Jump to content

[TR] Mt. Hood - Leuthold Couloir 1/22/2011


bgratias

Recommended Posts

Trip: Mt. Hood - Leuthold Couloir

 

Date: 1/22/2011

 

Trip Report:

A group of us (my brother Ryan, sneaky_steve Ladish, Lance Colley, Josh Grant and Erik Biesenthal) went up the Leuthold Couloir this Saturday. Though a bit windy in the morning it was a beautiful day. The south side is very icy, we could only skin on the tracks the snowcat made, and had to crampon from the top of the lifts to Illumination Saddle. We made it to the saddle just after sunrise. The down climb to the Reid is pretty icy right now, but the Reid is filled in well.

 

The bottom part of the couloir leading to the hourglass consisted of about 8" of heavy powder on top of harder snow. This got us excited because we were planning to ski the route.

 

Our skiing excitement was replaced by climbing excitement when we reached the hourglass and found it to be beautiful alpine ice! We were expecting a snow climb, but almost the entire upper part of the couloir was awesome ice. It wasn't super steep, and we were being hit by ice cubes the whole time, but the climbing was fantastic!

 

Since we couldn't ski the route, we went down the south side. It was the worst skiing imaginable. It was like skiing down a field of ice cubes ranging from 2"-1' big. We ended up walking down most of the way to the lifts. Oh well, carrying the extra weight was good exercise.

 

 

Down climbing to the Reid

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210155.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting up the couloir and getting excited for skiing!

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210161.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing through the hour glass. Bummed we won't be able to ski, but excited about the awesome climbing conditions!

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210169.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice!

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210176.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210183.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210192.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It mellowed out a bit toward the top, and we were able to kick some steps. If you stayed in the middle there was still good ice, but our calves were burning by this point.

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210186.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210195.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210198.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[img:left]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/rgratias/Luethold%20Couloir%20TR/P1210203.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

At least one tool. If you bring a rope, you could probably place screws from the hourglass all the way to the top couloir.

 

Approach Notes:

Icy on the south side, and dropping onto the Reid.

Edited by bgratias
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...