Conditions on Hood South Side this wkend? (6/5-6)

[rocks4breakfast]

I'm hoping to hike up to camp on Triangle Moraine this Saturday and make a summit attempt via south side route on early Sunday morning (with my team of 2). It's looking like the weather will be clear on Sat, but snowy on Sunday; 1-3 inches predicted. Anyone else heading up? Thoughts on whether it's worth making the trip if it's clearly going to snow? Or wait until next weekend in the hope that this crazy spring weather will break? Thanks...

[KirkW]

Dude...WTF? Seriously? Another hood SS conditions thread?

 

I wish we could trade it to WA for Adams.

 

I would suggest Hood to be the perfect place to practice your new passion for mountaineering. This weekend as a matter of fact. Good luck.

 

 

 

If you can actually read a weather forcast and 7 day history from NOAA then what the fuck are you doing asking here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ivan]

i'm sure you could hav ea fine time if you keep your ambitions in line - hiking up a ton of shit to illuminiation gap to camp in the murk is fun, but i wouldn't go looking for more than that...

[thinair28]

For what it's worth: drove out to Smith Rock today and got a look at the mountain from the highway. Appeared like a big slide had started to the west Crater Rock and went down to near the level of Illumination Gap.

 

 

[Joe_Poulton]

Hope you didn't go....I'd wait a month....or better yet....wait for next winter...say Jan/Feb during the standard 2 weeks of solid weather.

[fraidahites]

Horribly unstable conditions up there right now. In a departure from the norm, no one was stupid enough to try to go past Hogsback yesterday, although there were 4 climbers from California that were hell bent on ignoring everyone's advice. They finally turned around high on the HB. HUGE avalance came off WCR. Crown looked to be about 6-8' high with a runout of almost a mile and 150 yards wide. That entire southern face is a ticking time bomb right now. ::

 

 

 

[prussik1]

CT 12 Q1 Sudden Release below Hogsback, Slope 32 degrees, SE aspect, 70cm down

[Sheep]

CT 12 Q1 Sudden Release below Hogsback, Slope 32 degrees, SE aspect, 70cm down

source?

[chubler]

How is this for current condtions? Add this to the terrible situation on Mt. Rainier right now and woof - hit the crags instead.

 

http://www.kgw.com/news/Searchers-help-starnded-climber-on-Mt-Hood-95730104.html

 

[sean_beanntan]

Hmm, me, I guess. I will try to post some pics today. basically the West Crater slide started from a point release off Castle Crags and ran past Illumination Saddle to around 8,500ft. Clearly visible are the 2 slab layers as reported last week. 3 Slides zones observed in Devils Kitchen, that covers E, SE and SW aspects. Not sure when slides happened. Hogsbacks slid below Pearly gates, no sign of activity observed higher on the old chute area....ie upper reaches still loaded with unstable layers. Snow bonding is failing on wet, rotten snow, any facets appear to have saturated producing slush. Digging pits required chopping through a thick ice layer as it appeared to have rained up to at least 10,300ft.

 

Joe PMR

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2010 by sean_beanntan

[Cobra_Commander]

How dare you bring objective data into this discussion

[JosephH]

After the fatalities on Hood in recent years where weather played a significant role it seems somewhat amazing that some folks are still oblivious to the impact and realities of prevailing conditions prior to the day they have available to climb and of the forecast for the hours and days immediately following it. The relevent conditions and weather window to be concerned about and study should extend from days prior to a planned ascent on out at least a day or two succeeding it as a buffer in case problems arise.

 

Attempting to 'squeak one in' is risky business that has cost more than a few highly-experienced climbers their lives, let alone weekend warriors. And as common as climbing Mt. Hood is, it's still mountaineering with plenty of objective hazards even with a good weather window; there's no need to turn it into reckless gambling and blind luck that will put others at risk attempting to rescue you in lousy weather and desperate conditions.

[JoeMack]

We were up there Saturday and decided to turn around at the Hogsback due to the slide activity.

 

Here's a photo of the Hogsback and a bit lower that shows one of the bigger slides.

 

 

 

The corn was probably the best I've ever experienced, so even though we didn't summit, the day was fun.

[summitchaserCJB]

Pearly Gates looks sexy

[needtoclimb]

They got rescued at 8100 feet on Hood? You got to be kidding me. Follow the damn cat track down, or cut diagonal and follow the chair lift down. wow. Sorry, this stuff just pisses me off when people call for rescues due to their own ignorance and lack of experience. No one was hurt, so walk your ass down the mountain.

 

OH, at great pics. thanks for those.

Edited June 7, 2010 by needtoclimb

[Cobra_Commander]

Last I checked, the 8100ft contour occurs all the way around the mountain.

[letsroll]

[Lemdog]

You have obviously never been in a full on white out on Hood...

[needtoclimb]

I have been in a full white-out on several mountains. I also know how to use my altimeter, compass and map to navigate in such conditions. When the clouds start to come in out, stop and determine your position on you map. You than take a bearing from where you are to where you want to go, and follow that bearing. I have done that.

 

Or, coming from the last few posts, I am starting to see that the new trend of "oh my god, I have no idea what I am doing, someone rescue me!" is becoming the norm, even among so called "experienced" climbers.

 

All this avy training, crevasse rescue, rope stuff is important, but I think many climbers are missing the basic skill of navigation. To prove my point, in the last few months I have hooked up with 3 different climbers from CC.com for 3 different peaks. All three times, I was the only one who had a map. WTF? No map? How do you go climb a mountain without a map? no map=no navigation skills=no chance in a whiteout.

 

Look how many rescues are occurring because the person is lost. lost means you don't know where you are or how to get where you want to go. That is a skill called navigation, which mountaineers should all know. I'm not some elitist mountaineer, I just got lucky that in the Marine Corp we had weeks of extensive map and compass training. There are many guides/clubs around here that teach map/compass navigation, so anyone on a big mountain should have no excuse when some clouds roll in, especially down low around 8100 when you are mere hours from lodge. Its like getting lost on Muir Snowfield, inexcusable.

[Lemdog]

I'm not disagreeing with what you have now just posted....I was responding to "Follow the damn cat track down, or cut diagonal and follow the chair lift down"

 

In a total white out this would not be possible...Maps, GPS, common sense (why the frick they were up there anyway) compass is not my point.

[needtoclimb]

I'm not disagreeing with what you have now just posted....I was responding to "Follow the damn cat track down, or cut diagonal and follow the chair lift down"

 

In a total white out this would not be possible...Maps, GPS, common sense (why the frick they were up there anyway) compass is not my point.

 

Ok, that makes more sense. Yeah, finding the chairlift in a white-out would be a bitch, and if new snow covered the ski runs, would be hard to tell that you were standing on the ski slope. But my point was the map/compass thing. I think too many people believe that because they have a cell phone and MLB, skills are not needed, but that is a whole other topic. Whatever happened to self-reliance? Maybe I am just showing my age.

[summitchaserCJB]

Especially because the fall line isn't the same as the descent line on the SS if I remember correctly.

[ivan]

is this where i can brag about goign from the summit to t-line sans vision n' map w/o getting lost (via my camp at illumination of course - never leave the booze behind!)?

[summitchaserCJB]

Yes.

[rocks4breakfast]

I agree - and am glad so many people have contributed to this discussion. That's why I started this post. Thank you for sharing.