Ascending Mount Hood

Some of you already know from the GoPro thread that I climbed Mount Hood last week. I just finished a blog entry about it on the Odds site. I also made this video:



Please have a look and let me know your thoughts. Any forum members up to climbing Mount Rainier or Adams with me in the future?

Congratulations that looks like an awesome experience. Who was Ward?

Wow, Congratulations Wizard! That was some adventure. A very well written piece, and I enjoyed the slide show / video too.

Did anyone discuss why the gentleman who died was not tied in while on a part of the climbe where he could fall so far?

It is interesting that the group training with the local guides was different than the training you had already received. I wonder if these are just "Mt. Hood" things, or major things you were doing differently.

If someone in your rope group were to fall, is the first thing everyone else is supposed to do the same, or does it depend on your position? For example if the lowest member of your group falls, I can imagine the others just trying to dig in and lock themselves down, but what if it is the middle person? Do the climbers below try to block the person who lost their footing from falling further, or do they get out of the way to avoid the crampons and axe?

In any case, well done!

Congratulations Mike! You certainly are having the most amazing 50th year. Your write up was informative and exciting.

You did use a technical term once without explanation. It is commonly used in a non-technical sense as in "“Belay that order”".

Quote: FrGamble

Who was Ward?

Mike talked about him in his blog. He was a 66 year old retired banker who was hiking with his grandson , but he was not part of Mike's group. He was the second oldest person to die on Mt Hood. Roughly 3 people a year die on the mountain since 1999, but that includes skiers and snowboarders. According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA): During the 10 years, (2002-2012) about 41.5 people have died skiing/snowboarding per year on average.

The Chute seems to be in the back of this photo, and Hogsback ridge is in the center. Mike describes the climb down the chute in his blog. He also mentions Devil's Kitchen which is just below Hogsback and has active fumaroles.

I tried the climb in my imagination and didn't
make it out of my driveway before I gave up.

Why all the fuss about hurrying down? Surely you didn't climb all that way without a saucer?!



But seriously, a good, well written story. Seems pretty packed, huh? I dunno why, but I always picture remote mountains as being covered with deep, drifty snow, which would be a nightmare to truck through. Most of the pics give the impression that it was never deeper than your shoe.

And I know you're in damn good aerobic shape, but didn't the elevation have an effect? You never mentioned it. I live 700' ASL, and my time in Wyoming at 6,600' to 8,800' was absolutely noticeable. I wouldn't say I was gasping like a fish out of water, even when hiking canyons to fish, but I certainly had the thought that if I needed to sprint to the truck in an emergency or hump someone out due to a broken leg, I would never recover from it.

Quote: Wizard

Any forum members up to climbing Mount Rainier or Adams with me in the future?

Yes =(

Hope you keep up your health. It'll be awhile before I could afford it. By then maybe I can accompany you on record attempts. "First pensioner to climb..." =p

Quote: Ayecarumba

Wow, Congratulations Wizard! That was some adventure. A very well written piece, and I enjoyed the slide show / video too.

Thank you!

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Did anyone discuss why the gentleman who died was not tied in while on a part of the climbe where he could fall so far?

It wasn't discussed. Experienced ice climbers can do Mount Hood without being roped. They said he was an experienced climber but I don't know how much of that was on ice. While falling can easily be deadly up that section a good climber shouldn't fall with crampons and an ice axe. How or why he fell nobody knows.

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It is interesting that the group training with the local guides was different than the training you had already received. I wonder if these are just "Mt. Hood" things, or major things you were doing differently.

Previous to this I attended a one day "snow school" put on the Las Vegas Mountaineers Club. The LVMC put more of an emphasis on how to self-arrest if you do fall. The TMG (Timberline Mountain Guides) put more of an emphasis on footwork. My bad habits were not the fault of other guides but self-taught on my previous climb of Mount Shasta.

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If someone in your rope group were to fall, is the first thing everyone else is supposed to do the same, or does it depend on your position? For example if the lowest member of your group falls, I can imagine the others just trying to dig in and lock themselves down, but what if it is the middle person? Do the climbers below try to block the person who lost their footing from falling further, or do they get out of the way to avoid the crampons and axe?

They didn't get very specific on that. As I recall they said if one person falls then the others should try to stay standing by any means necessary. They didn't get into rope position. The big emphasis was prevention -- to not fall in the first place. I think the right move, based on my LVMC training, would be to fall towards the mountain and plunge the pick end of the ice axe into the ice.

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In any case, well done!

Thank you!

Quote: Face

Why all the fuss about hurrying down? Surely you didn't climb all that way without a saucer?!

I think the ice gets more slippery and dangerous in the hot afternoon. In every ice climb I've heard of the goal seems to be to be done with the icy part by about noon. Plus, with this being a business I am sure that they like to keep to a schedule.

Some people do ski down.

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But seriously, a good, well written story. Seems pretty packed, huh? I dunno why, but I always picture remote mountains as being covered with deep, drifty snow, which would be a nightmare to truck through. Most of the pics give the impression that it was never deeper than your shoe.

Thank you. Mount Hood is only about 90 miles from Portland and the base is easily reached by highway. It is truly an iconic mountain of Oregon. When snow is in the direct sunlight and it gets well above freezing during the day it does tend to get icy. At least the top layer. That top layer was enough to stand on in our case. In the afternoon it may have melted enough so that a climber would break through it and have to post-hole through the snow underneath. Yet another reason to finish by noon.

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And I know you're in damn good aerobic shape, but didn't the elevation have an effect? You never mentioned it. I live 700' ASL, and my time in Wyoming at 6,600' to 8,800' was absolutely noticeable. I wouldn't say I was gasping like a fish out of water, even when hiking canyons to fish, but I certainly had the thought that if I needed to sprint to the truck in an emergency or hump someone out due to a broken leg, I would never recover from it.

Nah. The elevation of Mount Hood is not that high. I've done Whitney twice at 14,500 so Hood at 11,250 was no big deal. I was also on the mountain for a day and a half before the climb, which I'm sure helped to acclimatize. It also helps that Vegas is already at 2,100 feet.

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Hope you keep up your health. It'll be awhile before I could afford it. By then maybe I can accompany you on record attempts. "First pensioner to climb..." =p

I hope so too. Start saving up for Mount Adams.

Very informative. I note in the picture of your group descending that it looks like a crevass is developing as a line across the face of the snowfield is visible. It is easy to imagine an avalanche starting when it cuts loose.

You should of ditched all the stuff you said you didn't use, and toted your smallest unicycle to the top. Then had your picture taken sitting on the summit.