[TR] Mt Hood - Sandy Glacier Headwall to Lolo Pass Road 3/8/2008

[Doug_Hutchinson]

Trip: Mt Hood - Sandy Glacier Headwall to Lolo Pass Road

 

Date: 3/8/2008

 

Trip Report:

Skied most of the Sandy Glacier Headwall (started skiing at 9800') down to Lolo Pass Road (1900') Sunday with Darren Schouten and Michael Adams. Including the 2000' descent from Illumination Saddle down the Reid, we had 10,000' of mostly sweet wind buff turns with less than 6,000' feet of climbing. Definitely qualifies as an northwest classic ski descent with a remote, big mountain feel.

 

Overview:

 

 

Climbing the Sandy:

 

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At about 9800', the relatively open slopes of the headwall are truncated by rime-covered cliffs and the nightmarish (for skiing) conditions found near the top of most Cascades volcanoes, which was the logical place to stop and put the skis on for the descent. As we were gearing up for the descent, around 1230, the overcast skies gave way to blue bird.

 

Since this section is up to 45 degrees and pretty firm, getting the skis on without losing one was the day's crux (we were all on tele gear, free from those cheater step-in bindings and too cool to use safety straps because of, you know, avalanches, yeah). The first few turns were stiff but the snow quickly got softer/deeper, we skied from shade into full sun, and the angle slowly lessened leading to thousands of feet of near-perfect skiing.

 

First turns near top:

 

 

Powder lower down:

 

 

 

At the base of the Sandy Glacier, we chose a new route out (in lieu of the more standard lower Yocum to Ramona Falls deproach) and dropped into the upper canyon of the Muddy Fork of the Sandy. This section, bounded by Razor Blade Pinnacle on the north and an unnamed but incredible cliff on the south, holds some of the most scenic and highest quality ski terrain on the mountain if you don't mind the long commute.

 

Upper Muddy Fork Canyon:

 

 

Once we reached the flats of the Muddy Fork, we followed it, then the Sandy River mainstem, then snow covered trails and roads for about six (??) miles to the car at Lolo Pass Road. The fat snowpack made this section was mostly a kick-and-glide cruise except for the 77 times we had to cross one of the many channels of this heavily-braided river.

 

Typical Sandy River crossing (AKA Michael fishing out a ski that the river tried to steal):

 

 

In most years, we would have been hiking by the time we reached Ramona Falls (around 3,300') and parked at the Ramona Falls TH, but the good snow pack meant we could ski all the way to the car but added around 3 miles out to Lolo Pass Road (although longer, this way was much better than walking). A great day in the hills!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

All three on the holy trilogy of Teledaddies, Hammerheads, EnergGs

 

Approach Notes:

T-line to Reid

[ivan]

saw ya'll at illum gap - looks like a very fun run - maybe some life i'll learn to ski...

[alpineyeti]

Looked like a great day to be in the mountains. Always wanted to get on that side of Hood. How did the route to the summit look from where you strapped on?

[Doug_Hutchinson]

The route to the summit looked fine for climbing and nothing was coming down the face, great coverage. The climb is really pretty mellow, just long due to the extra descent and traverse. Here is probably a better view of the climbing route that day:

 

[Stewster]

Damn! Looks rad! You did this in how many hours? Are you single?

[ivan]

that cloud on the summit was super-surreal to be inside - so light and diaphonous you could see all the way to the horizon but as if through ghost with rainbow ribs - unnaturally calm in the lee of the summit rim - i can't remember the top ever being that cool

[pink_chalk]

HOT!*

[jport]

Nice work fellas!

I saw a few faint tracks up at Illumination Saddle on Sunday... must have been yours.

We lugged our skies up Reid Headwall and skied the south side. All the way from the Hogsback down to the groomers was chunky/icy snow... bummer! Nevertheless, the climbing was awesome!: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/780236#Post780236

Cheers!

[jport]

Come to think of it, we climbed on Saturday, too. We never encountered any clouds on-route, though...? Left the top at 2pm and were back at the lot by 4pm. When was that cloud photo taken?

[ivan]

sunday

[trumpetsailor]

Looks like you found far superior skiing to the wind-hammered rime I found up near the lunch counter on Adams, with breakable crust down low. Sunday was a gem of a mercurial weather window. Excellent climbing conditions to be had up there last week.

[Doug_Hutchinson]

The cloud pic was taken in the trees down low around 4:00. It cleared after 1230 but then lenticulars moved in around 4:00 to signal the approaching storm.

 

We got to the car a little after 5:00 for an 11 hour day but we spent tons of time chilling and discussing 'safety,' etc. on the way down.

[Stewster]

Is the descent obvious? Where specifically did you park on Lolo Pass Road? Glad to hear to guys are practicing safety;)

[hefeweizen]

 

First turns near top:

 

 

Judging by that photo, the upper portion of the route doesn't look very skiable. Have you done a complete descent? Seems like maybe this year it just hasn't come into condition yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Doug_Hutchinson]

The descent is pretty obvious if you drop into one of two right drainages - the Sandy or the Muddy Fork. The harder part is finding a bridge or two at the right spot to get out of the river and onto the trails. You park at Lolo Pass Road at the end of the plowed area (maybe six ? miles from Hwy 26). If you have never been in this area before, you will get hopelessly lost.

 

Nope, never done a complete descent. I assume it can be done for chest beating purposes but the turns from the summit to Queens Chair will always be awful, from Queens Chair to where we stopped will always probably suck too but could be done.

 

Alright, nuff this thread. With another good weekend of snow, bring on the new TRs. I could write about skiing the Slot on the Crooked Couloir today, but I'll leave that to one of the other 47 skiers that hit the Slot today (fantastic line but seems to have gotten pretty used in the last few years...).