Snow Dragon Cave

[juuuugroid]

Anybody know how to get there? It's supposed to be on Sandy Glacier on Mount Hood. If you know, and care to share, send me a pm.

 

[powderhound]

never heard of this...what is it? a big cave where all the dope smokers hang out?

 

Pics?

[olyclimber]

i found this video on youtooob

 

[video:youtube]E55Qw27Urys

[John Frieh]

Brent McGregor of Sisters, OR is who you seek

 

Or perhaps if Iain still posts here...

[powderhound]

talk to Brent, they have a trip planned in July of this coming year.

[Alasdair]

From the video it looks like that cave is a volcanic vent. Does anyone know if that is correct? Is this a steam cave or just a meltwater cave?

 

 

[ivan]

a decade ago i found a very cool vertical tube-like cave left of the n face runnels - havne't seen it since, but it was really cool, complete w/ a diamond chandalier at the top

[ivan]

never heard of this...what is it? a big cave where all the dope smokers hang out?

 

Pics?

naw, that sounds like the normal climber's checkin cave at t-line - the recent addition of the camera has kinda altered the chill factor though

[Alasdair]

Here is another volcanic ice cave, but its not in the PNW.

 

[juuuugroid]

Thanks, Folks, I appreciate your help. I'll see if I can get in contact with those individuals.

[caverpilot]

The Snow Dragon Glacier Cave System is (currently) 7,167 feet long and 958 feet deep and consists of three caves that intersect (Snow Dragon, Frozen Minotaur, and Pure Imagination) complete with waterfalls and a near-vertical moulin near the top of one of them. The caving expeditions over the last two years were featured in the February 2013 NSS News (National Speleological Society). There is another expedition to the cave next week!

 

Here's a link to some maps of the system, thanks to Google: Snow Dragon System

 

And photos: Snow Dragon Photos (thanks again, Google!)

[JasonG]

Wow! I had no idea such a glacial cave system existed around here.

[ivan]

super kewl - where are these exactly?

[wayne]

I see Ivans new trip report forming, or a place for the bodies.

[ivan]

hookers don't belong in ice-holes, 'done beats the point of the whole endeavor!

[ColinB]

Thanks for those links! Totally amazing.

[rl23455]

It's formed from meltwater

[rl23455]

This program is Oregon Field Guide's 25th anniversary season opener. It airs on Oregon Public Broadcasting, OBP, at http://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/

 

[pcg]

I remember finding a hole that appeared to go way down under Sandy Glacier many years ago on a cold October hike from McNeil Point to Yokum Ridge. My feeling at the time was I really wanted to explore, but I also thought it would be a terrible place to die when something collapsed when the glacier moved. I didn't and still don't know enough about glaciers to know where and when it might be safe to go under one. From the pics in the links above some of the tunnels appear to be fairly stable, i.e. they don't show signs of annual shifting and cracking. On the other hand I can imagine that quite a bit of water might be flowing through on a late summer afternoon. I'm a long time caver/mapper from years back, but I don't have the expertise to determine when it's safe to explore this system. I want in if a group gets after this... I know one option is to join Oregon High Desert Grotto.