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Mt Hood


KirkW

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Got a question about Mt Hood and unable to find the answer using the Search Function?

 

Post 'em up here and someone will, without a doubt, be more than happy to answer it for you.

 

Please keep this thread SPRAY FREE no matter how silly the question might seem to you. If we all play nice we might even be able to get the mods to make us our very own Hood forum!

 

Be safe out there!

 

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Hi all,

 

A buddy and I are hoping to do something exciting on Hood later this week and thought we might tap into some of the veteran knowledge in this community. I've done the south route before and we were hoping to try something more off-the-beaten path and adrenaline-inducing. Initially I was thinking of Leuthold Couloir or the Reid Headwall, but after reading Holk's TR from a couple weeks back, and given recent warm temps, I'm starting to question the wisdom of this. Maybe it's a little late in the season to be getting on more technical routes, but I was wondering if y'all might have any suggestions. And FWIW, we're both competent mountaineers/climbers with experience across N. America, but have limited familiarity with Hood.

 

Thanks!

Edited by mountain goat
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Not going to try and spray or badmouth Holk's TR because talking shit on the internet is idiotic, but if I recall correctly the avy conditions for everywhere where awful that weekend, plus it seems like he had a pretty late start. With the winter we had I personally would still consider Luetholds and the Reid Headwall reasonable objectives, (i will probably give the Reid a go later this week). That being said summer alpine starts will be absolutely necessary, and I will be out of the areas most prone to rockfall well before the sun hits them, before the sun has fully risen to be honest. This time of year rockfall will be an issue no matter where you go, as I am sure you know. I have personally never done the spur, but hear it is a fantastic route, and in my limited experience every single time I have done something other than the S. side on Hood I have been completely alone, so enjoy!

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There are challenging routes on Illumination Rock and the Steel Cliffs, IF the conditions are right. I-Rock offers both winter and early spring ice, and/or mixed. Steel Cliffs can still be climbed by a variety of routes at this time of year provided it's cold enough. Look on this site for a TR posted by Jack Andrew (don't remember his site handle)in June of 2010 or 2009, re Steel cliffs. There are posts by "Wayne 1112" on routes for I-rock, and on his personal website as well. Best of luck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

No question, but perhaps a fun update.

 

Was up there on Wed. night into Thurs. morning with the original intent of a second attempt up Leuthold - alas too slow, too late - so figured we'd head up the Gates. Upon reaching the Hogsback we encountered a film set.

 

mthood-489.jpg

mthood-498.jpg

mthood-515.jpg

 

Oregon Field Guide was up that day and had several parties traveling through the gates for one of their upcoming segments. As a result our backup plan was shut down too. Personally the two Schrunds didn't seem intimidating and we'd planned to solo our way up since the slope itself is so mild right now. However, lingering with the crew too long left us without safe passage up, so we fumbled our way down w/o a summit and instead had a beer sooner than later.

 

mthood-535.jpg

 

A good way to spend my 26th all the same.

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  • 2 weeks later...

was camping with my wife on mcneil point sat night and scope out reid a bit on the drive out--looks fairly busted up--i'll be the first to label myself a wimp but I probably wouldn't head across reid at this point. My guess is leuth has some nice runnels and some brown streaks going down it.

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was camping with my wife on mcneil point sat night and scope out reid a bit on the drive out--looks fairly busted up--i'll be the first to label myself a wimp but I probably wouldn't head across reid at this point. My guess is leuth has some nice runnels and some brown streaks going down it.
only my third TR! :)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey folks,

 

Just wondering if it is too late to do the Cooper Spur? Never climbed Hood and the most "technical" mountain I have done is the north face of Mt. Borah in Idaho. Not sure what to expect of Hood. Don't have much experience with so much snow...and crevasses...any thoughts? Should I instead do a solo ascent of the South Spur?

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i suspect it will still be in fine shape, though a superduper early start so as to be up and back down to tie in rock before 10 or so in the morning would be wise. sounds like the road is open now, so it's a very reasonable car to car, though camping a night near tie in is a sweet, sweet experience, 'specially if you have a bottle of something all right :)

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We climbed the Eliot Glacier/Sunshine route Yesterday and it was in great shape. We started at the Cooper Spur ski area at 3800", and had a shuttle car parked at Timberline for an up and over climb. We took a 2 hour nap in the Cooper Spur shelter to wait for a little more moon light. From what we could see of the Spur, it looked like it still had a lot of snow up high and is probably in fine shape. Like Ivan said, an early early start would be advisable. We summited at 7:30am and descended the south side. I wouldn't want to have been any later descending the old chute. Sunshine is an awesome route that probably won't be in shape much longer due to the 2 giant bergshrunds that have sketchy crossings. Here are a few pics.IMG_28831.jpg

IMG_28841.jpgIMG_2889.jpgIMG_2907.jpgIMG_2908.jpgIMG_29091.jpgIMG_29201.jpgIMG_29222.jpgDSCN2661.jpgDSCN2664.jpgIMG_2927.jpgIMG_29331.jpgIMG_29371.jpgIMG_2943.jpgIMG_29431.jpgIMG_2949.jpg

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I climbed the Cooper Spur Route this morning. There is plenty of snow and the route seems to be in good condition - although it was my first time on it so I don't have any experience for comparison. I left my bivy on the ridge at 8500 feet at 3:40am and summited at 6:05am. The sun was blazing so I only spent about 20 minutes on the summit then headed back down. The snow was getting very soft on the descent and I would not have wanted to be any later on it - I was back at Tie In rock around 7:40. Get an early start or consider carrying over to the south side.

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I climbed the Cooper Spur Route this morning. There is plenty of snow and the route seems to be in good condition - although it was my first time on it so I don't have any experience for comparison. I left my bivy on the ridge at 8500 feet at 3:40am and summited at 6:05am. The sun was blazing so I only spent about 20 minutes on the summit then headed back down. The snow was getting very soft on the descent and I would not have wanted to be any later on it - I was back at Tie In rock around 7:40. Get an early start or consider carrying over to the south side.

:rawk:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was up the south side friday night and thought it was still in pretty good shape. I cut directly from the climbers trail and had to cross some crevasses. Everything was solid and not as warm as the weather forecast. My toes were cold the whole time in my summer boots though. It was crowded as usual and I turned around at the hogs back traffic jam as my toes were numb.

 

 

I may go back this week and mess around on some of the ice cliffs though...looked fun

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FYI, we climbed Sunshine route on Sunday. The Bergschrund just above Snow Dome was right up against the rock heap above it, now, so had to deal with crossing the lousy rock. We were able to climb into and then up the bergschrund wall just below Horseshoe rock and went up climbers left of Horseshoe Rock. The wall on the Horseshoe side was ice, so ice screws and ice tools are/were helpful, there. On the way down, we went down Cathedral Ridge until we got to where bvail crossed - the bridge he'd taken across was fallen in, but we were able to climb in on the lower lip and get to the mound that I noticed in one of his pictures.

 

Here's a picture (from Saturday) of the route we took to the snow dome:

P8130179LowerPartofRoute.jpg

And here's a picture (from Saturday as well) where the green route is the one we took up, and the purple route, down:

P8130181uppergreenuppurpledown.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

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