YocumRidge Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Trip: Hood - North Face - Left Gull Date: 12/19/2011 Trip Report: My Rainier buddy Chase N - who magically re-appeared in the PNW from Moscow for his school break – and I climbed North Face on Hoodie on Monday 12/19. Looking forward to a full on alpine adventure, Chase delivered cramponed and tooled himself from Seattle to the T-lodge p-lot where I picked him up late Sunday pm. Having left his rig in the lot, we drove down to the Tilly Jane TH in my carriage (that successfully went into a progressive spin as it always does on the T-road) and would have ditched if not the snow banks. We started at the Tilly Jane TH at 12.40 a.m. The trail to the A-frame is currently in fat AI 0 shape. Right off the bat, Chase set up a nice brisk pace on the awesome 7 mile approach to the base of the NF and by 5.30 a.m. we had settled by the “Crumble Cookie” moat to brew up and wait for the sun to rise. First stop at the Tilly Jane A-frame: Brewing up in the dark on the upper Eliot: Lean and mean NF at the wee hour: Looking down on the Cooper Spur at sunrise: Alpenglow on the Snow Dome: “Northern Lights” over the north side: Crossing the main shrund on the right did not seem obvious to us, so we chose to try the left bypass to get to the entrance of the left gully. Right side of the shrund: Left bypass we took: I went up and around the shrund, across the snow shelf through a few rock bands to the right (green line). Chest-deep wallowing in the sugary spin-drifted off the face snow and crumbly steep choss awaited ahead. At one point I felt the entire slope was going to slide down. Making very slow progress through this sketchy section, we turned back and headed around the prominent tower (red line) to eventually merge with the left gully higher up. Luckily, Chase spotted a couple of ice flows to get up there. Slightly rotten and thin at the 9000’ start (I plugged a couple of stubbies and one Spectra ice piton), the ice quality was significantly improving as we gained elevation and so did our comfort level. Simuling the lower sections: Chase approaching the Cathedral Spire: More alpine ice in the left gully just below (10100’) the rock band: More water ice through the rock band (10400’) we simuled: Getting closer to the summit ridge (10800’): Finally, at sunset, being hit with spindrifts and suffocating wind gusts, we crawled over the summit cornice currently made of alpine ice. That’s right, at sunset. It is now at 4.30 p.m. First Hood summit for Chase. A little pouty in the 50 mph wind gusts? Not. The premier alpine route of the PNW is still in the lean shape until the major snowfalls hit it and still providing with 2000 vertical feet of frontpointing on all possible types of ice and 100’ of snow climbing! Can it get any better than that? Obviously, not for me – my tool's shaft snapped in the process, low on the face! Does anyone have a Petzl Aztarex hammer and is willing to sell it to me? The south side descent was in the dark when everything looked the same: Wy'east exit, Devils Kitchen headwall exit, etc. Fighting with the winds, we crawled on all four along the skinny summit ridge to get to the Old Chute which produced solid alpine ice for a change. Got down to the Triangle Moraine where I had really slowed down, all the remaining food was well frozen and my feet hurting in the plastic boots. Thanks to Chase for patiently stopping and waiting for me. Gear Notes: 5 screws, 3 screamers, 1 Spectra, 2 KBs, 2 pickets Approach Notes: Tilly Jane TH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 nothing less than what i've come to expect of you, devushka! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Zamechatel'no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kukuzka1 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Love the summit photo mitochondria "VICTORY!!" I can almost smell the crisp cold air. good job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCamKenny Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Obviously, not for me – my tool's shaft snapped in the process, low on the face! whoa, whoa, whoa... you mean snapped as in broke?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevetimetravlr Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Great send! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Water Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 even though i mailed them a year+ ago and asked them to correct it and they said they would, petzl still lists the shaft of the aztarex as T rated in places when it is B rated. http://www.petzl.com/files/all/en/Products/comparaison/comparison-table-ice-axes.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlegV Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Congrats Nastia!!! You are a the most persistent m-f I've ever known (besides myself I've been up Sunshine a day before your climb and have to admit the slope was in the best possible conditions. Eliot FW looks a little thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Nice job Natasha!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Obviously, not for me – my tool's shaft snapped in the process, low on the face!Did I read that right? The shaft snapped??? As in two separate pieces?? Very nice send, BTW. You are really getting after it these days. Love seeing your TRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Nice job Natasha!!!! I believe it's "Anastasia". Or "Nastia" to those that climb with her, which wouldn't be me. She'd never climb with an old bat like me. Or you, for that matter, Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Nice job Natasha!!!! I believe it's "Anastasia". Or "Nastia" to those that climb with her, which wouldn't be me. She'd never climb with an old bat like me. Or you, for that matter, Bill. Ooohhh yes she would. Nice job, Devotchka. Still trying to figure out how you managed to break that Aztarex. Did you give it the Evil Eye? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nels0891 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I may have looked pouty, but I was anything but. I don't think I could have been more stoked to be up there with that sunset. Good trip, awesome climbing with an awesome position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 How'd she break her tool, Chase? Spill it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Nice job Natasha!!!! I believe it's "Anastasia". Or "Nastia" to those that climb with her, which wouldn't be me. She'd never climb with an old bat like me. Or you, for that matter, Bill. Yes, indeed, Natasha is a totally different name (a diminutive of Nataliya). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YocumRidge Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Still trying to figure out how you managed to break that Aztarex. Did you give it the Evil Eye? It's the Hood that gives me the Evil Eye once in a while, especially in winter. At one of the hanging change overs, the biner sliced through the drilled hole attachment point - a post-factory modification - and I almost lost my tool. But no complaints to Petzl. My own fault. It is weird however that it happened after 2 years of constant using and abusing that rig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YocumRidge Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Oh, I was the pouty one, the pic just does not show it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khartoum Wood Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Good work Chase and Mitochondria cool photos I have been wanting to climb this route for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazimoto Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 If all your trip reports spelled EPIC, you passed C a loong time ago!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredSilly Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Anastasia - my wish for you in 2012 is have a climb without being it a near epic :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobo Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Nastia loves the epic. She's an epicmonger... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougd Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Nice work Anastasia. I I was up there Wed/Thurs testing some new gear on one final "scouting mission". I decided to wear my crampons all the way down to the car at the Tilly Jane TH on Thurs. Still fell once when the very sharp, new, Petzl pon hooked a calf and down I went just below the cabin on one of those narrow icey traverse sections... It's always something. Wed the 21st was pretty windy still but it died down around 0300 Thursday & was near perfect for climbing that day with 10 - 15 mph winds above... Had the stone hut all to myself & one of my coldest nights ever in the mountains... Oh, and FYI for aspiring Tilly Jane cabin users: it's locked up tight now and control for access is through Reserve America... d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YocumRidge Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 Winds can be interesting up there this time of year. In our case, we had a forecast with 28 mph gusts at 9K which was about right but by the time we got to the summit ridge, the gusts were in 40-50 mph range and did not subside until we slogged down to Silcox hut. I am thankful we descended the south side, heading down the exposed Cooper Spur would have been a disaster. Is the TJ cabin only locked up for O/N use? We were able to get in for 5 min at night, so it was open, but probably because a couple of guys (who got a pass from Reserve America I assume?) were sleeping in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougd Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Is the TJ cabin only locked up for O/N use? We were able to get in for 5 min at night, so it was open, but probably because a couple of guys (who got a pass from Reserve America I assume?) were sleeping in there. It was open to the public until Wed. I met three guys hiking in on Wed the 21st that were from the Oregon Nordic Club who were heading up to the cabin to put the locks on. They "allowed" me to warm myself by the fire for a few minutes. My understanding is that they are 24/7 locks. At least for now. Access to the cabin reverted to Reserve America from the Nordic Club on that day apparently... I've used RA for campsites etc but not sure how this one's gonna work. d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougd Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Windy Cooper Spur Wednesday pm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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