[TR] Mt. Hood - Wy'East Face 3/21/2007

[fheimerd]

Trip: Mt. Hood - Wy'East Face

 

Date: 3/21/2007

 

Trip Report:

Welcome to Spring!!!

 

The day started with me sitting in the dentist chair listening to the sounds of oral surgey in the next room over. I though about my own impending discomfort and about the unlikely event of uses the skis I had stashed in the car. Then the dentist walked in and said looks like your absess is healing on its own. No surgery today and it's only 9:30.

 

I was skinning out of Mt. Hood Meadows parking lot by 11:20. My plan was to head up towards the top of Heather Canyon to an area I know as the Super Bowl. The sun was out but the snow was staying light. I skinned for a few hours staying clear of skiers and the resort and eventually got to a the top of superbowl. A few inches of snow on top of a soft base made me rethink my options. The Wyeast face looked good and conditions were excellent. Why not just keep going till it seems sketchy. I skinned up to 10800, the top of Wyeast, and never really got too scared. The snow just kept getting deeper and my stoke just kept growing.

 

The ski down was pretty damn good for Mt. Hood. Wind buffed powder from 10,800 to 9000 and then silky corn for a bit and finally resort mank around 6000.

 

Back down at the car at 4:20

 

Some days everything just comes together and those days are the ones you remember.

 

Got a few sweet pics but having trouble uploading so just use your imagination. Sun, clouds down low, powder, cascade volcanoes in the distance.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

at touring...light and fast

 

Approach Notes:

west of ski area

[gapertimmy]

YEAH!!!! That tour is on the hit list this year. Nice work.

[skykilo]

Some serious mojo rising there: Leave the dentist's chair for Wy'East, thank you very much!

 

Go get it Timmy, easy access and great skiing.

[gapertimmy]

I just drove past it last night at 8PM, one of these trips over/back I'll make the turn towards meadows.

[kioti]

Was it just you, or were you with others. I saw some people about halfway up on Superbowl, making me jealous. Wyeast did look pretty tasty yesterday.

[fheimerd]

shredmaximus that was me, seemed like you were enjoying the day. I heard some other folks hiked into the superbowl but I never saw those guys but they did leave some tracks. They didn't hike far enough to get the goods though. They started their downhill just as the snow changed over to corn. If you want the pow you gotta do the work.

 

I had contacted the ski patrol that morning and they had told me that it wasn't a problem to skin up from the lot but that I should stay out of sight. I think the meadows gate to hiking was still closed unless you were willing to start working from the lot.

 

 

[RogerJ]

Nice job Frank. You definately get the award for making the best out of a visit to the dentist.

 

-r

 

 

[letsroll]

Fheirmerd your an ass getting the goods like that.

[hopper_62]

hi,

 

relatively new to portland/hood. does anyone know the penalty or restrictions for skinning up the heather access road to poach some of the goods? just wondering because I’ve been doing this during the week – now that the resort is closed monday- friday. there is a weird warning consisting of an athletic tape sign with a sharpie inscription at the lowest “heather closed sign” just above the parking lot that warns of a “$500 fine for any uphill travel” can I trespass into heather or not?

 

thanks for any info.

 

[letsroll]

This time of year should not be a problem. Meadows does not really like people up there to poach thier goods. In winter this is really true when they are doing avi control. If they are closed don't think you will get harassed like you would in winter, again cause they might be doing avi controll.

 

Get up there and get the spring goods _

[ptavv]

It's considerably easier to do this route from the main Meadows lot. Your starting elevation is considerably higher. Skin up Vista Ridge, then head up to the top of Cascade and onto Wy'east from there.

 

For the descent, by the time the snow starts getting shitty, it's about time to start your skin up to the top of Shooting Star (from in Heather Canyon) and then the easy ski to the main base.

 

It's much quicker, avoids the potential Heather Canyon fine (since there's no such warning from the main resort), and you get to skip out on a lot of cat tracking and pointless skinning at the start (you do have to pay for this with the skin up from lower Heather to the top of Star though).

 

Just my $0.02.

 

Also, this route was in great shape this weekend. You just need to get there early before the corn turns to mank.

Edited May 2, 2007 by ptavv

[hopper_62]

so you’re been cutting through the resort to get to wy’east? (saw a couple tracks above superbowl on sunday - if they were yours – nice… I was the the track to the east). I was up there wednesday last week and a snowcat was working above cascade so I dropped into lower heather. my question is… if I’m on the resort “mt hood meadows” and it’s closed – am I trespassing or do they look the other way?

 

side note. sunday I stopped and took a look at ski bowl and there were a few tracks coming off the top – same question - when the resorts close is it fair game to poach a few?

 

[ptavv]

A few things. The resort is on national forest. Trespassing isn't really possible since it's public land opperated with a special use permit. They can get you in trouble if you try and use their lifts without paying for it and whatnot. They might be able to make a case for benefitting from their grooming without paying, but it's doubtful.

 

When the resort is open they are given the right to govern open/closed terrain for the safety of their patrons. Meaning they can penalize ANYONE who is in closed territory, whether they are patrons of the resort or not.

 

When the resort is closed, for all intents and purposes, you can consider the land the same way you would any other national forest land.