[TR] Mt Hood - North Gully Right 5/17/2012

[Dasan]

Trip: Mt Hood - North Gully Right

 

Date: 5/17/2012

 

Trip Report:

We went and climbed the North Gully. Conditions were good and cold, though a little too icy for effective skinning while it was early. Since we started at timberline we traversed around the mountain providing a lot of great views and opportunity to cover a lot of ground.

The Right gully was 55 degrees of ice and corn, some small rocks started coming off as the sun heated everything up and the corn started to loosen up too. The upper ice step was very in and phat, the ice was plastic where the sun was shining and very hard where it was in the shade. Wonderful climbing though the ice was over before it even started.

We didn't rope up other then after I got up the step, I dropped a rope down to my partner who didn't feel comfortable soloing it.

Good day out.

Gear Notes:

We were blinding hoping the Black Spider wall would be in, so we brought more gear that we never used like some pins, nuts, doubles, etch...

 

As for the North Gully, one could use a couple of pickets, a hand full of screws and rope if it feels necessary.

 

Approach Notes:

Starting from Timberline, we skinned up to the top of Palmer, ditched the skies and then made the traverse across the white river and around the steel cliffs and all the way to the Black Spider wall to take a look. It was totally blank other then the rotten remnants of AmosFric, so we continued on cross the spur, into the first gully, over the rib and into the right gully.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Dasan

[christophbenells]

thats a cool corkscrew up around and down the mountain.

 

how do you think the right gully would go as a ski descent/ from the ice step?

[Dasan]

You would need to be an excellent skier with large balls, its a few thousand of no-fall 55 degrees with mixed in icy patches. We also did not cross the shrund or touch the lower section cause we traversed into it so I can't tell you anything about the lower section. Course it has snowed a bit in the last few days since we did it....

Edited May 24, 2012 by Dasan

[nordicpunk]

I climbed the route w/ Dasan the other day. I would say that the left gully would be the nicer descent with slightly more sun to soften it and much less of a step at the top. I think they would both be great though. Plenty of skiing between the summit and the top ice step too and there may be a way to down-climb easier ground to the east of the ice but I honestly didn't look at it that hard. The trick will be the bergschrund that is sometimes open at the bottom of gullies and, like Dasan mentioned, we didn't see that far down. I think one could possible exit onto Cooper Spur from the left gully before the bottom drop (again, just guessing).

[Dasan]

Hey whats up NordicPunk!

[mhux]

Good work buddy, definitely looks like a great day out! how was tilly jane coverage/postholing?

[christophbenells]

all good info fellas. once again that is a stout twist on the mount hood.

 

congrats!

 

[123tom]

That looks sick, its going on my list! What time did you guys leave and get back? Thanks for sharing.

[Dasan]

I forget the exact time we left but it might have been around 230am and we got back around 1130, so about 9 hours. Probably could have been faster if we had ski crampons, cause it was super icy.

[B Deleted_Beck]

How crevassy was the Newton-Clark?

[Dasan]

Not very, we passed fairly high up, but there were a few around the base of the Black Spider wall at the top of the glacier, but they were all very safe and manageable. Lower down, I can't really remember paying too much attention to that area, but it certainly was NOT heavily broken up.

[Matt_Alford]

That's really cool. Nice job!