Jankovic503 Posted June 2, 2014 Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) Trip: Mt.Hood - Old Chute Date: 6/1/2014 Trip Report: Arrived at Timberline lodge around 12:40, swift visit to Climbers Cave, gear check and we were on the trail head little after 1:00. The snow was soft and crampons were not needed until Crater Rock and even after that snow was very crampon friendly. The amount of people that were on the mountain was overwhelming and precautions had to be taken while on Hogsback. The Chute was backed up for 15-20 minutes at a time, and i had to witness a fellow climber tumble down, hit another climber and preform self-arrest. Scary situation. Gear Notes: Helmet, Trekking Poles, Crampons, Ice axe and Ice tool, no rope. Approach Notes: Snow was perfect, conditions superb and not a single cloud in the sky.. Put our crampons on around Crater Rock, by the time we reached Devils Kitchen people were already starting to pile up. Ditched the trekking poles and got serious for Hogsback and continued up the Old Chute route. Edited June 2, 2014 by Jankovic503 Quote
VegasJoe Posted June 2, 2014 Posted June 2, 2014 Thank you for posting your trip report and some fantastic pictures as well! My friends and I are planning to climb on June 19th. I was wondering how long it took you from parking lot to top of hogsback and then how long it took to get through the Old Chute? Quote
Bronco Posted June 2, 2014 Posted June 2, 2014 The Chute was backed up for 15-20 minutes at a time, and i had to witness a fellow climber tumble down, hit another climber and preform self-arrest. Scary situation. Good reminder to brush up on cramponing and self arrest skills? Quote
Jankovic503 Posted June 2, 2014 Author Posted June 2, 2014 Thank you for your kind words! It took us just under 5 hours to reach Devils Kitchen which is just below Hogsback. And about hour and 15-20 minutes to get through the Old Chute to reach the summit. Amount of climbers that day was a little intense so we just played it safe and took our time while ascending. I advise checking the weather before climbing, if the conditions are superb be prepared for a traffic jam near the summit. best of luck. Quote
Jankovic503 Posted June 2, 2014 Author Posted June 2, 2014 The Chute was backed up for 15-20 minutes at a time, and i had to witness a fellow climber tumble down, hit another climber and preform self-arrest. Scary situation. Good reminder to brush up on cramponing and self arrest skills? I would highly recommend coming to the mountain few days before your climb, finding a nice steep hill where you can get a proper training session in. Putting your crampons on, get used to ascending and descending while going over different scenarios in case you have to self arrest. Quote
ScaredSilly Posted June 2, 2014 Posted June 2, 2014 Pretty sure, Bronco was posting somewhat in jest but given many people going up have never used crampons or an ice axe, so the point is more of look out and do not get under anyone. After coming down the chute I typically move to the west so that no one is above me. At that point the danger is falling ice - which is more predictable and less of a hazard than falling climbers. Quote
Allalongthewatch Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 I climbed this route as well on Sunday and it was scary how many people were jammed up from the hogsback up to the chute. There must have been at least 6 roped teams of 4 or more that we passed.We decided not to rope up and ended up cutting up above all the roped teams. I felt bad about the possibility of knocking ice down but some of these teams were not moving at all.Dunno if it was tiredness or what but it was frustrating. On the way down our group encountered a women who was having intense abdominal pain( Possible appendicitis or Kidney stone). She made it down to crater rock and basically collapsed. One of our group is PMR and another a paramedic. Wasn't much we could do, we ended up calling 911 and let them know she couldn't make it down to Palmer and she was going to need a rescue. We got down to the parking lot at 1 and the S&R and paramedics were just then assembling. Felt bad for her, she was in a lot of pain. I'm waiting to hear back from my buddy about her condition and what actually was wrong. Quote
Major Major Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 By chance was anyone climbing the Pearly Gates? If so, what condition were they in? Quote
rokdoc Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 I went up the Gates on 5/14. At that time you could almost step over the Berg at the ridge of the Hog's Back. We went up the Right Couloir and the biggest "difficulty" was a 6-foot icy step that was well off vertical. There was a ton of rime and we ended up crawling under a big gargoyle to make the slope above. Talking to others on the summit that day it sounds like there the Left Couloir was easier. I had a second tool, which was nice but not necessary. I also summited the weekend before last and the Berg was giant extending quite a distance in either direction and would have made for a long end-run to get to the Gates so we went up the Old Chute. There was much, much less rime but given conditions elsewhere I suspect the floor Gates would be a bit icier now. Quote
Ptown_Climber1 Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 Reading all these late season trip reports up Hogsback reminds me why winter/early Spring climbs are best on Hood! Yikes.....at very least climb midweek. Quote
Seraphim Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 Reading all these late season trip reports up Hogsback reminds me why winter/early Spring climbs are best on Hood! Yikes.....at very least climb midweek. Great pics OP. You are right, it looks downright scary with so many people up there. Quote
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