May 31, 2004, Mt Hood, Illumination Saddle

I had big, *BIG* plans for the Memorial Day weekend but, alas, the weather did not cooperate.

The forecast called for Monday to have the best weather of the weekend. I desperately wanted to go ski some large volcanoes in central OR however given the recent relatively massive accumulation I was concerned I may be driving a long distance only to be turned back by avy hazard or, if not that, skiing suboptimal snow. Ergo, I decided on a short tour to Illumination Saddle on the Southside of Mt Hood. Illumination Saddle is next to the picturesque Illumination rock which is west and ~900vft above the top of the Palmer chairlift. This is a great destination to escape the Southside crowds.

After not enough sleep, I arrived at Timberline at 10am to find the mtn obscured by thin, low-level clouds. I quickly ascended above this layer being treated to the pretty views of the foothills covered by an ocean of clouds with Mt Jefferson sticking up in the distance.

Above the Magic Mile the snow had a supportive, shiny and awkwardly undulated crust on it. Based on other reports and the shininess of the surface, I believe at least the top-layer was formed from rain or freezing rain. I was glad to have ski crampons with me as it was very slippery. As I traversed west I found this crust less undulated.

At Illumination saddle I dug an informal snowpit. I found the top crust to be about 4"s thick and very supportive. Under this there was at least 2' of new snow. Given the supportiveness of the crust I confidently skied one of the short steepish pitches that skirts Illumination rock then made turns on the crust all the way to about mid-way down Palmer before the snow gradually started begging for zardoz.


The worst part of writing TRs here is deciding what photo to post. For this TR I've decided that since seeing Mt Hood in a new coat of white makes me super happy, I'm going to post a photo looking up the southside from a bit above Timberline lodge.