[TR] Mt. Hood- North Face-R. Hand Couloir 2/24/2005

[Gaston]

Climb: Mt. Hood-North Face-R. Hand Couloir

 

Date of Climb: 2/24/2005

 

Trip Report:

On Wednesday I climbed the N Face via the right-hand couloir, then descended Cooper Spur. Conditions on the approach, climb, and descent were excellent.

 

I left the car at 2 AM and snowshoed up the Tilly Jane ski trail. It's snow most of the way, with some short stretches of dirt and ice. Up on the morraine I left the snowshoes and booted onward until a continuous snow ramp allowed me to drop onto the Elliott. (In retrospect, I'd have lost less elevation if I had taken the morraine further up, to where those little ice climbs form on the spur. There's a perfect, short snow slope there.)

 

Sticking to the flat part of the glacier, I avoided as much crevasse territory as I could. The snow was wind-blown here, and alternated between firm neve and 8-inch deep windpack. The sun rose while I was nearing the bergshrund, a little earlier than I'd planned, but still within reason.

 

I crossed the shrund on the far left side at 7:20. Any crossing looked involved, but this looked like the most straight forward and secure. It was here that I first found the perfect neve and alpine ice that would characterize the entire climb; my sense of security rose dramatically.

 

Traversing below the start of the left-hand couloir, I was impressed by its initial steep step, and equally impressed by the 50 degree sheild I was on. The right hand start looked slightly shorter, and I made quick work of it. Above, I discovered the couloir to be a consistent 50 degrees, and very firm. Only for a few brief stretches was I able to use my tools as daggers, shoving them into the snow at waist height. Ninety percent of the climb demanded full swings to penetrate and to give me the soloist's "belay." My french technique is fairly good, but I found that, at best, I could manage to keep one foot flat only intermittently. This made for a strenuous climb, particularly for my calves.

 

The further ice steps proved to be of equal quality to the first. Very fun, aesthetic climbing, with spindrift that was minimal enough to be decorative. Occasional volleys of ice chunks came down, but nothing big. I do believe an earlier start (and a colder day) would have alleviated some of my worry; what did whiz by me was going VERY fast because of the steepness of the face.

 

The final ice step was shorter than it looks from below, and I was soon negotiating the final steep slopes and gullies up to the summit. At this point my calves were really burning, and I chopped a few small ledges to rest them (and to enjoy the surroundings). In a few places, the ice was disconcertingly hollow around rocks, but I had no trouble finding firmer ground. It felt funny to flop onto the flat summit and suddenly be able to walk around normally. It was 10:20.

 

I've never climbed Cooper Spur, and so I felt a little dubious finding it from the summit. With a little figuring, however, just aimed for the moraine I'd hiked up that moring and started down. Conditions on the spur mimmicked those on the NF. Hard, hard neve. For security's sake, I frontpointed down nearly the whole face, although I was able to use my tools in dagger position. (I noticed that my calves hardly felt strained at all, and wondered if maybe front-pointed and flat-footed the last slope down to flat ground.

 

It was a car-to-car trip of 14 hours, that maybe should have begun at midnight rather than 2. Amazingly, I was in good enough shape after the climb to switch out a blown tire for a spare in about 8 minutes on the drive back home. I don't have any pictures, because my camera broke (The little cover that slides to the side to reveal the lense on my little Olympus Zoom 80. It's also the on/off switch, so it's kind of a pain).

 

Gear Notes:

2 tools, crampons.

[letsroll]

nice report, good job. SOrry about the camera.

[Alpinfox]

 

Perfect!

 

[MCash]

Nice solo dude. Thanks for the conditions report.

[Chriznitch]

coo

[sweatinoutliquor]

Nice climb dude, thanks for the report! Chriznitch, what up in AZ?

[goatboy]

 

What else would we expect from someone named Gaston?

 

Nice work! Sounds exciting. Did you ever feel "vibracious" as the ice chunks whizzed by?