WageSlave Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Trip: Mt. Hood - North Face Gully (Right Hand) Date: 2/1/2009 Trip Report: After Ivan's purdy picture of the conditions on the NF, Laura (lnf) and I decided to go for it. We suckered her buddy Matt into it and got him to fly out from Laramie, WY to come climb a mountain. Got our gear sorted out Sat. and hiked in to the Tilly Jane cabin. Needed provisions. We ran into Winter and eldiente at the cabin and they gave us beta on the NF that cheered us up. Loud drunk PSU students (myself not included) almost ruined the cabin experience, but it sure minimized the mountaineering sufferfest. We got rolling at 3 am and hit the berg around dawn at 7:30 am. Sun coming up over Cooper Spur Trying to find a way around the berg. Not sure what Ivan and Tvash did to get up and over the berg, but to the left we found this tiny narrow ramp that hung precariously over the abyss. Its about a foot and a half wide and added to spice of the morning. Both the left and right hand gully entrances are in but a little thin. Laura leading up the first crux on the right. We broke the first section into two 30m chunks and I led the second. Lots of step kicking up perfect neve almost all the way to the exit from the gully. Thin and vertical climbing (with a little stemming to volcanic mud) gets you out of the gully. Once out, weather started to roll in and visibility dropped. Everything iced up and we all had a nice suit of armor in little time at all. Full value mountain experience. The last crux was getting up to the summit proper. The ice is thin and there's little snow after a bit. We simulclimbed some and pitched out 150m or so until we could finally see the summit in our limited visibility. This was Matt's first big mountain route, so he was getting a full dose of alpine glory. Please sir, could I have some more rime? Matt hauling himself onto the summit. We topped out as things went to shit even more. Time to get the hell off the mountain. Matt looking too excited for his own good. Human popsicles. We decided to bail down the South Side route instead of our plan down Cooper Spur cause we didn't want a repeat of either Dec 06 or Laura's previous adventures rapping the Black Spider. Calling friends/family to give us a lift from Timberline seemed like a much more cozy plan. Took us fucking forever to climb down the Old Chute and we found our way down by following the rank stench of fumeroles coupled with compass bearings. Did the standard lost-on-the-South-Side-in-a-storm thing and hiked downhill instead of to Timberline. I haven't been this happy to find the ski hill before. The stroll down to the lodge gave us plenty of time to savor our victory. The NF is in sweet condition, but don't believe NOAA when they say you're gonna get most sunny weather and low winds. We had winds in the 30 mph range and minimal vis from the top of the gully till we were just above the lifts. Laura is one damn strong climber. She racked up for the exit from the gully and laughed saying she hadn't led ice in two years. Hot shit. Matt got broken in for mountain climbing all proper-like and seemed to have had a blast with it too. All in all, a super fun time in the mountains, though our sleeping bags and gear are still at Tilly Jane. So is most of that Jim Beam. If anyone is up there and wants to grab that stuff, you get the whiskey and then some. P.S. Here's that picture of the NF on Monday morning to make you wet your pants. Gear Notes: 9 screws, 3 pickets, some thin pins (didn't use em), 60m rope Approach Notes: Icy trail to Tilly Jane and hardpack to the berg. Quote
Ishmael Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 great looking climb. Thanks for sharing. Quote
ivan Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 nice! full flavor congrats on not epicing! Quote
ivan Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 i should add - we crossed the burg on the far right side and, despite looking a little improbable, it wasn't bad - you even get to hop around on giant ice-blocks wedged in the big slot for a bit! Quote
Cobra_Commander Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 the top of the gully looks to be downright cruiser right now. I remember that sorta sucking last time I was there, hooking through iced-in blocks and thin ice. amazing how dynamic conditions can be. Quote
Winter Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 Strong work guys (and lady). Good to meet you up there. Thanks for the TR. Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 Nice job on a mountain that always seems to reveal it's dark sense of humor somehow. Quote
esugi Posted February 10, 2009 Posted February 10, 2009 Fantastic pics! The route was also completed by team of flatnose (Adam) and Quazimoto (Kevin) on 2/7 - 2/8. Congrats to all. Quote
ivan Posted February 10, 2009 Posted February 10, 2009 Fantastic pics! The route was also completed by team of flatnose (Adam) and Quazimoto (Kevin) on 2/7 - 2/8. Congrats to all. and they have no fine swear words, epic-ness or graphic photos to contribute?!? Quote
cbcbd Posted February 10, 2009 Posted February 10, 2009 Fantastic pics! The route was also completed by team of flatnose (Adam) and Quazimoto (Kevin) on 2/7 - 2/8. Congrats to all. and they have no fine swear words, epic-ness or graphic photos to contribute?!? Fuck yeah, check TR section. Quote
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