Hood and Area Technical Routes

[fowweezer]

I'll be in Portland this weekend visiting a friend who is sick. I have a chance to take an extra day or two to hopefully climb on Tuesday or Wednesday (next week). Hopefully the weather will be good.

 

I was hoping to climb the North Face of Hood later this spring, since I was told it was more of a "shoulder-season" route. But it looks like it is in and nice, according to the trip reports. I have a few questions about the area though.

 

First, are there other routes that I should consider? I'm looking for somethign technical, in the WI3, 5.6 range to solo. I'd prefer it to be on Hood, since it's been on my tick list for awhile. But anywhere within reasonable driving distance of Beaverton is acceptable to me. How are conditions looking after this weekend? It looks good, with possible snow on Tuesday, is that right?

 

Also, how is the length of this route (or any others suggested)? I've heard most of a day, so I'll call it a long day for someone not familiar with the mountain. Is there a guide I could pick up that explains the approach in more detail? I don't want to get lost on the approach....that's never fun.

 

Finally, would there be a good way to get a ride to the trailhead from somewhere near Beaverton (I assume not)? I don't need a rental car while I'm there, so I don't want to rent one just for this climb, but will if necessary. Is there a shuttle that heads up that direction ever? Anyone want to split a ride? I'll pay for gas.

 

Also, if anyone is interested in roping up, I'd be open to it. I'm looking for something hard, like I mentioned. I'll lead up to WI3+, 5.7 in the mountains and I move moderately fast. Plenty of altitude experience up to 12,000 in Utah. Never climbed in the Cascades before.

 

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

[sweatinoutliquor]

Hmmm... North face is certianly the classic I would say. Problem is getting to it now. I'm sure that the approach is long, and no public transportation really get's you to that trailhead. If you want to do that route you should probably hook it up with a local who is heading up that way (sorry, I can't do anything till I finish my thesis, shit I don't even have a car so what am I talking about). Other options that may be a bit more accessable but slightly less spectacular are the Reid headwall and the Devils Kitchen Headwall, both of which are accessed from the popular Timberline Lodge parking lot high on the south side of the mountain. A search on this site should yield photos and possibly route descriptions. I also recommend getting your hands on a copy of Jeff Thomas' book "Oregon High", which has excellent photos and route descriptions. Maybe at your local public library, or certianly in portland somewhere. Don't expect too much quality water ice on the south side right now... My understanding from the TR's is that lot's of what's up there is good 'ol crumbly rime. Hey, don't forget that if the weather craps out, you can always go to Smith too. Good luck dude, hopefully that helps!

[fowweezer]

Well that is good to know. I am thinking about renting a car for the day to get there and then drop it when I hit the airport Wednesday morning. It will require an extra day off work and $70 rental car fee. Think it is worth it? I'm not made of money, but I'd like to climb the route, so I might do it. Any thoughts on that?

 

I'm assuming the road will be gated, necessitating a start at the lower trailhead (around 3K feet). Looks like I'll be bringing my skis I guess.

[fowweezer]

Also, any thoughts on the weather for Tuesday? I'm not familiar enough with the weather stations to know where to look for Hood weather, but it looks like possibilities of rain and snow on Tuesday. That's my only day to hit it, and I need to book a ticket tonight, so if anyone has any thoughts tonight, that would be awesome.

[Chriznitch]

Feb14th

snow showers

hi: 32deg

low: 19deg

[fowweezer]

I meant next week Tuesday (but I assume it will be about the same). Thanks though. I won't be there for valentine's day unfortunately....I'll be climbing by myself in utah.

[Couloir]

Here is a great site for weather. There will be some new snow up there and in those gullies, which ever one you choose, it might be problematic. Keep that in mind. Whatever you end up doing, have fun!

[rbw1966]

There is no way of predicting the weather with any level of confidence 7 days out. Hell, you cant even predict it 24 hours most of the time.

 

Carrying skis up the north face would suck--assuming you carry them over. Leaving them anywhere you would get back to on the way back down would be an indirect PITA. This route would be a LONNNNNGGGG day if you started from the parking lot.

 

While not nearly as technical, I suggest the Sandy Headwall. Starts from the Timberline parking lot, making it easy to hitch a ride to, nice trudge to the saddle on skis and the route itself is pretty scenic. Likely to have it entirely to yourself as well. Leuthold Couloir would be a decent route as well.

 

Good luck

[sweatinoutliquor]

Keep in mind that our happy Utah soloist would have to cross two significant glaciers to get to sandy, and I know that sandy does have the potential for deep crevasses... While coverage seems good at this point, I personally wouldn't take the extra risk for a route that doesn't seem to be much harder than leutholds couloir (I'm refering to sandy). Reid is spicy enough to have a great day on. I mean shit, it's your first time in the cascades, and lot's o' folks would think a solo of the reid would be a heck of an initiation. If you really want harder than that you should spend the 2 days and hit the north face. As for weather, I would try NWS Portland, sick!, and of course, the ol' standby weather.com

 

Remember that if the weather is crappy in Government Camp it's more than likely gonna be really crappy up on the hill. Don't waste your time in a storm up there, just go to Smith and climb rocks.

[fowweezer]

We'll see. The trip is up in the air suddenly, based partially on weather and partially on work obligations. I'll come back to do the North Face sometime, but if I can I'll still try to get it done while I'm there. The guys from teh other trip report said it wasn't bad (2:30 am to 4 pm which I can handle). Hell, if nothing else I'll go climb the South Side as a nice intro to the Cascades. I hope to make a nice long loop trip through the Cascades in May or June for about 10 days climbing as much as possible. Thanks for the help guys. I'll check out the Reid Headwall route as well and assess things as it gets closer. Thanks again.

[SadoJoe]

Any news on Sandy HW recently? I would really like to see pics and know where the highest point on Yokum is to cross safely.