MtnHigh Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 (edited) Inspired by Crackman’s exploits and documentation the previous week... we stumbling out of the smoke filled van at Cloud Cap at 3:30am. Five minutes out of the parking lot, we were lost in the dark woods. Where the hell is that f'in trail. What initially appeared to be a party of blundering fools, floundering about the woods, amazingly completed a climb that will be long remembered. Drew (Avatarless), Shredmaximus and I climbed the Hood's North Face left gully on Saturday 12/7. Climbing conditions on the route were very good. Ice has formed over all the steps and was good for the most part, but thin in places. The crux of the route is at the very start, negotiating the shrund and climbing the first step. Once you are in the gully above the first step, the climbing difficulty eases off. After descending onto the Elliot from the moraine trail, stay on the far left of the glacier to avoid the majority of the crevasses and ice falls. We opted instead to take a more direct line in the dark through the ice fall. A one point the stitching on my water bottle holder ripped out, sending it and a full bottle of cool-aid drink into a crevasse. I could see the bottle and holder at the crevasse bottom, so I sank a screw and down climbed on belay into the crevasse to retrieve the gear. I didn't want to leave junk on the mountain or go thirsty on the climb. At the base of the route is the shrund. Cross it on the right margin, traverse left then up steep snow and ice leading to the first step. Exposure to the open shrund directly below is unnerving, but the firm snow and good ice help settle the nerves. The first step is a vertical ice finger perhaps 60' tall, rimed by rock on either side. Neither one of us had the balls to lead the ice pitch. However, we were determined to climb the route, so we opted for something even more ridiculous. We climbed the rock bordering the right side of the ice finger. The lower section of the rock was a rotten pile of shit covered in snow or thin ice. A real pucker fest. The rotten rock gave way to a section of low 5th class rock of excellent quality, a rare discovery on Hood. Above the first step, the angle of the gully eases off for about 500 vertical feet. Surprisingly, there is abundant snow in the gully. Interspersed in this section of the gully are four near vertical, short ice steps, ranging from 5-15' tall. Good ice was to be had. Above the ice steps the gulley widens to the steep upper slopes of the face. The upper slopes had hard pack snow, providing excellent kick step medium. For 8+ hours we had climbed in early morning darkness and the shaded gulley. Once on the summit, the warmth of the mid day sun under windless skies recharged our depleted batteries. It was tempting to lie there in the sun all afternoon. Off the summit we descended the West chute to the saddle of the Hog's Back. The upper south side slopes are nearly barren of snow and ice. The Pearly Gates and the upper Hog's Back looked really thin from the saddle. A lot of dirt and rock is covering the surface. The East Rim gulleys looked like dirt chutes and the south side shrund is a big as you'll ever see it. Below Crater Rock, the sun softened snow provided glissading dreams down to Timberline where the rewards of beer and snacks awaited our arrival. This was my first climb with Pat and we pulled off a good one. Thanks Pat and Drew More pictures: Hood N Face Pics Edited December 11, 2002 by MtnHigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 Pete I wish I was there with you, excellent work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdietsch Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 right on guys... nice photos .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackman Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 MntHigh & Co. Congrats on an super climb! That is the line we had intended to take. I'm glad someone got to it in that prime condition. Thanks for the TR with the awsome photos (got to learn how to do that) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esteban Posted December 12, 2002 Share Posted December 12, 2002 spectacular pics! great job! Crackman & I were right there...should've dropped down below that bergschrund. Next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted December 12, 2002 Share Posted December 12, 2002 Cool TR. Something to look at besides Spray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted December 12, 2002 Share Posted December 12, 2002 cool tr, super pics, nice site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 Beautiful pics guys!!!! Nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texplorer Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 Nice pics and congrats. Makes me want to head up there this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 something tells me this is a different climb right now. I had the same idea for Sat. night but...argh there be full conditions on the mountain me matey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 ...argh there be full conditions on the mountain me matey. I know how you feel Iain, someone even gave me a hard time this week for being reluctant to be in the mountains with this weather. hmmmmm who was that PUNK? NO STARS FOR YOU EITHER!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug_Hutchinson Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 Nice freakin' job! I think that route is the best line on Hood, and one of the best in the Cascades. (Pulling over the cornice at the true summit in between a lunch-eating party of Mazamas who just climbed the south side made it a true classic experience for me a few years back.) You guys get lots of bonus style points for the preclimb safety check! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 I know how you feel Iain, someone even gave me a hard time this week for being reluctant to be in the mountains with this weather. hmmmmm who was that PUNK? NO STARS FOR YOU EITHER!! well since you didn't catch that I was only kidding, you're a one-star pony too. mwahaha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 U Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linebacker Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 Nice TR and pics. Looking forward to catching that line with Crackman and esteban. LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnHigh Posted December 16, 2002 Author Share Posted December 16, 2002 12/15: The pics are not being displayed because Pat's Web site is down. Any system admins out there that work for beer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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