Water Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 Trip: Mt. Hood - Cooper Spur Date: 4/15/2012 Trip Report: glad to have this one pan out after a handful of stymied attempts in the past few months. left CS snopark at 2:40ish stone shelter by 5:10~ or so rest a bit up at the big rock on the ridge (is that tie in rock?) top out at 10:15 and back at tline to ski at 1pm. wish i was skilled enough to have my skis with me at the top, maybe next year. saw a headlamp around treeline, at the stone shelter we paused and the light skied down to us (sounded icy). they bagged it based on the clouds/weather..I was going to at least wait until sunrise to make that call. conditions sunday morning were definitely nothing like i expected from the forecast (sun sun sun). Hood seemed to have an inverse cloud cap--it was all clear above with clouds halo around it. The volcanoes to the north and south all looked almost entirely visible so figured wed gauge hoods weather off them, glad we continued up. definitely one of the best sunrises i've ever seen. snow conditions were fantastic, not sure i postholed once on the way up, firm and secure but not icy or any noticeable crust layers to deal with. nice powder down most of the southside incl from summit ridge to hogsback made for a much more fun and happy on the knees descent. seemed like a pretty solid sized avy ran down newton creek token summit shot for posterity. was snowing a bit too. hawgsback reward Gear Notes: lightweight/shorty 2nd axe/tool. not necessary but kind of nice for going faster. beer always a plus Approach Notes: wife skiing at timberline makes carryover more fun Quote
ivan Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 love that route next time bring more beer and spend a night just below tie-in! Quote
wayne Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 (edited) Nice report Matt(pardon me), Great photos! you dashed my Spider ambitions however, thanks for saving me yet another attempt. Edited April 17, 2012 by wayne1112 Quote
JRay Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 Looking nice!! Great photos! Pic to point out where Tie In Rock is at: http://images.summitpost.org/medium/209098.jpg Quote
Water Posted April 17, 2012 Author Posted April 17, 2012 Wayne...my name is Matt Glad to have saved you the trip. Yes I suspect there is nada ice in there right now. JRay, hmm so tie-in-rock bout at the spot with the rock with the japanese writing? There is one rock on the ridge about the size of an elephant or so? really big and about half way between the start of the ridge and when you start going 'up' on the route. that is the one we went behind to chill for a while out of the wind. Quote
B Deleted_Beck Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 I was like "Matt's name is Chris?" :-P Great pics, Matt.. looked windy..? I still haven't done anything on that side- gotta change that, but this weekend looks like a wet-slab/slushfest.. Quote
YocumRidge Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 It was nice to see you up there, Matt. And awesome photos as always! Quote
dougd Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 Matt, thanks for posting up. Nice to see the pics. I have been eyeing this one for a while too, won't be long I'll be making another trip out and hopefully get er done. We'll plan on a bivy I think. Got a new tent to test out... I just love being up there too. I'd like to try the S Side descent then swing around and traverse the Newton Clark back to the spur... We'll see how motivated we are after the descent if all goes well. Will make sure to have a Tline contingency (beg) as well... Congrats, d Quote
ivan Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 I'd like to try the S Side descent then swing around and traverse the Newton Clark back to the spur... We'll see how motivated we are after the descent if all goes well. Will make sure to have a Tline contingency (beg) as well... Congrats, d if you're going down the s side for the added views of the newton clark area cool, but if it's just to avoid descending the spur, don't sweat it - the exposure's all at the very beginning and if you just stay face into the slope (and especially if you have a 2nd tool) it's crazy fast n' fun Quote
dougd Posted April 17, 2012 Posted April 17, 2012 if you're going down the s side for the added views of the newton clark area cool, but if it's just to avoid descending the spur, don't sweat it - the exposure's all at the very beginning and if you just stay face into the slope (and especially if you have a 2nd tool) it's crazy fast n' fun Yeah, I was thinkin the added views across the NC would be fun. No problem descending the spur for the crew I'll be with, and knowing them, I expect we'll probably go that route... thanks, d Quote
BillA Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 Nice report Matt(pardon me), Great photos! you dashed my Spider ambitions however, thanks for saving me yet another attempt. Went skiing up Newton Creek a couple weeks ago and there was no ice on the spider at all... Quote
dorianlee Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 Wow. Awesome stuff.. Mind if I ask what camera model you're using? Quote
justcallmegary Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 Great meeting you guys on the summit and hanging a bit on the ol' hog. And great photos! Jason Quote
Khartoum Wood Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 very nice sun rise photos good work looks like a nice route it's on my list. Quote
mhux Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 great photos, what camera setup are you using? Also saw that slide debris two weeks back from pea gravel, must have been a big one indeed! Quote
Water Posted April 18, 2012 Author Posted April 18, 2012 dorianlee and mhux: using a sony NEX-5N love photography and was updating from a p&s that did a fantastic job fwiw, but wanted more dynamic range, better low light. tried m4/3rds and found it to be only incremental improvement. almost resigned to lugging pounds of dslr stuff..fortunately went with NEX as it is light and a very capable piece of equipment. Sold the nex-5 for the 5n within a few months, the 5N really refined the original. the 7 series i hear good things but it costs a lot more. ben: it was windiest earliest...less so later, and higher we were on the slope. unless freezing level is at 9000ft i think you can have a fine climb this weekend. Quote
B Deleted_Beck Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 unless freezing level is at 9000ft i think you can have a fine climb this weekend. Between 9,500-10,500' all weekend ! Quote
Water Posted April 18, 2012 Author Posted April 18, 2012 #chronic-foot-in-mouth-disease keep an eye on it, a clear sky at night could give enough freeze to getcha a nice crust up high. Quote
Xerinae Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 Awesome photos Water, the light alone has convinced me to try and tag this route before it turns into a rock chute! I have never seen anything like that. I was one of the two dudes that came up the Steel Cliffs, it was good meeting you! Quote
steveheikkila Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 Sweet pictures guys! Looks like you had great conditions. Quote
ivan Posted April 18, 2012 Posted April 18, 2012 #chronic-foot-in-mouth-disease keep an eye on it, a clear sky at night could give enough freeze to getcha a nice crust up high. yup, plus the rock-nasty band that's problematic on the spur in early summer is still w/n the freezing zone forecast. Quote
dougd Posted April 23, 2012 Posted April 23, 2012 When do the good folks at MHNF "usually" open the road to cloud cap inn? Just curious, I know it's still probably way early... d Quote
Water Posted April 24, 2012 Author Posted April 24, 2012 they open it when the road melts. . . depends on the weather/snow pack i do believe. mid-June in a good year? There are a few places on the road that are north-facing that thus hold the snow longer. On the flip side with the burn of a few years ago I imagine the sun gets on a majority of it a lot better. Quote
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