July 4, 2009, Hood, Wy'east
7/4/09
OR Mt Hood
2151
2
long time lurker, first trip report here. Dave C. and I did a quick run up Hood on the fourth. other than the wind factor, we had a stellar morning heading up towards Wy'east.
Just some beta as of the 4th: starting at the MHM gate, we were able to start skinning about 100 yards from the bottom of Vista, and continuously to the top of the Cascade lift. from there it was a boot pack scree-scramble all the way to the base of the upper face. we stopped here due to very strong winds, and the desire to start skiing. skiing still great down to just above heather. at/below super bowl it starts getting very sun-cupped. we did one lengthy ski traverse below a moderately sketchy rock fall zone in the sun cups above heather, and two 100 yard scree traverses to get back over to the top of Cascade. from there we skied cascade, ridge run, and 2 bowl in the resort, which were all surprisingly good at 1PM on a hot July day. We made it to about 150 yards from the base of the Mt. Hood Express lift. pretty wild being in meadows without a gazillion people around.
As of last Saturday, it was still worth it in my opinion if you want to get out and get a nice climb and some good turns in without the crowds of timberline. if you are looking for perfect continuous snow without a bit of hiking/scrambling around, then maybe pass. we were on/off the skis probably six or eight times on the way down. we saw a fair amount of rock action, but nothing unusual and nothing requiring us to start dancin'.
-Joel D.
Just some beta as of the 4th: starting at the MHM gate, we were able to start skinning about 100 yards from the bottom of Vista, and continuously to the top of the Cascade lift. from there it was a boot pack scree-scramble all the way to the base of the upper face. we stopped here due to very strong winds, and the desire to start skiing. skiing still great down to just above heather. at/below super bowl it starts getting very sun-cupped. we did one lengthy ski traverse below a moderately sketchy rock fall zone in the sun cups above heather, and two 100 yard scree traverses to get back over to the top of Cascade. from there we skied cascade, ridge run, and 2 bowl in the resort, which were all surprisingly good at 1PM on a hot July day. We made it to about 150 yards from the base of the Mt. Hood Express lift. pretty wild being in meadows without a gazillion people around.
As of last Saturday, it was still worth it in my opinion if you want to get out and get a nice climb and some good turns in without the crowds of timberline. if you are looking for perfect continuous snow without a bit of hiking/scrambling around, then maybe pass. we were on/off the skis probably six or eight times on the way down. we saw a fair amount of rock action, but nothing unusual and nothing requiring us to start dancin'.
-Joel D.
Thanks for the TR! BTW-- did the upper wy'est look pretty cupped out or did it look ok; or better yet, smooth?
author=skierguitarist link=topic=13808.msg57717#msg57717 date=1247270922]
Thanks for the TR! BTW-- did the upper wy'est look pretty cupped out or did it look ok; or better yet, smooth?
Upper looked great actually. There were 3-4 sets of ski tracks from the top of the face, looked smooth and sweet to me, i'd give it at least an OK.
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