[TR] Mt. Hood- Sunshine Route 5/4/2006

[Chad_A]

Climb: Mt. Hood-Sunshine Route

 

Date of Climb: 5/4/2006

 

Trip Report:

The original plan was to check out the Eliot Headwall. I'd never seen it up close, and thought it might have some freeze-thaw-freeze on it from the sunny days an chilly nights. So, Nate and I grabbed a light alpine rack and the tools to go take a look. My girlfriend informed me that a third team member would be coming along; "Flat Stanley", a school project of her niece. You're supposed to take pictures of him at interesting places; the assignment was the summit of Hood. I told her that if the climbing were to become sketchy, that he'd have to take the hard leads to pay his due.

 

We started up from the Tilly Jane trailhead at midnight; the trail was slick for my Alphas. Once above Tilly Jane, itself, the walking was excellent on perfect snow. We were at the 6900' cairn marking the drop onto the Eliot before we knew it.

 

 

 

The walk across the Eliot to the the base of the route was easy; it's still very closed up. We racked up at the base of the NF cleaver, and masternate32 (Nate) led up. The 'schrund bridges kept leading us right, away from the Headwall. Upon closer inspection, there was no ice to be found on the Headwall, anyway, just exposed volcanic rock with a small ice smear or two. At one point, we could have diverted hard left to end up in the middle of the Headwall; there were a couple snow gullies that lead to the summit ridge from there. At that point, since we were so far right, it would've been a bit contrived to do that, especially since we were basically at Cathedral Ridge. The wind was viscious, especially on the summit. Here's "Flat Stanley" on top.

 

 

 

So, we got to take the gear for a walk. In an old AAJ, I saw a gent write that he had climbed the south side, walked the summit ridge to Cathedral Ridge, downclimbed over to the base of the EHW to climb the good part. It's a lot of walking from the NE side just to get to the Headwall for the potentially good climbing, and it looks to be a very short bit. Although, Thomas's book states that "under the right conditions, 1000 feet of water ice can form" on the headwall.

 

On the other hand, what we ended up doing, basically the Sunshine Route, has a very picturesque position to it. For a group looking to get away from Leuthold or the South Side, it's certainly a good option. Here's a windblown/shakey picture of the Eliot, and how nicely closed up it is.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Way too much, but we didn't know it at the time. A single axe and glacier travel gear is sufficient.

 

Approach Notes:

Tilly Jane trail is icy in the morning, with exposed patches of dirt. The Eliot Glacier is very direct right now, and easily passable.

[Chad_A]

Edited to add pictures...

[RogerJ]

Great pictures and trip report. Sorry the Elliot didn't happen for you. But it's great there were other options for you and Flat Stanley.

 

-r

[OlegV]

Hey Chad, nice pix great trip! Sounds like the HW is out of shape now? Is it an accurate statement? The rock band looks interesting though. It gets much steeper once you pass the rock band.

[Chad_A]

Thanks, bro. I don't know what's considered to be "in" for the HW, but to me, it seems like the fall would be the right time. If there's good ice in the gullies on the NF, chances are there's some good ice on the EHW? But, that's just a guess.

 

I did get a chance to look over just as we got on the ridge crest, and it looks like it does get steeper, but it's really short.

[Couloir]

Nice work fellas! I think Flat Stanley needs to be someone's new avatar!

[Chad_A]

Damn, good idea. I just tried, but even at 50x37, it says "cannot be more than 10000 bytes"

[kioti]

Nice work Chad, I was up on the northside the same day (that was our Subaru parked next to you at the Tilly Jane Sno Park). Saw your tracks going up just below tree line. Tried to spot anyone climbing but had no luck. The skiing on Cooper Spur was pretty decent too.

 

Good Job, again.

 

Alan

[Chad_A]

Wow, small world! Thanks for the comments. Had I known the outcome, you could've come along!

[ckouba]

Way to work it Chadley, but sounds good not to force it...

 

It's hot and sunny here. I'm jealous. Keep up the good fight.

 

CK

[curtveld]

Right on - as you say, Sunshine is a very aesthetic route in it's own right!