice under the slop, causing me to skate all over the place. annoyed, i stopped just under the big tower to put the crampons back on.

 

i should have just done it right and chopped a platform into the slope so i could sit. instead, i put my axe and tool in, then clipped myself to them. i was getting pissed w/ matching my boot to the 'pons, slipping around in the process, but insisted on making it work. next thing i knew i was flying downhill, headfirst, left crampon in hand. i quickly turned and ludricously tried using the crampon i was holding to slow me down. it was ripped away and then i went over a much steeper section and caught a bit of air. my mind was very clear. i saw the axe and tool bouncing all over the place, leashed to my daisy chain, and calmy snatched the axe. i put the pick in, but the undulating surface made me lose contact again for a second and the slide continued. i began to feel a little scared. i knew the fumarole was not too much further downhill and would involve another big drop. luckily, as i forced all of my weight and strength into the axe, i slowed and then stopped.

 

i felt a wee bit shagrined, since i had emerged from this rather public display of stupidness covered in snow but otherwise w/o a scratch. i still had my pack and my axes, but the crampoons were at least 200 feet uphill. i could see my slide marks, including where i'd lost touch w/ the ground, and saw that it was very steep. no one who witnessed my master display of alpine skill seemed interested in helping me get my missing crampons, so i had to go after them old-school style, chopping steps (which made me wish i had brought my ice-adze instead of ice-hammer)

 

returned to the scene of the crime feeling pretty demoralized. chopped a platform in and put my crampons on and wrestled w/ my own little demons. decided to just finish up the climb and worked my way around the tower and up onto the ridge again...this last bit is spectacular. views of the elliot headwall and down the north face, the knife edged bits just before the summit, ice mushrooms everywhere. had the summit all to myself for 10 minutes, where i finished the last of my water.

 

the trip down the s side was uneventful. there's a cruxy bit of the pearly gates that would skull-fuck a newbie i bet. a second tool was a definite plus. schrund's still wide open but very tame.

 

all in all, a great day in the hills, but a little sobering. very glad i fell where i did. lesson learned. now only to hope my wife never reads this...

 

Gear Notes:

if you weren't soloing it, the reid would take a bunch of screws and picketts

 

Approach Notes:

excellent. the backside of illumination gap is treacherously icy at the moment.

[rbw1966]

Glad you are ok Eric. Great TR!

[MtnHigh]

 

i was bummed not to have gotten in on the n face gang bang,

 

The gang bang on the NF was cancelled due to your absense.

 

Good to hear that you're still in one piece. You are drinking for free next time I see ya. Next time you'll know not to use a crampon as a self arrest device.