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Mount Hood 7/28/07


benclimber

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Started from Timberline at 12:45AM. Climbed South side route to the Hogsback. Two soloists ahead of us tried and failed to get past the bergschrund in the Pearly Gates Chute. We tried to climb up [steep] snow field to left of Hogsback, made it about 1/2 way up but by 9:15AM the snow was becoming too soft to risk the descent after summitting...we felt surface would not hold crampon points beyond ~ 10:30. Pulled the plug on the mission ; ( We'll get her next year...earlier in the season when the Pearly Gates chute is do-able. After we descended the steep snow field to the left of Hogsback, we did see 3 others make their way up it (not roped up but probably would have been a hazard for the whole team if one climber fell and they were roped up. On this slope, with its surface conditions, there was no arresting your fall if you were so unlucky). The lead climber made it to the summit ridge but we didn't stick around to see if the other 2 did...nor did we stick around to see how they managed in descending the steep snow field they went up.

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nor did we stick around to see how they managed in descending the steep snow field they went up.

 

In soft warm snow, have a long ice axe and slam it straight down into the snow as deep as it will go, it will be like it's cemented in, you can almost monkey hang off the head.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Winter is absolutely the best time to climb the south side: You can leave the parking at 8:00 am and have perfect snow all day, you can typically skin all the way to hogsback, typically the best time to ski from the summit, you don't get baked in the sun in the afternoon and there are hardly any people.

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