June 8, 2013, Mt. Hood Meadows
6/8/13
OR Mt Hood
2492
1
My partner opted for a day of boarding with his new kites in Hood River, so it was solo TAY time. It was a fabulous, calm, ski-in-shorts day! Having never rode lifts or toured at MHM, I used the Backcountry Ski! Oregon guide to pick a couple of tours. Some guy named Ken and his 3 dogs left the gate before I did. I went up to the Cascade Express, passed them, and hung out in the unloading building out of the sun.
Skinning above the lift toward Wy'East Face I got a dramatic whiff of sulphur from the west as soon as I reached Cascade Ridge. Dropped into Superbowl directly below a lunch spotjust before the Superbowl saddle. This ended up being spicy-steep, with some good sluffs and a small schrund to jump over. What a run, all alone in the giant Heather Canyon cirque. 8)
Getting out looked like a bad choice between climbing Superbowl w/ avy hazard and going way down canyon for a boot-out, but I noticed another side shot on the S that looked skinnable. Soon I was on the ridge, skiing on tree branches to barely link continuous patches, and !Voila! I was back at the top of Cascade Express, almost as if I knew where I was going. I climbed up to the top of Superbowl again to get 4000 v.f., then came to my senses in time to have a mellow run back to the car.
I spent lots of time admiring the Wy'East Face; while I was in Superbowl a sizable crown from a wet slab appeared on the lower Wy'East R of its bergschrund.
Very fun day. The snow was very workable tho grabby at the end.
Skinning above the lift toward Wy'East Face I got a dramatic whiff of sulphur from the west as soon as I reached Cascade Ridge. Dropped into Superbowl directly below a lunch spotjust before the Superbowl saddle. This ended up being spicy-steep, with some good sluffs and a small schrund to jump over. What a run, all alone in the giant Heather Canyon cirque. 8)
Getting out looked like a bad choice between climbing Superbowl w/ avy hazard and going way down canyon for a boot-out, but I noticed another side shot on the S that looked skinnable. Soon I was on the ridge, skiing on tree branches to barely link continuous patches, and !Voila! I was back at the top of Cascade Express, almost as if I knew where I was going. I climbed up to the top of Superbowl again to get 4000 v.f., then came to my senses in time to have a mellow run back to the car.
I spent lots of time admiring the Wy'East Face; while I was in Superbowl a sizable crown from a wet slab appeared on the lower Wy'East R of its bergschrund.
Very fun day. The snow was very workable tho grabby at the end.