TyClimber Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 I got out for a couple great days of moderate alpine ice this week. Conditions were perfect for moving quickly. Mt Adams, West Face of the North Ridge 11/6 My brother and I headed down to Mt Adams on November 6th with the idea of climbing the North Face of the Northwest Ridge in a day. Due to his class schedule at school we got a seriously late start Thursday evening and arrived at the trailhead around 2am. A two hour power nap in the car and we were on our way just after 4. The approach didn't really go that fast, we were dragging more than a little bit. We hit the lower slopes of the Adams Glacier after about 4 hours and started the long slog across. While we were walking we kept looking at the West Face of the North Ridge. We had spied it when we were up on the north side a few years ago doing a different route and talked about how cool it looked. This time around it looked too great to pass up. The fact that we were totally cracked on walking and the approach would be 30 min shorter was a big factor in the decision making process. We changed directions and made it to the base of the face about 5 hours in. We decided to go ahead and harness up but keep the rope in the bag until it was necessary, in the end we never took it out. The conditions varied between mostly neve with a bit of water ice on the first half to mostly water ice with the odd spot of neve on the top half. The route is a sustained 40* the whole way with occasional stretches that nudged up towards 50. Never really hard, just fun with ever growing exposure. We topped out 3 hours later, almost exactly 8 hours after we left the car. It was so cold up high that we had been climbing for the last hour in our down jackets. The decision not to make the long walk across the summit plateau wasn't even discussed, we stopped just long enough to have a drink and then started down the North Ridge. I had heard the North Ridge kind of sucks, turns out that is a huge understatement. There was just enough ice on some of the exposed traverses that you couldn't really relax. Eventually it was over though and then we just had to face up to the long walk back to the car. I'd had the brilliant idea on the way in to write time checks in the snow, that trail feels endless on the way out and having some sense of how far we had left to go was a huge boost to the morale. We finally hit the car at the 13.5 hour mark, taking off the boots was the highlight of the day. Mt Hood, Leuthold Couloir and Cooper Spur 11/10 I had never been to Mt Hood before. I've thought about it a lot, but the drive is just long enough from Seattle that I always found something closer to do. This week I decided it was time to change that. I pitched my brother the idea of doing the North Face, but he couldn't miss school. Left without a partner I did a bit of research and came up with the Leuthold Couloir. I headed down Wednesday night, hitting Timberline at midnight. The alarm went off waaaaay to early and I was underway by 4:30. Having never been there before I wasn't really sure how long things were going to take me, I roughly estimated it would take me seven hours or so to get up and down the route. Conditions really couldn't have been any better, the full moon was so bright I didn't even need a headlamp as I skinned up. I think moving across snow under a full moon has got to be one of my favorite experiences climbing. I made it to Illumination Saddle after 1:45, just as the sky was starting to lighten up to the east. I took a quick breather and switched from skis to the pons. Crossing the Reid glacier was a breeze and I was underneath the route at 2:30 in. I would imagine that if you climbed it in May the Leuthold is pretty tame, but under such thin conditions it was really fun. The hourglass was completely scoured water ice, with a step in the middle that felt close to 60*. Awesome. After that the angle eased up a lot and I trudged on to the top. I had gotten the idea of topping out in under 4 hours in my head on the way up but in the end it took me 4:03, so close! Sitting on the summit there was hardly a cloud in the sky and I just wasn't tired yet. I figured I made the drive all the way down here, I might as well maximize my time. I had heard the Cooper Spur is pretty fun so I stashed my skis and down I went. It took me an hour to down climb to the point that the ridge mellowed out. I hung out in the sun for about twenty minutes and then headed back up. Conditions were literally perfect. Again it was never really hard, just straight up fun. I topped out for the second time an hour later, 6:30 in for the day. At this point I was getting pretty tired, I decided to sit down and have a proper rest in the sun before I went any further. 45 min of laying down did the trick and I started down the south side route. I had to down climb to about 10k, then I was able to strap on the skis. The skiing wasn't great, but it got me back to the car fast. I hit the car at 8:45, quite satisfied with my first trip to Mt Hood. I have some crappy cell phone photos that I will post later. Quote
sobo Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Very proud work, TC! FYI, one President's Day many years ago, I strapped on some AT skis at the small ledge on climber's left right where the Pearly Gates starts to neck down very narrow. I got in about three turns before catching an edge, made one more turn on just one ski, then tumbled the remaining 500-odd feet or so towards Crater Rock. After I cleaned up the yard sale, I shot straight for the Hogback, catching air as I schussed over the assembled horde there, landing in the Devil's Kitchen. Without missing a beat, I booked for the top of the Palmer, never looking back. The rest of my crew (not on skis) said it looked pretty cool. After the wipe-out, that is... Quote
111 Posted November 12, 2011 Posted November 12, 2011 climbing on a full moon is DEFINITELY one of the better mountain experiences one can have! well done on the summits! Quote
TyClimber Posted November 12, 2011 Author Posted November 12, 2011 Fletch topping out on Adams Looking up the Cooper Spur Looking down Cooper Spur from mid height Mt Hood summit view Quote
TyClimber Posted November 12, 2011 Author Posted November 12, 2011 One more.... Looking up at the Hourglass on the Leuthold couloir Quote
TyClimber Posted November 12, 2011 Author Posted November 12, 2011 Hmmm, it looks like some of those are sideways. Could someone explain how I would fix that? Thanks Quote
Water Posted November 12, 2011 Posted November 12, 2011 umm...rotate them in ms paint or photoshop or something. question, being as yer a seattlite er such, your opinion of der hooderwand? (ivans term?) after thinking about it muchos? being in pdx i oft ponder shuksan and baker, not to mention the much from rainier north. btw can you clarify the timestamps, you say you started at 4:30am but got to the saddle at 1:35er something and were under leuths at 2:30...? very cool to go up the west side, descend a good amount east, and top back out, not seen any TR with that in it. only been on 2 early fall (Nov-Dec) climbs on hood but find it a very fine time to be on the mnt, so long as Wx window is there. thanks for the pics as well Quote
TyClimber Posted November 12, 2011 Author Posted November 12, 2011 I found Hood to be fantastic. The accessibility was hard to beat, you can't drive that close to the real climbing on many peaks around here. Looking in the guide book it seems like there are so many route opportunities that you can get on even in the dead of winter when much of the mountains are beyond reach. I think going up north would be well worth your time, it's fun to expand the repertoire a bit. You just have to bite the bullet and put in the car time. About the times I guess I wasn't so clear. I started at 4:30, the times I gave after that were my time spent moving, hit Illumination Saddle 1:45 after I left the car, was under the couloir 2:30 after I left the car, etc. Quote
dougd Posted November 12, 2011 Posted November 12, 2011 being in pdx i oft ponder shuksan and baker, not to mention the much from rainier north. I can relate. Being from PDX, and now living in Spokane, it's a long way to the real climbing. I highly recommend Baker and Shuksan however. Just have to make time for those mountains. I was very close to making the trip to do the cooper spur Friday the 11th... The forecast was just flakey enough though to keep me home. Driving 6 hours for a pretty narrow weather window for an am climb just tipped the scale enough... Maybe T-giving weekend... d Quote
PrincessWookie Posted November 13, 2011 Posted November 13, 2011 ...... Mt Hood, Leuthold Couloir and Cooper Spur 11/10 Conditions really couldn't have been any better, the full moon was so bright I didn't even need a headlamp as I skinned up. I think moving across snow under a full moon has got to be one of my favorite experiences climbing. I made it to Illumination Saddle after 1:45, just as the sky was starting to lighten up to the east. I took a quick breather and switched from skis to the pons.... Enjoyed reading that, Ty. Thanks for posting your TR's. Funny...(and I'm sure I'm not the only one) I woke up on Thursday morning about 12:30 AM and the moon was blazing fiercely through my bedroom window and it reflected on the sparkling snow, illuminating the whole area. I live in a rural area and went outside since I just had to see the moon and stood out there in my down coat and PJ's for a while. Pretty. I honestly thought..."somewhere, somebody really should be climbing on this great morning." You were! (and we're about an hour behind you) RIGHT ON. Quote
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