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Mt. Hood South side


markmc90

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I was going to start my own thread but figured it might be better to tag on to this one.

 

Leaving Pittsburgh tomorrow for Oregon. I hope to climb the south side with my girlfriend (~Thursday) but understand the conditions may not be the best. I've been watching the NWAC forecasts for about a month now and after a ton of snow it seems like it might finally start consolidating. Has anyone been up there recently?

 

We will probably attempt the Old Chute.

Edited by truello
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If this is your idea of a good time with the lady friend then you might pack the boots...

 

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=wc&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=thunder&w8=rain&w9=snow&w10=fzg&w11=sleet&AheadHour=44&Submit=Submit&FcstType=graphical&textField1=45.36372&textField2=-121.70242&site=pqr&unit=0&dd=0&bw=0

 

Increasing gusty winds and no views whatsoever. Can't speak to the avy danger, but you might want to come up with a backup plan that involves touring Oregon's finest microbrews or something along those lines.

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Thanks for the input. Those conditions are borderline and I do have a couple of backup plans. However, in the event that things get a little nicer...

 

 

Would you definitely bring snowshoes up the Palmer (we'd have to rent them), or was the snow good enough for boots?

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We ended up bagging the attempt and skiing at Timberline. Went up to the bottom of Palmer on one of the lifts on Thursday and it was pretty nasty as you mentioned.

 

Just got back to Pittsburgh after a week in Portland and saw the summit of Hood (and any cascade volcano for that matter) a grand total of 0 times :\

 

Still had a great time.

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glad you had a good time and got a taste for some fun on hood. Any consolation my fiance's sister was here for a similar time period during memorial day weekend....so two months later--and she never got a decent glimpse of any volcano either, and we had a fresh inch of snow at the clear lake lookout we managed to rent at the last minute.

 

Until you can get back, you can use these to assuage your lack of summit views:

 

Mt. Rainier from Paradise: http://www.nps.gov/webcams-mora/mountain.jpg

 

Mt. St helens view: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/hdimages/volcanocamhd.jpg

 

Crater Rim view of Crater Lake: http://www.nps.gov/webcams-crla/camerasinnott.jpg

 

Mt Adams: http://www.petries.net/troutlake/camera0.jpg

 

Central OR-3FJ, Wash, Sisters: http://www.callatg.com/~nsps/weather4.htm

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palmer_tower.JPG

 

Needed to get the blood pumpin, so I mashed to the top of palmer Saturday. The ski was great.

 

My pack was 22lbs. I just dont now how to make it lighter. I feel everything I carried was needed.

 

Gear list: puffy coat, puffy pants, bivy, stove kit, 100ft 6mil cord, picket, fluke, shovel, mt. axe, ice tool, crampons belay/presik/slings, snacks, 1 liter of h2o. Would have packed a screw and a little more food but forgot. guestimated weight of 25 lbs in the pack. Skiing on F1s, TLTs, BD Stigmas.

(my solo ski kit) with company, I would loose the 6mil cord and have a 60m half rope

Ideas?

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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...to the top of palmer...

 

...

 

I feel everything I carried was needed.

 

...

 

Gear list: puffy coat, puffy pants, bivy, stove kit, 100ft 6mil cord, picket, fluke, shovel, mt. axe, ice tool, crampons belay/presik/slings, snacks, 1 liter of h2o. Would have packed a screw and a little more food but forgot.

Am I an idiot (or an a-hole) for even asking if this is a troll?

Edited by jfs1978
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...to the top of palmer...

 

...

 

I feel everything I carried was needed.

 

...

 

Gear list: puffy coat, puffy pants, bivy, stove kit, 100ft 6mil cord, picket, fluke, shovel, mt. axe, ice tool, crampons belay/presik/slings, snacks, 1 liter of h2o. Would have packed a screw and a little more food but forgot.

Am I an idiot (or an a-hole) for even asking if this is a troll?

 

What's sad is that I had to think about it for a few minutes before decided that it was sarcasm. Because I have actually seen people take all that (and more) to go up Middle Sister on the same day as I was there in shorts and trail shoes. I would actually assume that list is pretty close to the standard Mazama kit for any trip into the alpine zone.

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...to the top of palmer...

 

...

 

I feel everything I carried was needed.

 

...

 

Gear list: puffy coat, puffy pants, bivy, stove kit, 100ft 6mil cord, picket, fluke, shovel, mt. axe, ice tool, crampons belay/presik/slings, snacks, 1 liter of h2o. Would have packed a screw and a little more food but forgot.

 

Why a fluke, picket, shovel, mt. axe and ice tool? They all do the same thing...slow you down. And really what are you going to sling. Prussik is fine for crevasse rescue but thats about it and seeing as you are alone if you fall in a crevasse you are GOING TO DIE!

 

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Not Tollin or being sarcastic. Maybe it would help to add that the gear I took was for a nice work-out on my ski, and a test run with a newish pack. Trying to figure out how best to load it. I suppose I should have started a new thread and not blasted it on this south-side spool.

 

Mt axe and tool would be for climbing steep routes. On the SS that could include one of the devils kitchen hw gullies.

 

Shovel for snow stability or possible bivy

 

Picket and Fluke for snow/rime protection

 

Slings for clipping into pro

 

Prussik, well, with all that other shit, I figured a couple ounces for rescue, or ascending potential seems reasonable

 

 

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OK benb I'm still not exactly sure what your question is...but maybe this'll help.

 

Short answer is...and I'm not being sarcastic here...it depends. You gotta make the call.

 

You mentioned everything you carried was needed and that you can't figure out how to make it lighter. That is ... surprising ... considering the route in question.

 

Out of the 15 items in you gear list I take five on a typical SS climb. To the top of Palmer I'd take two from your list and my pack weight would be ... whatever a liter of water and a couple shots of Gu weigh.

 

Again...not being sarcastic but I'd recommend going through that list of yours and assessing the utility of each of your items based on the objective hazards, potential risks, and technical challenges on your chosen route. That's the way this gig works. If you decide you need everything, then more power to you - go get it.

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I guess I was thinking out loud with the question/comment being.. 25 lbs. is a lot of stuff. I wonder how I can get by with less. I should not have posted it on the SS Conditions thread. I did so because I think the pic I posted of the top of Palmer was cool. Then I just kept on ranting. I was up on the SS for a quick workout and dry run. There was no climbing objective. I had a few hours to get out, and I wanted to get some turns in. I thought if I was gona hike up there, I might as well get geared up as if I was going to skin out to climb something exciting. (For grins, say Sandy HW/Wy East traverse) I do realize that the objective would dictate the gear decision. So I suppose, the gear list I mentioned is more or less what I would have with me on one of the many challenging, ski mountaineering adventures to be had on Mt Hood.

I apologize for the poor placement and lack of clarity of my post. I am curious about solutions others use to keep the weight down, while keeping a reasonable level of safety for myself/partner/s, or to aid others.

 

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I can't add much to my post above. Every gear decision is based on my own comfort and skill levels combined with route and weather hazards. It changes every route, every time. You list a broad assortment of snow and ice protection and gear for widely different types of route conditions. I may bring all of it, I may bring none of it, I may bring a lot more of one kind - it all depends. But to me, your gear list looks like the snow protection version of "jack of all trades, master of none". On anything technical you'll likely be left there cussing yourself out saying at least one of two things, but probably both - "dammit why'd I haul that boat anchor along" and/or "dammit I wish I had another one of THOSE"...

 

If I'm solo I likely won't bring any of it. I'll climb up what I can climb down ... or know my descent and what I'll need to leave behind to get back to the beer in my car.

 

If I'm with a partner - I bring enough to get both our asses out of trouble...or at least enough so that I can say "this is definitely YOUR fault dude - beers are on you" if we get our sorry asses stuck... :wazup::fahq: Or at least enough to stay outta the evening news. :moondance:

 

Bivy gear? Get that new light weight stuff......... duh. :poke:

 

How light? Light as you can find that still provides a comfortable margin. Do you want to sleep like a baby or get down mostly alive with most of your appendages? Is it cold? Bring a puffy. Is it %&$*ing BALLS COLD!?!?!?!? Bring a BIGGER puffy ... or move your lazy ass fast enough to stay warm.

 

That's all I got. One of the smart-asses around here might have something more specific. But your question's too general for me to get much traction...

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benb dont apologize. your relxed and patient response is humbling.

 

whats your bivy setup? sleeping bag + outer? glorified space blanket? etc. probably room there

 

stove setup? jetboil? whisperlight? bag of charcoal? =] might be room to lighten up there

 

fluke? the name itself implies its value..i think most shovel head can be rigged fairly for such pro

 

puffy pants and jacket - whats the setup there, can go lighter? using down or synth? take single warmer jacket is good advise, pants are (20oz?). i'd probably drop that, dont see big value in day-jaunt up hood..what is avg winter temp at 7k-probably 20? puff pants maybe if i spent a lot of time on rainier at 9-11k camps in shoulder season. but not hood stuff much of winter/spring, if windows avail. use backpack and/or light foam pad ($5 gardening kneel pad at bimart/walmart) for standing-still warmth (stand on pad, sit on pad, lean against, etc..)

 

 

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Gear list: puffy coat, puffy pants, bivy, stove kit, 100ft 6mil cord, picket, fluke, shovel, mt. axe, ice tool, crampons belay/presik/slings, snacks, 1 liter of h2o. Would have packed a screw and a little more food but forgot. guestimated weight of 25 lbs in the pack. Skiing on F1s, TLTs, BD Stigmas.

(my solo ski kit) with company, I would loose the 6mil cord and have a 60m half rope

Ideas?

ben, i think you may be picturing "worst case scenarios" with your packing list. i used to do this too. i'd think of everything that could possibly go wrong, or everything that i could possibly want or need, and then i'd pack it. my first time trying hood i think my pack was about 35 pounds - at least - just to do the SS.

 

Here's how i remedied this situation:

 

instead of a stove set-up i take a thermos with hot chocolate, or green tea or something. the weight difference may not be too much, but i feel like i commit more to a climb when i don't take a stove (which i view as something that i'd want if i were planning to be out overnight).

 

ditch the puffy pants altogether - they're extra weight and the cost/benefit ratio of their usefulness is questionable since the only time you'd put them on might be at the summit. instead, when you get cold in your lower half, start climbing; if you are on the summit, move around to stay warm or swing your limbs to force blood to the fingers and toes.

 

the bivy sack and at least a half a pad are things i pack, too - creature comforts.

 

as for the 100 ft of cord, slings, screws, fluke, shovel, picket, and rope you have to evaluate those based on the route you choose: for the SS you really don't need too much.

 

1 axe can take the place of a fluke, shovel, and picket if you bury it for an anchor and the only times you'd even need to do that would probably be for pulling someone out of the 'schrund - right now its covered - or for fixed belays but how many of either of those are you gonna probably be doing. i love having an axe and a 2nd tool, myself, and since you carry a 2nd tool just ditch the specialty items like the fluke, picket, and shovel. that'll definitely shed a little weight.

 

if you bring a rope you don't need 100 feet of cord because you are carrying 200 feet of rope - maybe bring some prusik cords if you really want. if you don't bring a rope (not bringing one saves a lot of weight, but leaves you somewhat more vulnerable to certain hazards - the debate on this could go on and on and on and on...) don't even bother with bringing prusik cords. slings are light and useful for many things as long as you don't bring more than you absolutely need (2 or 3 maybe), but if you leave the rope in the car then what do you need slings for, eh?

 

screws? well, if you really need them then you are glad you got em, but the simple fact for me is that the idea of actually whipping on one is positively frightening since you'd be falling with at least 24 to 25 sharp points on you. plus, how much fixed belaying do you plan on doing on the SS, even if you do go in one of the devil's kitchen HW gullies? (just "gee-whiz" info, but i stopped taking a belay device when i go on the SS - i just take a large locking biner and if i need to belay i use the munter).

 

the water and the snacks are essential... if you carry a thermos, though, take less water. if no thermos, then up your water to a liter and a half or so. water weight sucks, but it is weight that you can shed easily, if needed.

 

the bottom line is that this is what works for me. my advice is worthless to you because of this fact - it is what works for me. there might be pieces of my system that work well for you and pieces that don't. try different things and do an inventory after you return from a trip to evaluate the usefulness of your gear and figure out what you used and what you didn't. this strategy might open you up knowing what you can take and what you can leave. it might also show you how to find single pieces of gear that can serve several purposes, and therefore save weight by not needing other items (e.g. ice axe instead of a fluke, picket and shovel). keep a record (journal) of your climbs so you will know what you did and how well it worked (or how well it didn't work).

 

best of luck and be safe, whatever you do! :)

 

 

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For road-side Alpine walking like Hood I always work under the assumption that if I get tired, I get cold, the weather turns bad etc I can just turn-around and cruise back to the car. From anywhere on the South Side of Hood, you can make it back to the car in 2 hours or less. (Less on skis) Pack according to that. I should say that I'm sort of Nancy and only go up Hood with a good forecast, if the weather comes in I'm going to bail and go get a beer.

 

My Winter Hood kit would be:

 

Splitboard or ski (snowshoes maybe)

Avy shovel and beacon (only if I have a partner, leave at home if no partner)

Ax and Pons if going up anything steep, no need for Gates or Old Chute.

T-shirt for hiking in and a R1 fleece type thing to put on over that.

Light Puffy

Light shell- Marmot Prcip jacket.

Thick belay mits for the ride down.

Thin gloves for hike-up

Food for 8 hours of hard work. (IE Candy)

2 Litters of water.

Cell Phone.

 

If it was looking cold/nasty I'd bring one of those $10 metal bivy bags and a Pocket Rocket Stove to melt water in a emergency.

 

Leave ropes, pro, and harness at home, they have no value. The snow/ice or whatever the hell they call that white stuff up there doesn't take pro well. A screw stuck into Hood rime ice would hold not hold a big fall, may as well just solo it or climb a less steep route.

 

 

Edited by eldiente
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