Compared with our climb at the end of March, this trip up Mount Hood was a different beast altogether. The old chute has formed completely differently this year and we were both left wishing we had two tools with us during the descent. It was shockingly warm and we moved as quickly as possible from the hogsback over to the base of the final stretch of climbing. Although the snow was in excellent shape when we reached it, the terrain was, in places, 50 degrees with short stretches that allowed us to rest briefly while climbers ahead of us climbed through the rimey chutes that guarded the summit.
We actually got some GoPro footage (on accident) of the climb up the old chute as well as some of the traversing section coming back down toward the hogsback. Hopefully, we'll get that edited and posted shortly so you can have a better idea of what conditions were like.
We chose a different path for the descent and decided to come down the furthest west chute (climber's left, skier's right) of the old chute (so many chutes!) in order to help avoid dropping unecessary amounts of ice and rime on top of climbers who were just beginning their ascent. This chute, however, was steeper than the one we'd chosen for the ascent and we did end up facing into the slope to downclimb through sections.
Equipment List- Old Chute
- Crampons
- Ice Axes
- 2L Water each
- Insulated layers
- Hard shell jackets and pants
- Snacks
*Under the conditions that we climbed this route, two ice climbing tools would be preferable
The Stats:
Total Distance: 8.9 Miles Time: 11 hours Car to Car Starting Elevation: 5,810’ (Timberline) Summit Elevation: 11,236’ Elevation Gain: 5,496′
