A Perfect Day on Mt Hood
April 23, 2011
Two weeks ago when our scheduled club climb of Mt St. Helen’s was once again cancelled, a flurry of emails were exchanged, resulting in an impromptu plan to climb Mt Hood. The forecast was promising and four of us drove to the mountain only to have our climb turned around at the top of the Palmer chairlift due to high winds.
One week later, at the end of a rainy and windy day of glacier rescue practice on Mt. Hood, our group was approached by a gentleman from the University of Pacific’s Outback Program. We were asked if any of us would be interested in climbing Mt. Hood the next Saturday. He had arranged to have the ski resort’s snow cat give their climbers a ride to the top of the Palmer chairlift and for $50.00 each, we could hitch a ride, too. We thought it over for a couple days, repeatedly checked the forecast
which was looking better and better as the week went on and once again, the emails circulated around until Frits Capel, Jeremy Gish, Peter Urban and I decided this was an opportunity we just had to take.
Unfortunately, on Friday, Fritz had a personal matter come up and wasn’t able to join us. Saturday morning at 1:30 Jeremy, Peter and I met in the climber’s registration at Timberline and filled out the necessary forms while we waited for the folks from the U of P. We met them and walked up to the lodge where a “tank” type vehicle the resort uses to groom its slopes was waiting for us. We climbed up into the passenger cabin anticipating a fun ride up the slopes. The cat’s diesel engine roared to life, its flood lights flashed on and we were rolling our way up the mountain, passing climbers on the way. Excellent! We felt like soldiers riding in a landing craft, waiting to storm the beaches of Mt. Hood! It was a fun ride, and after being turned back two weeks before, we didn't feel the least bit guilty about getting a ride up.
The night sky was crystal clear with a billion stars and a half moon to light our way. After climbing down from the cat and bundling up our coats we waited to see if the U of P folks wanted to lead the way. Waiting for a few minutes, it was apparent they wouldn’t be ready for some time, so we looked at one another, up at the silhouette of the mountain and headed out. As we climbed we could see the lights of communities to the west until eventually we had a spectacular view of the bright lights of metropolitan Portland. It was a beautiful sight!
We climbed steadily up, using two familiar landmarks, Illumination Rock and Crater Rock. Several hundred yards up the mountain we could see the headlamps of a small party of climbers. They seemed to be making good time, so we followed them. We climbed up to the west of Crater Rock in the valley below the West Crater Rim. At about 9500’ we stopped to put on our crampons and get a drink. Soon afterwards we were met with the occasional odor of rotten eggs. These came from the “fumaroles” that surround Crater Rock. We talked among ourselves about stories we’ve all heard of people who died on the mountain because the gas was so dense they couldn’t get enough oxygen. We breathed deeply and moved as quickly as we could up and above Crater Rock into clean air.
From here the climbing became more difficult due to the increasing pitch and the deep and icy snow.
Jeremy took the yeoman’s task of breaking trail up the mountain as we inched upwards into the crisp night air. Progressing up the mountain we noticed that the lights of the party ahead of us were growing closer. Either they had slowed their ascent or had turned around and were descending. In a few minutes our paths met. After exchanging pleasantries, one of their climbers asked us an unsettling question. “Do any of you guys know where you are going?” It was quiet for a few moments before we responded: “We were following you!” They were unsure of the route up and felt they should descend and try to find a more familiar or easier route up the mountain.
We counseled among ourselves and decided to continue up the route we were on. Peter took the lead for the next section of the climb. We followed some deep tracks in the snow of someone who had obviously climbed down this route. The steps were so far apart it necessitated us having to kick in two or more steps up for every step down. It was tough climbing!
After Peter’s strong effort it was my turn at the lead. The slope of the route steepened significantly as we climbed. Kicking in multiple steps and thrusting my iced ax as deep into the snow as I could, step by step we rose up the steep face of the snow field. Nearing the top of the ridge the snow and ice was now so hard that I could no longer kick steps into the snow. To keep from sliding down the mountain, I had to rely on the two front points of my crampons and burying my ax into existing holes in the ice. This was the crux of our climb! Upon reaching the top of the ridge we quickly sprawled out on the snow to catch our breath, (and for me to calm my senses).
It was light enough now, that from our vantage point we could see the Hog’s Back and the Bergschrund below us to the east. Our route up the mountain was more challenging, but it had taken us high above the Hog’s Back and closer to the Old Mazama summit route, which was an intermediate goal of our climb. From here the route to the summit, though steep, only took a few minutes to climb. It was just 6:00 a.m. when we arrived and the sun was now fully above the eastern horizon. It bathed the summit with an intense, heavenly glow! Everything was gloriously white. Everywhere was ice and snow shaped and smoothed by the wind into beautiful frozen sculptures. The panorama was breathtaking!
It is a rare day indeed when in April, the skies are cloudless and the air is perfectly calm at the summit of Mt. Hood. This was that day! We were the first climbers of the day to reach the summit and after high fives and several photos we rested, enjoyed some lunch, and savored our amazing experience! This was Jeremy’s and my first, and Peter’s second climb to the top of Mt Hood. Everything was perfect! Then, too soon, we turned our view down the mountain and started our descent. We climbed down by way of the traditional south route. When we reached the Hog’s Back, we turned and looked back to see the tracks we had left in the steep ridge that was “our route”, felt a proud sense of accomplishment, and made our leisure decent down the mountain under warm, bluebird skies. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to climb Mt. Hood.
Mark Barnard, SAC Rookie
