April 30, 2004, Crater Rock, Mt Hood
4/30/04
OR Mt Hood
1866
0
Mt Hood's convenience strikes again!
Yesterday was too darn nice to spend in the office, so after working almost a full half-hour I split. Walked home and quickly gathered the gear and drove to Timberline.
Set out from the Lodge lot at 10:20 AM. Skinned the standard south side route east of the ski area then followed the ridgeline above Palmer all the way to Crater Rock at 1:15 PM. The snow was great for skinning, much more consolidated than last Saturday. Ate, rested and enjoyed the views before heading down at 1:40 PM. The first 1500 vertical down the fall line were great - 3 inches of loose corn on a semi-solid base. The melt is definitely on - the coverage is still fantastic, but one does spy the occasional rock melting out. Thereafter, I traversed left and it became progressively softer and was actually rather sticky/grabby by the time I reached the last few hundred vertical above Timberline at 2:20 PM. Nevertheless, the snow was better for turning than last Saturday - a firmer more consolidated base.
In total, passed 3 climbers heading up slowly (visiting from Wisconsin and suffering from the altitude) and 6 summiters glissading down. At least 10 more were visible on the Hogsback. Considering the weather, not a busy day, and the snow was suprisingly firm.
Home for a quick shower and still managed to make it to the office by 4:30 to do an hours work and tie up some loose ends before the weekend officially started ;)
I gotta get out there earlier next time, so I get better snow all the way down. Thinking about Mt St Helens for next weekend. Hope to see some info on road/snow conditions in the TRs.
Yesterday was too darn nice to spend in the office, so after working almost a full half-hour I split. Walked home and quickly gathered the gear and drove to Timberline.
Set out from the Lodge lot at 10:20 AM. Skinned the standard south side route east of the ski area then followed the ridgeline above Palmer all the way to Crater Rock at 1:15 PM. The snow was great for skinning, much more consolidated than last Saturday. Ate, rested and enjoyed the views before heading down at 1:40 PM. The first 1500 vertical down the fall line were great - 3 inches of loose corn on a semi-solid base. The melt is definitely on - the coverage is still fantastic, but one does spy the occasional rock melting out. Thereafter, I traversed left and it became progressively softer and was actually rather sticky/grabby by the time I reached the last few hundred vertical above Timberline at 2:20 PM. Nevertheless, the snow was better for turning than last Saturday - a firmer more consolidated base.
In total, passed 3 climbers heading up slowly (visiting from Wisconsin and suffering from the altitude) and 6 summiters glissading down. At least 10 more were visible on the Hogsback. Considering the weather, not a busy day, and the snow was suprisingly firm.
Home for a quick shower and still managed to make it to the office by 4:30 to do an hours work and tie up some loose ends before the weekend officially started ;)
I gotta get out there earlier next time, so I get better snow all the way down. Thinking about Mt St Helens for next weekend. Hope to see some info on road/snow conditions in the TRs.
Reply to this TR
Please login first: