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[TR] Mt Hood - Leuthold Couloir - Solo 6/20/2012


BrandonU

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Trip: Mt Hood - Leuthold Couloir - Solo

 

Date: 6/20/2012

 

Trip Report:

I've been reading these forums for a while now but have never posted, so I thought i'd give it a go with a trip report.

 

I am outta college for the summer and finally free, so I was itching to get out and climb Leuthold's Couloir on the west side of Hood before the conditions got too bad on the route. After watching the weather and noticing nightly below freezing temps above 9000 ft and nice sunny weather on the 20th I thought it was the perfect time to go check it out!

 

Headed up to timberline and got about 1.5 hours of sleep in the car, then took off at about 12:30 am for illumination saddle. Reached the saddle shortly after 4 am, then huddled behind a rock to get out of the freezing wind until daylight.

 

Yocum Ridge:

P1140240.JPG

 

Yocum & St Helens

P1140252.JPG

 

Illumination Rock:

P1140258.JPG

The descent onto the Reid glacier was straightforward but a little tricky with the hard/icy snow conditions. Once onto the Reid, I traversed across the glacier and ended up passing Leuthold's Couloir to check out another small couloir that dead ended into Yocum ridge (center of photo behind rock buttress).

 

Yocum Ridge

P1140269.JPG

 

Reid Headwall

P1140280.JPG

 

Shadow of Hood above Reid Glacier

P1140285.JPG

 

Dead end couloir:

P1140290.JPG

 

Downclimbing the dead end couloir

P1140292.JPG

 

Finally on the right track, I began to climb Leuthold while a constant barrage of tiny ice and rock pellets flowed down all around me. I wanted to move quickly to get up through the hourglass and away from the rock/icefall danger! The couloir consisted of hard snow/ice. A second tool was probably not necessary but made the climb easier and more fun!

 

Starting Leuthold's Couloir:

P1140294.JPG

 

Looking back at Illumination saddle:

P1140303.JPG

 

Nearing the hourglass:

P1140309.JPG

 

Entering the hourglass:

P1140318.JPG

 

First rays of sun hitting Yocum ridge:

P1140323.JPG

 

Looking down Leuthold's Couloir from above the hourglass:

P1140325.JPG

 

Once at the top of the couloir, I took a nice break to hydrate, eat, put on sunscreen, and enjoy the views.

 

P1140326.JPG

 

After the rest, I began the final bit of the ascent to the summit ridge.

 

Cool ice formations:

P1140333.JPG

 

Summit ridge:

P1140342.JPG

 

I was glad to have a second tool when traversing this bit of ridge, as one short section was pretty dicey!

 

Arrived on the summit shortly after 9 am to enjoy wonderful views up and down the cascade range. I had the summit all to myself, as most people climbing the south side route had already begun to descend.

 

Self Portrait on summit:

P11403541.JPG

 

I headed over to the Old Chute to descend the south side route, where many parties were belaying each other down the chute. I squeaked on by and started the dreadful slog down to the car.

 

Downclimbing the Old Chute:

P1140362.JPG

 

Looking south toward Crater Rock & the Hogsback:

P1140371.JPG

 

It was a fun outing, and it was cool to finally check out the west side of Hood. A fun route!

 

Gear Notes:

Ice axe, Ice tool, crampons, helmet

Edited by BrandonU
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I was under the impression Leutholds was generally considered out of season by this point in the year due to junk falling off. Am I off base here?

 

I think that is a fairly accurate generalization, however, this is an unually cold, wet spring/summer so far.

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Nice work! How long from saddle to summit?

 

It took me just over 3 hours from the saddle to the summit with my break at the top of the couloir. :)

 

I do not mean anything negative by this, but I was under the impression Leutholds was generally considered out of season by this point in the year due to junk falling off. Am I off base here?

 

Well done btw!

 

I knew that Leutholds is usually considered out of season at that point, but I knew that there was still a decent amount of snow up there for that time of year. I really wanted to get on the route before it was out of season, so my initial plan was to just go up there and give it a look for myself! :) It looked pretty good, so I went for it! :)

 

Thanks everyone!

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