[TR] Mt. Hood- Hogsback 4/24/2005

[robert]

Climb: Mt. Hood-Hogsback

 

Date of Climb: 4/24/2005

 

Trip Report:

I took my wife and three teenage girls from our Camp Fire outdoor group up the Hogsback on Sunday. The weather forecast sounded doubious, but we decided to go for it anyway and were rewarded. We ascended all the way to the 'shrund in great weather.

Climbing under the full moon with no headlamps is always nice and seeing the shadow is quite cool.

We roped up at the hogsback and skirted the 'shrund on the east.

I was surpised at how open it was and how poor the snowbridges were. I placed one sketchy and one pretty sound picket between the gates and the 'shrund. The weather totally socked in the summit while we were climbing through the Pearly Gates and by the time we neared the summit ridge you couldn't tell the snow from the sky.

I could only tell we were at the ridge by feeling for it with my hiking pole. The weather made the decent more interesting than it needed to be, but it all adds to the experience. This was the first roped summit climb for my wife and the girls and the first big trip since my wife's ACL surgery, so it was pretty cool for them to make it to the summit even if it wasn't an FA or a hardman route like Mike and Ivan have posted.

 

Gear Notes:

Ice Axe, crampons, 2 pickets, 50m rope.

[layton]

FUN!

We saw you guys as we skinned up.

[Chriznitch]

good to see some smiling faces

Cheers! (root beer)

[ivan]

the cooper spur's hardly a hard man route (see 1890-ish picture of dozens of women climbing it in skirts w/ alpenstocks)

 

it was eerie adn cool to see ya'll emerging out of the fog as we left the summit - i was very surprised to see anyone coming up from the s side at all - i think maybe the whiteout started sooner and much lower on the n side of the hill.

[wrench]

Nice job! I'm sorry to say I was one who decided against it due to the "dubious weather forecast." It pains me a little that it turned out to be decent, but good for you! So what were the snow conditions like? How much new stuff from all the precip on Saturday? (Doesn't look like too much from your pics)

[robert]

Thanks guys. I think that we all had a good time. It was a good training climb for our trip to Baker next month.

 

From Tline to Hot Rocks the snow had a pretty good crust during the ascent. It was breakable in a couple of spots, but not even boot top then. On the decent is was pretty sloppy from the top of Palmer to the lodge. What snow had fallen the evening before had done so during high winds and there were pockets of wind packed with other areas of scoured crust. The areas of wind packed did not exhibit any significant slide potential and appeared well bonded to the crust. In the crater the snow was mostly 6-12" of unconsolidated over a firm if somewhat wet looking base. The loose stuff around the 'shrund created some areas that looked solid, but were only a foot or so thick and very soft. To find a solid crossing we had to go quite a bit farther right than it looked like we would. On the slopes above the snow was soft with a firm base which was quite secure.

[robert]

the cooper spur's hardly a hard man route (see 1890-ish picture of dozens of women climbing it in skirts w/ alpenstocks)

 

it was eerie adn cool to see ya'll emerging out of the fog as we left the summit - i was very surprised to see anyone coming up from the s side at all - i think maybe the whiteout started sooner and much lower on the n side of the hill.

 

Climbing a route with significant exposure that you can't see because of whiteout conditions like on Sunday qualifies as hardman in my book.

[ivan]

the cooper spur's hardly a hard man route (see 1890-ish picture of dozens of women climbing it in skirts w/ alpenstocks)

 

it was eerie adn cool to see ya'll emerging out of the fog as we left the summit - i was very surprised to see anyone coming up from the s side at all - i think maybe the whiteout started sooner and much lower on the n side of the hill.

 

Climbing a route with significant exposure that you can't see because of whiteout conditions like on Sunday qualifies as hardman in my book.

alright, sweet, then i've arrived! and i thought i was climbing in such style just 'cuz i'm really stupid...wow, wait! maybe being a hardman just means you're really dumb - but does that mean, by making such an inductive feat of strength, that i've ruined my standing again?

[wrench]

Good snow report -- thanks for the info! I'm glad conditions were pretty stable.

 

Ivan, I don't know what to tell you -- you raise an intriguing philosophical question, and one which I won't dare touch on this bb.

[TrailPair]

What time did you start you climb from Timberline Lodge?

[robert]

We left the lodge about 1:15. We were at the Hogsback about 6:30.

[manky]

Robert,

Great report and grats to your ladies. Love to see to next generation rockin' out in the snow. I'm jealous of the conditios you enjoyed. I had killer wind and whiteout a week earlier and bailed on the Hog.

 

The higher you get, the higher you get.

[rbw1966]

Conditions were killer today (04/30), in spite of reports to the contrary.

 

Edited May 2, 2005 by rbw1966

[wrench]

Well, Kirsten and I decided to head down this Saturday and climb it Sunday despite the less than ideal forecast. Weather was brilliant on the way up, but when we reached the hogsback, suddenly it looked like this:

 

But we summitted and the ski down was good except the first 1000 feet of icy crud below the hogsback.

[robert]

Well, Kirsten and I decided to head down this Saturday and climb it Sunday despite the less than ideal forecast. Weather was brilliant on the way up, but when we reached the hogsback, suddenly it looked like this:

 

But we summitted and the ski down was good except the first 1000 feet of icy crud below the hogsback.

 

That sounds remarkably like it did two weekends ago. It made me wish we had climbed a bit faster or started a bit earlier. Oh well. Motivation to come back when the weather is better.

[TrailPair]

You mentioned that you were planning a climb on Baker this month. Do you have a date set? My wife and I are hoping to get a climb in soon and Baker is one of our targets (weather permiting). Perhaps we could make it a joint effort.

[robert]

Check your PMs.

[Couloir]

I realized the odds were against me, but I went up last night after work hoping to find a window and get some exercise in. It was getting dark so I bivied just above the Palmer in heavy pea soup...whiteout the whole way. I cooked up grub, threw back a couple of splits of Cab (screw top) and hunkered down. The weather only got worse. I packed my stuff and high-tailed down at 3am. Yuck.

 

There was another party just leaving as I came down. Curious if they had any luck.