August 8, 2004, Mt Hood, Snowdome

Snowdome was remarkably good yesterday. Surprisingly the snow was incredibly smooth, much smoother then when I skied it 4 weeks ago. The majority of the snow consisted of a few inches of fast, perfect corn over a firm base with a few small patches of new snow and not-really-scary glacier ice. With skins and ski crampons I was able to ascend the dome to about ~9000ft however another party presumably sans crampons was turned around at the 2nd bench by a short patch of glacier ice. The glacier ice had a small dusting of new snow so it was not a problem skiing. There were crevasses on the dome but they all seemed small and easy to spot. If you stayed below the 2nd bench I believe you'd avoid any crevasse exposure.

With the new snow plastered on Hood's north face, the sun low in the sky and surprisingly cool temperatures the day felt more like Fall then Summer. To top the day off on the way out I made turns on the small patch of snow underneath Langille crags. My tracks were visible all the way down the moraine.

Because of the patches of glacial ice I'd recommend bringing boot crampons or, if you're comfortable with them, ski crampons. Also consider yo-yoing below the 2nd bench, the snow/views aren't really any better above.

This far exceeded the expectations I had made for August based on the numerous (now gone) cups and pits in July. What a fabulous day!

The dome as seen from the base of the Eliot's East moraine, note the bottom of the dome is obstructed:



More photos can be seen on