Hood In Winter

[MntnrMichael]

Has anybody climbed Mt. Hood in the winter (December/January) via the South Side (Hogsback) route?

[iain]

Yes. It is actually a fairly popular activity.

[texplorer]

Yes,

I soloed the southside last year about this time. Not another person on the entire mountain! The only down side was that just before the hog's back I got into clouds that reached all the way to the summit. You probably won't have to worry about the bergshrund so its just a long hike on snow.

[rbw1966]

Its a little early to be discounting the bergschrund or crevasse danger. My guess is that its still gaping wide right now. This is still early to be considered "winter" conditions.

 

During decent weather the southside at winter can be quite a bit of fun. I find the mountain in general far more interesting in winter conditions. Safer in the sense of rockfall although you have to contend with avy danger. Watch the weather, don't rely on the forecasts and take skis.

[Alex]

many times, highly recommended.

 

speaking of which, if the weather is ok thats what I plan to do Saturday...

 

Alex

[To_The_Top]

Yes done it later in winter than you suggest, and it was a good time, like others stated it is better when the Bshrund is filled in. Better in winter than playing dodgeball with rocks in a later season. Last time I did it in winter (later) and was with 40 other climbers.

Make it a go if the freezing level is low.

[AlpinistAndrew]

Has anybody done the Leuthold Couloir route before? Any other good winter routes on hood that would be doable in December, due to our low snowfall accum. so far?

 

[ 11-15-2002, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: AlpinistAndrew ]

[sketchfest]

Luethold is good route, it's close to the southside, so it can get crowded on good days, but it's in a good posisiton and give you the feeling of being on another mtn.

 

Other fun routes are the Reid Headwall and the West ridge is fun too. I like the West Ridge because even if the Southside is busy, there might not be anybody over there, so you get a good climb and a view at gaperdom at its finest without being a part of it.

[Rodchester]

Reid Hedwall. Like it. Fun, interesting, but not real hard. Some exposure to potential falls that would take you for the big ride.

 

Would do again. Want to do Sandy headwall this year.

[rbw1966]

I can't think of a single route on Hood that isn't fun in the wintertime given stable snow conditions. If you shoot towards the north further you can get away from the crowds. Sandy Headwall day before new years was the best so far. Perfect conditions the entire way.

[iain]

I just got back from a ski up to Illumination Saddle and a ski down towards paradise park. There is good skiing over there, but cutting back to the Palmer snowfield means navigating a minefield of rocks. The bergschrund is still large up there. The gulleys look to be somewhat covered, but it is probably more loose snow than rime yet. Amazingly, there are some big crevasses still open on the Zigzag Glacier. I don't think I've ever seen more than one tiny crevasse on that thing, and right now, there are several large ones below Illumination Rock. We need another dump of snow, and it looks like some is on the way this weekend. Jens, I saw you checked out in the climber's register and I think I saw you skiing down in the morning. Hope your climb went well.

[Jens]

Yes Iain, that was me.

 

Work sent me to Portalnd for a couple days.

Great views from the top and the ski was good.

 

Here is a question for you Portland/ Oregon climbers? Does everyone quit climbing in the Nov. Dec. Jan. months?

 

1st: I went to Beacon rock on beau tiful sunny day hoping to score a partner. Not a single climber showed up. Dry rock! (The 6 hour round trip drive does not make Smith a Local crag)

2nd Went to Portland rock gym. Awesome height in the roped area! The bouldering area was tiny with soft ratings. Only a couple climbers showed up. Noneof them brought harnesses or were even willing to look at the incredible roped area.

3rd. Left the gym and took a break. Went up and soloed hood, skiied off. Beautiful sunny day. Not a single other climber on the whole hill!

Different scene than WA?

Everybody was cool though.

[wayne]

Jens now you know one of the reasons I moved up here. It is a different more laid-back scene. People seem happy with their monthly Smith trip. People down there are very cool and friendly and some of my favorite people in the world thrive there

[ivan]

shit jens, shoulda told me you were down here...i'll always skip work/every-other-commitment-i-have to look for trouble...seems we need a critical mass of distracted types down here to make any progress

 

far as those fancy indoor gyms, christ, who can afford them damn things? we po'boys gotta hope shit stays dry outside

[texplorer]

Yea Jens,

I don't know what it is about Portland. I wandered around for about a year looking for partners there. Beacon is a fine crag but there's hardly ever anyone there. Same experience I had at the PRG too. Everyone just wants to boulder.

[iain]

Originally posted by Jens:

 

Went to Portland rock gym. Awesome height in the roped area! The bouldering area was tiny with soft ratings. Only a couple climbers showed up. Noneof them brought harnesses or were even willing to look at the incredible roped area.

 

PRG is only crowded in the evenings on weekdays, and then it's f'ing packed.

 

Went up and soloed hood, skiied off. Beautiful sunny day. Not a single other climber on the whole hill!

Different scene than WA?

 

You were climbing the dog route on a weekday in early Winter conditions. You won't see too many people doing that.

[iain]

I'd be up for some hood routes this weekend but the free air freezing level is forecast at 11K through the weekend. that's unfortunate.

[sketchfest]

Was up on Hood (north side) on Saturday AM. About the time we parked, the storm was rolling down the mountain, vis was nil, snow pack was nil, wind was wicked nasty. The winds were swirling and blowing hard with gust up around 40, maybe higher. couple of times we were pined down hanging onto boulders to make sure we weren't blown off the ridge. Hiked up to about 7k before bailing. On the way down, we saw one guy hiking up with his skis, looking for some freshiez. (not much to be found) Back to the car by 1:00, cracked into a little and the day was perfect.

[rbw1966]

We skied up to about the top of the Palmer before the crap hit the fan on Saturday. Wind gusts were hitting hard every once in a while but visibility was the worst part. Probably plenty of snow cover now.

[Winter]

Hey Sketch -

 

I was with rbw on Saturday. Did we run into you in the blizzard near the top of Palmer with you guys screaming at us asking whether we had seen someone traveling solo?

[b-rock]

Skied from a bit past the top of Palmer on Sunday, quite nice, pretty much above the clouds until the bottom of the lift. The gullies had some real nice light snow.

[sketchfest]

Naw, wasn't us. John and I were over on the moraines at the bottom of the Elliot, getting throughly abused by the wind. The temps were weired, one minute cold and snowing, the next super warm and raining. At one point, my dog had an 1/8" of rime all over her head, then it would warm and melt off.

[rbw1966]

I feel your pain. At one point on the descent I fell over because I thought I was going forward when in fact I was actually going backward. Tres weird. Several times I thought I was still moving then would look down and see I was in the same spot. Thats what I get for getting froggy to go skiing.

[Winter]

Even worse we thought we were headed down into Zigzag canyon but ended up in the gully on the far west side of the ski area. Dumped us out right at the lodge. Who needs a compass for a short outing on the Palmer in November?

 

Page top suckas ...

 

[ 11-18-2002, 05:29 PM: Message edited by: Winter ]

[iain]

little zigzag?