Mt. Hood Summit and Ski Attempt #1
This past Saturday (May 16, 2009), I made my first attempt to summit and ski Mt. Hood.
From the moment I saw this towering glacier, I knew I had to get on top of it. Mt. Hood whispered my name and I responded to the call.
With lines like this in the springtime, it’s a hard balance between skiing in good conditions and being safe. We all want 7,000′ of good corn, but a few degrees can make a big difference.
I checked out the conditions on Friday, and the snow was still frozen solid at noon. Glacial ice is different than any other type of frozen. Instead of a solid sheet, the glacier ice is variegated, making the skiing pretty unenjoyable.
With this in mind, we decided that being on the summit by noon would be sufficient to let it soften up. We took the Palmer lift up at 9:30 and started hiking around 9:45.
Saturday, unfortunately, was about 10 degrees hotter than Friday and by the time we reached the Hogsback, it was a battlefield on the summit. One climber had been taken out by icefall and basketball size chunks were breaking off. We turned around there, and still enjoyed 6000′ vertical of continuous skiing.
Illumination rock, where we got some really good turns!
Tomorrow, I am heading out with photographer Richard Hallman on a 2:00 am cat ride to make another attempt. Should be good. Check back for more photos.
