[TR] Mt. Hood-Old Chute - Hogsback/Old Chute 5/29/2009

[EastKing]

Trip: Mt. Hood-Old Chute - Hogsback/Old Chute

 

Date: 5/29/2009

 

Trip Report:

It was a long time coming but after disappointment on Mt. Hood in April and Mount Shasta this Tuesday, it was time to head back once more. This time I invited MountainMan, my old friend who I have had many successful hikes and a successful climb up Mt. Adams. Just like Aaron on the other trip (before Shasta) I have never had a unsuccessful attempt. Having MountainMan on this trip made a world of difference on this trip, especially on the last leg where a 40-50 degree hard snow/ice climb up the Old Chute. He helped me through that section when I was have second thoughts about some of the routes.

 

All right here is the story. I have been trying to get MountainMan on a climb for a while but due to schedule issues nothing ever could work out. It though became obvious to be though that both MountainMan and I are going to be in prime condition for a Mt. Hood attempt. I was going to be coming of being camping for a couple of day around 10000 feet while Jason was coming off a backpack trip where he was going to be camping at 6000 feet. We would have two days to rest which is plenty of time. And the conditioning aspect worked like a charm.

 

Mountain Man picked me up at 6:00 pm in Seattle and we headed down to Hood where we got a slightly late start at 11:30 pm. I noticed that the Mazama Club and others was actually have a climb up there and I thought it would be good to link behind them in order to have them kick steps for us and set a pace so that we didn't burn out or get overtired. This again worked as a charm because we were able to ride behind teams all the way up to the Hogback and never even break a sweat. It was like I was taking an easy stroll in the park. I know this sound strange but I also wanted others around due to the fact that Hood has a very recent history of knock down people with rock, sulfur fumes (as I found out last time) and that steep Old Chute.

 

When we got to the Hogsback the climbing team waited there to rope up. From what I saw I think it slowed them down and left them in the danger zone longer. As for the Hogsback, it is steep now but the burgshrund is just barely showing on the sides but not on the Hogsback. One team went up the Hogsback and actually crossed over where was bergshrund would be and decided to do a steep side traverse to the Old Chute. This was shakily and I was a worried but MountainMan kicked in steps in the icy side traverse and stayed close to get there that section. Then the team went up the steep chute kicking in decent steps to the slopes. We continued (though I was get a little shakened) to the ridge.

 

The teams below us actually decided to hike down into the sulfur pit area (crater) where there was a nice dirt spot (partly steaming) and setup there ascent of the Old Chute from there. At first I thought this was absolutely nuts, but after further examination it was a much safer way to go up.

 

As for us we passed by the knife edge, which was nothing compared to others I have been on and cruised to the summit ( :up: :up: :up: ). For 20 minutes MountainMan and I were King of the Hood. As for the view the Volcanoes were hazy but, St. Helens, Adams, Rainier, Jefferson, Sister and Bachelor were all out in force. We made it to the summit by 7:15 am so we could only spend 30 minutes on the summit before dangerous ice and rockfall would be the theme of the day.

 

After 30 minutes it was time for that dreaded climb down the Old Chute. Can you say downclimbing. This though was MountainMan's speciality. He has little fear of downclimbing from his skiing days. I though, despite being trained all aspects of the ice axe still had to gulp my fear and downclimb the thing. That is exactly what I did. The snow was ice hard but my ice climbing crampons worked like a charm here. The self belay worked well and despite the fact that I was slow I gain a ton of confidence here heading down. I decided to head down to where the climbing teams had set the route. Yes there was some sulfur smell but they clearly knew what they were doing here. As I downclimbed you could here the ice beginining to break off the cliffs. At first this was terrifying. But after being hit with a could small pieces on the helmet it was a fact of life if you are to do Mt. Hood. I became ammune to the constant icefalls and did my best to get down the Old Chute.

 

Once on the Hogsback I was home free, and glissade time was jus a little ways down. MountainMan and rode a number of good glissade down the slope of Hood and saved a ton of time and energy. On the way down we enjoyed the closeup views of Hood as well as views of Mt. Jefferson. We headed back to the car and celebrated victory at a Mexican Restaurant. MountainMan lived up to his name today and the trip was awesome. Great decisions, great time, and great taking advantage of opportunities!!!!

 

Here are some pictures...

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Standard ice axe, helmut, crampons is all you need

 

Approach Notes:

Many groups are skipping much of the Hogsback and are actually heading toward the crater. Right now this is the better route. Old Chute was in good condition to kick steps into that day. It was very easy to downclimb. Rock and ice falls were common but when are they not.

 

 

[prussik1]

I arrived at hogsback at 3 a.m., heard only one big release from the steel cliffs about 2:30. Temps at hogsback stayed about the same from 3-7 a.m. Climbed far west West Crater, great steps already kicked in, descended chute a little more east, again great steps already kicked in, very little ice/rock coming down. Could not believe the amount of stupidity on the hill. What is up with teams roping up and not placing protection?!? Folks, if you're going to rope up as a team, you'd better be placing something on the mountain otherwise the propensity of you pulling your team down and every other team behind you increases exponentially! Remember 1996...

christopher

gear: 2 tools (used one), 2 pickets (didn't use), 2 ice screws (didn't use), 30m rope (didn't use)

Edited June 1, 2009 by prussik1

[Ptown_Climber1]

First off, I believe you mean 2002.

 

I don't typically place protection on Hood unless I'm taking beginners up there. It's just not that steep. I've stuck pickets in going through the gates in years past, but I don't think roping up on Hood necessarily means placing protection if those you are with are skilled at self arrest. But as rule, climbing Hood when it is crowded is always a rather risky affair.

[prussik1]

Thanks for the correction!

[Displaced Native]

First off, I believe you mean 2002.

 

I don't typically place protection on Hood unless I'm taking beginners up there. It's just not that steep. I've stuck pickets in going through the gates in years past, but I don't think roping up on Hood necessarily means placing protection if those you are with are skilled at self arrest. But as rule, climbing Hood when it is crowded is always a rather risky affair.

 

i don't want to sound like an ass...but why rope up if your confident in the self arrest skills? I don't understand. It seems to my simple mind that using a rope without protection is like eating a peanut butter sandwich without the bread. You can do it, but it doesn't make sense.

 

steve

[LostCamKenny]

Looks like a zoo - par for the course on a weekend!

[Ptown_Climber1]

Well, generally speaking I prefer not to rope up on Hood either; Historically I think people roped up when climbing above the open bergshrund was more of an issue.... I was just making the point that roping up doesn't have to mean placing pro.....but no matter how confident one might be in self arrest skills, until it happens, you just never know for sure, so it's a nice security to know there are 2-3 other competent climbers with you that together can hopefully arrest the fall if it turns out you can't. Also, say climber X on a rope team gets tagged by a piece of ice and is rendered unconscious....at that point it doesn't matter how confident they are at self arrest.

[Karl_S]

Interesting thoughts on roping up (or not). Generalizations are dangerous, though. Poor techniques of teams of past disasters don't warrant discounting appropriate roping up. Successful team self arrest is highly a function of what position the first fallen climber is in, the rope slack and the skill of the climbers. If the fallen climber is at the top of the rope, the likelihood of successful team arrest goes down dramatically. Many teams are composed of a few experienced climbers and the rest inexperienced. The team leaders feel great responsibility for the safety of the team. That warrants a different approach than if all were experienced. In such cases, I like to rope up above the Hogs (with only 15-20' between climbers) and have the top two climbers (ascending and descending) be the most experienced and carry two axes each. They can dagger in all the way up and virtually negate the chance of a team not arresting a fall. On the descent it is a little less safe unless the top two climbers crab down backwards the same way they went up (which can be pretty fast). This sounds like way overkill, but the first time you take up your 11 year old daughter I think you'll think twice about not roping up!

[Alewarrior]

I prefer about 5 feet of rope between climbers.