sharp_end Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Trip: Mt. Hood - Leuthold's Couloir Date: 4/20/2009 Trip Report: Jared posted on CC, looking for a partner for the Sandy glacier Headwall on Mt. Hood. Having faith in the climbers on CC.com, I replied and said great, let's go. On Monday night into Tuesday, Jared Janowiak and I climbed Leuthold's Couloir instead of the Headwall. There was a strong warming trend and the freezing level was above the summit that night. We thought that rock fall may be too much on the Headwall. We were also cautious about Leuthold, but decided to take a look. ( I should note, that Jared did a trail race on Sunday, then drove down to Portland on Monday evening, picked me up, climbed over 5000 feet in elevation, then drove back to Seattle without crashing his car on the return drive. Impressive) Anyway, we got to Illumination saddle in a little over 2 hours and then got ready for the glacier. It was cold once we stopped. There was one other group ahead of us, but that is Hood. There is always someone climbing. We got going and ended up taking the couloir just to the left of Leuthold for a while. We were trying to avoid the rock and ice fall from the group ahead of us and got off route a bit. No problem. It ended up being a steeper and more exciting adventure than I remember Leuthold being. We had a nice view of the sunrise shadow of Mt. Hood. We eventually had to traverse over, which cost us some time, but we were well off that face before the sun hit. Soon we made it to the queen's chair and took a short break. This is a picture of Jared looking towards Helens, Adams, and Rainier. Then came the long hike up the last snow field. The snow on this portion of the mountain is crappy styrofoam. Always best to follow a trail on this section. We had the sun as soon as we made the summit ridge. We had a good snack and break on the summit then it was time to get down. No problem getting down to the hogsback. Then came a long descend down. It is good to have someone you can talk with, because this descent is long and boring. We could see a little white speck that was the car for the entire decent. Some nice glacades helped. I convinced Jared to take the quickest and easiest way down the magic mile, which saved us some time. It was a great trip, with a very strong climbing partner. Jared really did most of the step kicking, while carrying an extra 2 gallons of water. I like climbing with people training for trips to Alaska. Gear Notes: Glacier gear, 2 tools and Jared Approach Notes: Drive to parking lot and park below the large flood light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsroll Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 "Jared really did most of the step kicking, while carrying an extra 2 gallons of water. I like climbing with people training for trips to Alaska" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 When I read some of these threads, I feel fat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbob Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Gear Notes: Glacier gear, 2 tools and Jared Too funny ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared_j Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Hey man, that sure was a fun day! So scenic, and Jason was a real solid partner. The drive home did require some concentration. That was my first time up Hood, and was a great day with awesome conditions, and a good conditioner for Alaska. That descent sure was long! Unfortunately, the Alaska conditioning was mostly for naught . At least I made it out in one piece. Unfortunately, that means the Kain face is out for me this summer. Maybe a raincheck? Edited May 13, 2009 by jared_j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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