June 27, 2009, - Hood - Crater Rock/Hogsback
6/27/09
OR Mt Hood
1434
0
I was visiting w/family in Gresham over the weekend, and got a hall pass to head up to the mountain for some turns. Original plans to climb the Wy'East face didn't come to pass, so I headed up to the Palmer snowfield and rode the lifts for several hours and several thousand vertical feet while the snow above corned.
After that, I grabbed the splitter and skinned up the White River Snowfield to about 9000 feet, before switching to booting. I reached the Hogsback ridge about 12:30, dropped my pack on the ground, and promptly watched my helmet skid down towards the sulfer pit (the strap came undone and it skidded down the hill). I ended up getting it back (thanks to the skier who climbed down and risked the sulfer fumes). There had been mucho people up the final pitch earlier in the day, and several still in the area.
I still had quite a bit of energy and considered hitting the top, but being by myself and needing to get back to town I elected to go down. Here's the view from about 10,400 feet.....
The ride down was a mix. The first several hundred feet off the Hogsback were sweet corn, followed by nasty suncups and rock dodging in an area of pretty thin snow (this will require portage in a week or so), then great corn lower down on the Zigzag Glacier. Here are my tracks below Crater Rock......
I rode down the Zigzag quite a ways - nobody had really been out there and the snow was good. I ended up making a few portages over rock bands to get back to the Mile run, and rode down to the car at the lodge. This line will still be good for a few weeks, but the snow is going fast. Looks like the summit pitch isn't really worth riding anymore, though it would still be doable for a few weeks. I missed the beer at Govy on the way down, but had a few Terminator Stouts at McMenamin's later in the evening to make up for it . Overall it was a great day, the weather was perfect. Get some while it lasts!
After that, I grabbed the splitter and skinned up the White River Snowfield to about 9000 feet, before switching to booting. I reached the Hogsback ridge about 12:30, dropped my pack on the ground, and promptly watched my helmet skid down towards the sulfer pit (the strap came undone and it skidded down the hill). I ended up getting it back (thanks to the skier who climbed down and risked the sulfer fumes). There had been mucho people up the final pitch earlier in the day, and several still in the area.
I still had quite a bit of energy and considered hitting the top, but being by myself and needing to get back to town I elected to go down. Here's the view from about 10,400 feet.....
The ride down was a mix. The first several hundred feet off the Hogsback were sweet corn, followed by nasty suncups and rock dodging in an area of pretty thin snow (this will require portage in a week or so), then great corn lower down on the Zigzag Glacier. Here are my tracks below Crater Rock......
I rode down the Zigzag quite a ways - nobody had really been out there and the snow was good. I ended up making a few portages over rock bands to get back to the Mile run, and rode down to the car at the lodge. This line will still be good for a few weeks, but the snow is going fast. Looks like the summit pitch isn't really worth riding anymore, though it would still be doable for a few weeks. I missed the beer at Govy on the way down, but had a few Terminator Stouts at McMenamin's later in the evening to make up for it . Overall it was a great day, the weather was perfect. Get some while it lasts!
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