[TR] Mt. Hood-Illumination Rock NF - 11/25/2013

[powderhound]

Trip: Mt. Hood-Illumination Rock NF -

 

Date: 11/25/2013

 

Trip Report:

November the 24th my alarm went off at 4:00am, I awoke alert and ready. The days supplies already stashed and packed into my car. Coffee brewed and car warm I ventured across the river to meet Tim. I came to a halt outside his house with him already outside and next to his car. We loaded up into his car and sprang over to pick up Colin. The next hour and a half went by in a breeze as we shot the shit about this and that. Soon we found ourselves in the timberline parking lot gearing up. Illumination Rock, our objective easily seen from the car looks relatively close. This would be my third attempt at climbing on I-Rock and the conditions were prime for success.

 

Firm conditions, little wind, and amazing views make for a palatable approach.

 

 

A brisk bit later we found ourselves dropping our bags and putting our harnesses on at the Illumination Rock saddle. Here at the saddle I got my first view of the north face. Like the dark side of the moon the north face looks nothing like what most see from the magic mile. The face is steep, with large rime ice formations, accessed by a traverse above the reid glacier on 50 to 60 degree snow. When I first looked up from the belay the lines look improbable, the overhangs and rime features daunting.

 

At what we thought was the base of the climb we began digging for a bolt that we knew should be to the climbers left of the start. After fifteen minutes of chopping we realized that #1 the was some actual decent rock here, #2 there was some decent ice bonding it together, and #3 screw the bolt, build an anchor.

 

Bring a screw and place it!!!

 

Soon Tim was off, scraping and clawing his way up. We could tell he was really having fun when let out a whooping call of joy at the top of the steep left facing corner. He made strong continual progress upwards, after a while he disappeared out of view. Soon he was off belay and Colin and I were on our way up. The climbing was amazing, hooks, and snice, perfect swings into iced cracks, chockstones in cracks to hook, hand jams, edges on the arete for crampon points. The pitch about 30M, finished sweet tunnel like snice climbing behind a flake of rime ice. Shortly after getting to the belay, Colin comes up behind and exclaims that we are in fact not on the line that he had climbed previously and that Tim had climbed a different first pitch variation.

 

Tim took off again for the 2nd pitch as Colin and I declined to lead. Tim put on a super proud effort, Colin and I remarked that we would both have backed off for sure. He vigorously spent a half hour on the last bit up to and through the skylight. Ice pelted down on us at the belay constantly as he Tim dug for ice and rock beneath the inconsistent rime ice. This pitch featured sustained climbing using liebacks, mandatory hand jams, perfect pick locks, and scratchy ice hooking on half inch ice. We all were sporting mono points and thought that dual points would make the feet far more secure on this pitch. I can see the pitch being much more straight forward with more ice, but in the conditions we found it I thought it to be a bit sporty. Again super proud of the lead that Tim put together to get the rope through the skylight.

 

We slung the huge rock horn and made a double rope rap back down the northern skylight. Colin found the bolts at the top of his route at about 50M. Another rap brought us to the base, a quick shuffle back to the saddle and soon we were sharing cold pizza, high fiving, and talking about hot showers and beer to be drank.

 

Thanks Colin and Tim for an exceeds expectations first day of the season. Hope to rope in with you both soon again!

 

Photo Stoke: Courtesy of ColinB

 

 

 

Classic mixed climbing right off the snow slope

 

 

Tim nearing the top of the clean corner on the first pitch

 

 

Tim getting it done!

 

Tim making it rain at the top of P1, at the top of P2 this went on for a half hour

 

Me in the corner on pitch 1

 

Me making my way up pitch 1 after the corner.

 

Tim starting pitch 2

 

Colin bout to climb through the skylight

 

Happy Climber #1

 

Happy Climber #2

 

Happy Climber #3

 

Topo:

 

From L to R:

the line we did

 

the line colin, dan, and nate did

 

the original northern skylight

 

far right: southern skylight

 

Gear Notes:

Couple kbs or beaks, baby angles, 10 & 13cm screw, and we decided that a double rack wouldn't be a bad thing. #3 to .5 single set of nuts.

 

Approach Notes:

East form PDX, park, walk, walk, smile

Edited November 26, 2013 by powderhound

[powderhound]

I posted before I added the location information, can an admin add: "Mt Hood. Illumination Rock North Face"

 

that way it can show up in a search.

 

Thanks,

 

Bryan Schmitz

[ivan]

movember

[Ben Beckerich]

Fuck yea... I gotta get around to the north side this winter

 

Thanks for the stoke

[OlegV]

nice

[stevetimetravlr]

Getting all aggro early season, nice!

[el jefe]

Awesome! Nice job you guys!

[ARBrandon]

Stellar!

[wayne]

Nice job! Nobody told Tim about facial hair on I-rock though?