June 4, 2005, Mt Hood, Southside summit ski
6/4/05
OR Mt Hood
5071
9
Today's weather forecast was not promising, but it turned out to be a quintessential perfect day. None of the usual suspects had much motivation for skiing, leaving just me and my Dynafits. Driving up a dark layer of clouds was obscuring the sky, but about 3/4 of the way up the Timberline road I passed thru the cloud deck and the ) and there was little traffic, ski patrol was very unhappy with my route.
Above the Palmer the slopes were solidly frozen and I donned ski crampons. It was staying remarkably cool and a bit breezy, so I took my time on the ascent. I skinned all the way to the Hogsback, then switched to ski pole/ice ax/crampons and put my skis on my pack. There was an okay bootpack and the snow gave excellent purchase for crampons. The 'shrund was easily passable; I passed on the west on the ascent and east on the descent.
I descended from the summit around 1. I had briefly considered WCR but being solo the std route seemed more reasonable. The snow thru the Pearly Gates was firm but edgable, I made a few jump turns but side-slipped most of it. From the base of the Pearly Gates down the fall-line towards Devils Kitchen the snow was excellent with the surface softened about a quarter of an inch. Once in the fall line to Devils Kitchen, I linked continuous, exhilarating turns all the way to the base of Crater Rock.
Labeled photo looking towards the summit from near the Hogsback. Blue arrow is my general descent path towards Devils Kitchen, red arrow the ascent bootpath:
For the remainder of the descent back to the parking lot the snow was excellent spring snow until the Magic Mile upper terminal, where it became sticky.
The only thing missing from this day was none of the usual partners joining me (there will be all of September for mountain biking). Hopefully next time!
Jeff
A few misc. photos:
(crocked skis caused by recently broken compression strap--can anyone recommend a pack repair shop or new bc pack?)
Above the Palmer the slopes were solidly frozen and I donned ski crampons. It was staying remarkably cool and a bit breezy, so I took my time on the ascent. I skinned all the way to the Hogsback, then switched to ski pole/ice ax/crampons and put my skis on my pack. There was an okay bootpack and the snow gave excellent purchase for crampons. The 'shrund was easily passable; I passed on the west on the ascent and east on the descent.
I descended from the summit around 1. I had briefly considered WCR but being solo the std route seemed more reasonable. The snow thru the Pearly Gates was firm but edgable, I made a few jump turns but side-slipped most of it. From the base of the Pearly Gates down the fall-line towards Devils Kitchen the snow was excellent with the surface softened about a quarter of an inch. Once in the fall line to Devils Kitchen, I linked continuous, exhilarating turns all the way to the base of Crater Rock.
Labeled photo looking towards the summit from near the Hogsback. Blue arrow is my general descent path towards Devils Kitchen, red arrow the ascent bootpath:
, so I was optimistic that even with my relatively late start (left the car at 9am), I'd still have safe conditions up high. <br /><br />You can no longer skin from the Timberline lot, requiring about a 10minute hike to snow. I skinned directly up the side of the groomed runs--exactly like you're not suppose to. Aside from this being the most direct and smoothest route with the most snow, this allowed me to meet Rob from Leavenworth who recognized me. It was nice to meet you Rob. Even though I stayed flush with a lane rope (<a href=)
For the remainder of the descent back to the parking lot the snow was excellent spring snow until the Magic Mile upper terminal, where it became sticky.
The only thing missing from this day was none of the usual partners joining me (there will be all of September for mountain biking). Hopefully next time!
Jeff
A few misc. photos:
(crocked skis caused by recently broken compression strap--can anyone recommend a pack repair shop or new bc pack?)
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Great report Jeff!
I never realized what a great climb to the summit of Hood can be, but you detailed that out really well.
Thanks for sharing.
Joe
I never realized what a great climb to the summit of Hood can be, but you detailed that out really well.
Thanks for sharing.
Joe
Jeff, Nice trip report and photos. Jill and I were planning to tour out of Timberline and then head over to Cloud Cap. I saw your update on the Cloud Cap road - thanks. The weather forecast for the next couple of days has changed our Mt. Hood plans. It's snowing here in the Three Sisters area. I have excellent wireless internet connectivity near Sparks Lake so I'm drinking coffee and surfing the net. :) Zap
Jeff, thanks for the timely report, glad you were above the clouds. How much of Adams & St Helens could you see above the cloud deck?
We were thinking of heading to Hood (north side), but changed plans to Adams (west/NW side) after reading your updated Cloud Cap road info. But we ended up not even leaving town early AM on Saturday, after webcams showed whiteout at Paradise & Johnston Ridge (unfortunately, no webcam photos for Hood early that day: Meadows cam had a day-old photo, the USFS Timberline cam was offline, and the KGW Timberline cam has no time stamp, so I can never tell how old the photo is). If we'd known that we'd end up above the clouds, we would have motivated and done the trip.
What? How? Where is the wifi signal coming from?
We were thinking of heading to Hood (north side), but changed plans to Adams (west/NW side) after reading your updated Cloud Cap road info. But we ended up not even leaving town early AM on Saturday, after webcams showed whiteout at Paradise & Johnston Ridge (unfortunately, no webcam photos for Hood early that day: Meadows cam had a day-old photo, the USFS Timberline cam was offline, and the KGW Timberline cam has no time stamp, so I can never tell how old the photo is). If we'd known that we'd end up above the clouds, we would have motivated and done the trip.
I have excellent wireless internet connectivity near Sparks Lake so I'm drinking coffee and surfing the net. :) Zap
What? How? Where is the wifi signal coming from?
Amar, In reference to the internet connectivity.
In our laptop, I have a Sierra Wireless card being used with a data only account with T-Mobile. I can see the Northwest Express chair on Bachelor from Sparks Lake and I assume there is a cell tower on Bachelor. In fact, it is a great signal. The connection is at dial-up speed. I originally established the account because Jill is a Systems Analyst on contract and can work while we are traveling. It is amazing the places we have found connectivity. By the way, we had excellent connectivity from our campsite along the Everitt Memorial highway on Mt. Shasta. Love technology. :) Zap
In our laptop, I have a Sierra Wireless card being used with a data only account with T-Mobile. I can see the Northwest Express chair on Bachelor from Sparks Lake and I assume there is a cell tower on Bachelor. In fact, it is a great signal. The connection is at dial-up speed. I originally established the account because Jill is a Systems Analyst on contract and can work while we are traveling. It is amazing the places we have found connectivity. By the way, we had excellent connectivity from our campsite along the Everitt Memorial highway on Mt. Shasta. Love technology. :) Zap
How much of Adams & St Helens could you see above the cloud deck?
From the summit around 12:30-1, Adams was in full view, completley unobscured. I don't remember looking towards St Helens, but it probably was the same. In the afternoon there were very few clouds around.
Nice ski and report, Jeff. I like the picture looking back down toward the Eliot Glacier. We'll be more motivated next time.
Ahh, that was my rope line you passed along. Notice how nice and taut it was? ;D
You skied past me up that line, and I thought about asking you to move over to the chair, but Palmer was good and quiet. Sounds like another patroller did ask. Just doing the job.
Thanks for the report. I would much rather have been climbing than working on Saturday.
You skied past me up that line, and I thought about asking you to move over to the chair, but Palmer was good and quiet. Sounds like another patroller did ask. Just doing the job.
Thanks for the report. I would much rather have been climbing than working on Saturday.
Yes that was an excellent rope line John, nice job! Sorry about the poaching, I'll definitely go around next time :)
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