Best time of year to climb/board Hood?

Looking for recommendations on what might typically be the best time of year to climb and board Mt Hood via standard/Pearly Gates, including possibly alternate descents (like Mazama?) that can be accessed by that same ascent starting from Timberline.<br>I would typically guess May would be best, as for Rainier/St Helens. But I'd like some first hand information, including whether having the full ski area running and or using Palmer for the ascent is a good thing or bad thing, and whether there's a peak season for normal climbers that would make for traffic jams at Pearly Gates.<br>I'm also gonna try to set it up w an overnight at Timberline, so that the wife and kid have someplace fun to hang while I make a summit run, thus necessitating a little more advance planning than my typical half baked lets-go-ski-a-volcano-in-a-day trips.

You probably already have this figured into your plans, but I wouldn't even think about trying to ski the Pearly Gates on a weekend...overloaded with climbers guaranteed every sunny weekend from April through July....that being said, I've never seen more than one or two groups on the west crater rim variation even on busy weekends up there.<br>Taking the chairlift up might not get you to the summit in time for corn-o-clock, depending on how hot the day is.<br>

Bud's the man for beta on Hood. He's climbed it lots of times. And he's spot on re: the "Palmer assist" type climb. You need an earlier start to hit the snow conditions right on a clear/warm day (which should obviously be your prefference). Another option (if you're old and lazy like me ) is the "snowcat to the top of the Palmer" assist. Saves about a couple of hours of hiking (6,000 to 8,500). Sometimes climber/skier groups schedule snowcat charters and a single may get in on it if there's room. If interested check with Timberline when you arrive to see if there are any climber snowcat charters scheduled.<br>Another critical part of enjoying the trip is weather timing, or if trip dates must be fixed, alternative bad weather plans. Hood, like most volcanoes, is particularly nasty to climb in poor weather, especially if one's navigation skills are not sharp as a tack.<br>Fortunately, when the weather is howling on Hood's upper mountain there's usually freshies and great lift skiing down in the trees below Timberline. <br>I'm involved in a group that does the trip on the same weekend every year. We have a blast regardless of whether we ski the lifts or climb and ski the upper mountain, and the weather decides for us.

Hey, I am spending a week in January at Mt. Hood and was hoping do some kind of touring. My Ski Oregon book recomends going above Timberline ski area. Is that my best bet? Any other recomendations? Thanks.

I agree, you don't want to come down the pearly gates, probably even if no one is there. It's usually a sketchy icy narrow slot with a boot pack and very nasty runout including a bergschrund and rocks below. <br>Much better is to drop in a bit more to the west where you are entering a big bowl above crater rock. Its steep but there is a decent runout before you get down to the gas vents which you definitely want to avoid. Timing is everything for the right snow conditions. In May, getting there early is good but you might need to sit a bit to wait for good corn to develop.