Jump to content

[TR] Mt. Hood, Illumintaion Rock - South Chamber 11/13/2013


christophbenells

Recommended Posts

Trip: Mt. Hood, Illumintaion Rock - South Chamber

 

Date: 11/13/2013

 

Trip Report:

Dear Cascade Climbers,

 

Ryan Irvin and I climbed Illumination Rock to the "West Gable" on Mt. Hood yesterday. We found some pretty good climbing conditions, tricky route finding, ice-ball dodging, freezing cold, and boiling hot temperatures.

 

All Photos are courtesy of Ryan Irvin, check out his photography page, https://www.facebook.com/ryanirvinphotography

 

We left the parking lot around 7am, and made quick time up to the zig zag glacier. It was freezing cold, wind cut through to the bone, I wore all my clothes, a big puffy and my expedition mitts.

 

10861047704_a9013dfd96_b.jpg

 

10860963166_712c8b5b6e_b.jpg

 

10861075444_08e47a7653_b.jpg

 

We started up the South Chamber route, I'm not sure if we followed it exactly. The rock blocked the wind from blowing on us, and it now felt really hot. We trended a bit left of the route I believe, up two pitches to the sling belay. Ice balls were raining down with fury. I quickly learned to not look up after a large ball struck me in the sunglasses. Just keep your head down and hide beneath a rock. There was a chimney with nice cracks that was the crux of the route, it felt like 5.7-5.8 to me, although the guidebooks rate south chamber at 5.4. Either way, 5.4 with crampons on and rime on the holds still can get you a little gripped.

 

10860923785_c7fff4d51b_b.jpg

 

10861264933_a038cdd224_b.jpg

 

10860979886_53662838a3_b.jpg

 

We made it up through the crux with no issues, and to the final belay at the top of the west gable. We decided to stop there, mostly for concerns with safety and time, satisfied with the vertical rock we had climbed. The next pitches were horizontal rime with minimal protection, just to say we tagged the summit. We made it down with three rappels and sketchy downclimbing through the south chamber.

 

10860933155_1434447223_b.jpg

 

10861247433_f0e0b39784_b.jpg

 

10861053854_f67a0fd896_b.jpg

 

10861061284_d73af59371_b.jpg

 

10861063074_253fa6bbac_b.jpg

 

Skiing back down to the parking lot was absolutely terrible. The whole mountain was a big ice cube, I'm still feeling the bone jarring effects of the snow in my legs.

 

The climbing on Illumination rock was surprisingly good and safe. I'm looking forward to a nice season of alpine climbs, with several new goals focused on I-rock.

 

Thanks for reading folks!

Chris Benelli

Edited by christophbenells
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 5
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Nice shots! Brought back some great memories. I always wondered why more people don't play there. You never know what you will get up there, but it is so fun to catch it in really good conditions. The best days seemed to be right after a Pineapple Express rain event.(:dreamy music:) every thing was blue ice/rime. Looking forward to your future attempts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

iRock is one of my favorite places. For all the southern and western lines, the traverse over to the summit block is tedious and needlessly dangerous... but you must do it at least once. It's the most exclusive summit in Oregon, it's said, and entering your name in the summit register is a proud moment.

 

After that, fap it. Steep choss traversing isn't climbing- once the line is done, the climb is done. I've only gone all the way to the block once, and until I do one of the N/E lines that top out right there, I have no intention of dealing with that traverse again.

Edited by Ben Beckerich
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...