Ascending Mount Hood

Quote: Ayecarumba

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.

From blogs a bergschrund (from the German for mountain cleft) is a crevasse that forms where a moving glacier ice separates from the stagnant ice above.



Other bloggers have noted that the Old Chute (green) exposes you to much more ice and rockfall hazard than the more direct route (red). However the red route sometimes leads you by a bergschrund.


Under beguilingly blue skies, three climbers perished after they plunged into Mount Hood's Bergschrund, a crevasse 800 feet below the 11,237-foot summit. Four others were critically injured.

Mike, did the guide give you an option on which way to summit, or do they always go by the old chute?

BTW, this is a cool adventure. I am sorry you didn't have a friend join you.

If I were to do this again I would probably take the Pearly Gates route. The Old Chute has too much falling ice and is too crowded. I saw another team doing the Pearly Gates and it didn't look any harder than the Old Chute.

As for the cause of accidents, there is a whole Wikipedia page on that. Simply slipping accounts for a lot of them. Others include avalanches, falling in crevasses, bad weather (leading to poor visibility leading to falling off a cliff), and skiing accidents.

I decided against posting this picture in the blog entry or the video, but here is a photo I took of the scene of the accident. That is the grandson with the blue helmet. The other two I think are his two son in laws. At this point I think they were collecting his personal effects. The red helmet probably belonged to the victim. Click on the image for a larger version.

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Quote: Wizard

If I were to do this again I would probably take the Pearly Gates route. The Old Chute has too much falling ice and is too crowded. I saw another team doing the Pearly Gates and it didn't look any harder than the Old Chute.

From blog entries, it doesn't sound as if many climbers think that the old chute is just if not more hazardous than the Pearly Gates.

From what I read, I'm guessing that the Pearly Gates was the preferred method of leading groups to the summit, until the devastating accident in 2002 when nine people in all fell into the bergschrund on that route. As it was the kind of accident that could be blamed on training with one group pulling another group then another group down the 800' crevasse, I am sure that someone got sued. As a business they may feel it is less of a legal liability to avoid the crevasse.


The 2002 death toll of 5 was matched as recently as 2013, but 2013 was 5 individual incidents. People naturally remember accidents involving large groups for much longer.

The May 1986 incident was the deadliest on Mount Hood, and one of the worst in U.S. climbing history. Seven teenage students and two faculty of the Oregon Episcopal School froze to death during an annual school climb. Of the four survivors, three had life-threatening hypothermia; one had legs amputated.

Quote: Pacomartin

From what I read, I'm guessing that the Pearly Gates was the preferred method of leading groups to the summit, until the devastating accident in 2002 when nine people in all fell into the bergschrund on that route.

That is my understanding too. My guides said the Pearly Gates were no longer the preferred route due to shifting ice and snow. There are other routes as well. For example a chute right next to the Old Chute. However, that one has much worse falling ice than the Old Chute.

Well, if you have to go to a court after being sued for an accident, you would just have to show the jury this video to convince them that this route was more dangerous.

That video didn't allow hotlinking so here is a direct link.

If the dramatization is right, it shows the peril of long-roping. The first person to fall gains enough speed to bring the rest down. With short-roping there isn't enough time to build up momentum so those who didn't fall hopefully will stop the person who did. Had they not been roped at all, only the guy who fell would have died.

Quote: Wizard

If the dramatization is right, it shows the peril of long-roping.

If you work on ships, you learn about the perils of ropes and cables very quickly. They will cut a man in half, take off fingers, throw you overboard, or pull things apart in seconds.

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If this sounds grisly, just keep in mind that if you keep records involving millions of people, after a while you build a database of fatalities. While a million people have not tried to summit the mountain, certainly millions have been skiing, snowboarding, and hiking near the base.

Same of the database of fatalities who were NOT climbing.

1. flying A civilian airplane hit the side of the glacier while on a flight from Portland to Elko, NV.
2. flying A B-26 bomber disappeared on a flight from Hamilton Field, Calif., to Portland. The bodies of all three victims were recovered in August 1949
3. flying A B-26 bomber disappeared on a flight from Hamilton Field, Calif., to Portland. The bodies of all three victims were recovered in August 1949
4. flying A B-26 bomber disappeared on a flight from Hamilton Field, Calif., to Portland. The bodies of all three victims were recovered in August 1949
5. Hiking Bishop, ending a four-day backpacking hike on the Timberline Trail, drowned while trying to cross the river.
6. hiking Clark died after a chunk of ice crushed him. Clark was hiking with his father and brother when they got caught on an ice field below a trail near the popular Cloud Cap hiking area on the mountain's northeast side
7. hiking Orsi, a Hungarian exchange student living with a host family in Salem, disappears while on a solo day hike. Orsi and friends had camped in the Cloud Cap area on the northeast side of the mountain, and he was last seen Monday morning before he headed out alone on a hike, telling his friends he would return later that day.
8. hiking Pospisil and his 12-year-old brother, Luke, lost control during an intentional slide and fell into a canyon while descending Mount Hood during a family outing. John Pospisil was taken by Life Flight Network helicopter to Emanuel Hospital & Health Center with leg, chest and major head injuries. He died at 4:45 p.m. Luke Pospisil survived.
9. hiking Simko was hiking with her husband when she stumbled and fell.
10. on patrol Died in an avalanche while checking on snow conditions. The accident occurred at the beginning of the Gulch ski trail on the south side of Marmot Ridge.
11. riding Springer was horseback riding when the horse slipped on a planked bridge.
12. skiing Fletcher was skiing down the Middle Reynolds Trail toward Low Road when he caught an edge and fell, landing on his head and chest.
13. skiing Search and rescue crews found Tiffany's body in a creek in an out-of-bounds ski area west of Ski Bowl a few hundred feet from Highway 26. Tiffany had been drinking with friends and got lost after skiing off on his own.
14. skiing Died after skiing into a tree on the Arena run at Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort. Desch was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
15. skiing Friends found Malcarne at the base of a tree near the edge of the run. He died after hitting the tree.
16. skiing Cannard fell while skiing on a double black-diamond run along steep terrain in the Memorial Bowl area. Ski patrollers arrived just after the crash but were unable to revive him.
17. skiing Bradeen fell and was hit in the head from behind by a snowboarder as he was getting up.
18. skiing Near the end of a ski lesson at Mt. Hood Meadows, Stacey told his instructor he was having difficulty breathing. On the way to the first aid shack, the boy collapsed and lost consciousness.
19. skiing Nederhand, a 14-year-old ski camp student, lost control and crashed into rocks alongside the Palmer Glacier.
20. skiing Stanley lost control while skiing and slid into a tree, injuring his neck. He was evacuated by helicopter but died eight hours later.
21. skiing Curran lost control while skiing in an ungroomed area, struck a snowbank headfirst and died.
22. skiing Funk, a member of the Beaverton Ski Team, collided with another skier on Timberline. Funk suffered head trauma and died 2 1/2 months later from brain damage resulting from the accident.
23. skiing Meaney lost control and skied into a tree in the South Canyon area.
24. skiing Richardson died after a night lost in the snow.
25. skiing Selden plunged to his death from a ridge on Mount Hood into Clark Canyon
26. skiing Oregon State Police said Regan was apparently skiing in a bizzard on an unmarked trail when he plummeted over an embankement and on to the Timberline road.
27. skiing Eaton fell into a crevasse while skiing down the White River Glacier. Eaton's legs were moving after the fall, but by the time he was rescued he was not breathing.
28. skiing Davis died of injuries he suffered when he struck a tree while skiing at Government Camp.
29. skiing Suprenant overshot the end of Pucci's Glade. His body was found under a tree just off West Leg Road
30. skiing Howell's chest was crushed when he lost control while skiing on a new runway on the north side and collided with a tree stump.
31. skiing collision Died after he collided with another skier on the Magic Mile ski run.
32. snowboarding Killed when an ice tunnel, at an elevation of about 8,100 feet, collapsed.
33. snowboarding DeWolf was last seen passing her two friends at a high rate of speed. She was discovered hours later after striking a tree.
34. snowboarding Sirosh's body is discovered while members of the ski patrol were clearing the slopes near the North Canyon Trail. After trying to resuscitate the teen, they took him to a medical clinic at the resort. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
35. snowboarding Krukowski fell about 40 feet into a snow crevasse, landing in a creek running through the bottom of the crevasse. His body was found partially submerged in the creek, which is inside the hazard area, near the bottom of a waterfall.
36. snowboarding Died enroute to the hospital after an accident in which he was attempting an inverted aerial maneuver.
37. snowboarding Cryblskey went off a jump made of snow and appeared to have landed on his head.
38. snowboarding McConeghy fell headfirst in deep snow. He suffocated before friends could dig him out.
39. snowboarding Tyler, who was wearing a helmet, crashed as he went down a run called The Face, which is rated "most difficult" on the ski resort's trail map.
40. snowboarding Kixmiller died of massive chest injuries after he hit a log while snowboarding in an ungroomed area near the Cascade Express lift.
41. snowboarding Attempting to snowboard from the summit of Mount Hood, Munuz falls 2,500 feet onto Eliot Glacier. Munoz, an Argentine, was living in Government Camp and working at Timberline Lodge.
42. snowboarding Jameson was snowboarding with his brother and a friend in a designated wooded area at Mt. Hood Meadows. Jameson fell into a rocky creek bed, hitting his head.
43. snowshoe hike Frauens left Timberline Lodge on a solo snowshoe hike up the south slope. He was last seen at 9,500 feet.
44. spectator A runaway Sno-Cat struck and killed Cato during a snowboarding competition above Timberline Lodge at the 7,500 foot level.
45. unclear Missing hiker
46. unclear Ott's widow, Marian, said she had not expected her husband, who had terminal cancer, to return from a trip he chose to make by himself. Ott had not registered to climb the mountain and had not been reported missing.
47. unknown A member of a government supply party camped at Timberline, the soldier disappeared after expressing a "great curiosity" about climbing the mountain. No one knows if Bernard was a deserter or the first recorded victim of the mountain. Bernard was stationed at Vancouver Barracks.
48. walking Sagal accidentally walked into the spinning tail rotor of a helicopter.

I put some arrows on copy of Wizard's picture to point out what looks like large cracks developing right across the face of the snowfield:

Quote: Ayecarumba

I put some arrows on copy of Wizard's picture to point out what looks like large cracks developing right across the face of the snowfield:

I'm not an expert at such things (and some people are) but those are probably caused by ice melting and big chunks of ice slipping down due to gravity. Again, I'm no expert, but I don't think they posed a big danger. Those cracks will probably fill in with fresh snow next winter and the cycle will repeat.

That is me just above the third crack. I was the bottom person of that threesome.

Quote: Wizard

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

This table of the 20 most prominent mountains in CONUS is a good reference. Prominence is the difference between the summit and the lowest contour that encircles the summit. Isolation is the distance to the nearest highest peak. So the nearest peak to Mount Hood that is taller is 57 miles away (Mount Adams).

Although Mount Rainer and Mount Whitney are almost the same height, Mount Whitney has 30K people a year attempt to summit and 33% succeed. Mount Ranier has about 10K a year attempt to summit of which 50% succeed. The published number for Mt Hood is 10K attempts per year and no estimate is made on percent who make it.

Prominence	Mountain Peak	State	Elevation	Isolation miles	Location	Longitude
13,210	Mount Rainier	Washington	14,417	731	46.8529°N	121.7604°W
10,080	Mount Whitney	California	14,505	1646	36.5786°N	118.2920°W
9,832	Mount Shasta	California	14,179	335	41.4092°N	122.1949°W
9,093	Mount Elbert	Colorado	14,440	671	39.1178°N	106.4454°W
8,845	Mount Baker	Washington	10,786	132	48.7768°N	121.8145°W
8,339	San Jacinto Peak	California	10,834	20	33.8147°N	116.6794°W
8,294	San Gorgonio Mountain	California	11,503	162	34.0992°N	116.8249°W
8,258	Charleston Peak	Nevada	11,916	135	36.2716°N	115.6956°W
8,136	Mount Adams	Washington	12,281	46	46.2024°N	121.4909°W
7,838	Mount Olympus	Washington	7,980	108	47.8013°N	123.7108°W
7,706	Mount Hood	Oregon	11,249	57	45.3735°N	121.6959°W
7,568	Wheeler Peak	Nevada	13,065	232	38.9858°N	114.3139°W
7,518	Glacier Peak	Washington	10,545	56	48.1125°N	121.1138°W
7,196	White Mountain Peak	California	14,252	67	37.6341°N	118.2557°W
7,077	Cloud Peak	Wyoming	13,167	145	44.3821°N	107.1739°W
7,076	Gannett Peak	Wyoming	13,809	290	43.1842°N	109.6542°W
6,545	Grand Teton	Wyoming	13,775	69	43.7412°N	110.8024°W
6,377	Sacajawea Peak	Oregon	9,843	126	45.2450°N	117.2929°W
6,358	Kings Peak	Utah	13,534	167	40.7763°N	110.3729°W
6,340	Mount Graham	Arizona	10,724	82	32.7017°N	109.8714°W

The 20 highest mountains by elevation are in only three states and 15/20 are in Colorado, the state with the highest mean elevation.

14,417' Mount Rainier Washington
14,505' Mount Whitney California
14,379 Mount Williamson California
14,252 White Mountain Peak California
14,248 North Palisade California

14,440 Mount Elbert Colorado
14,428 Mount Massive Colorado
14,421 Mount Harvard Colorado
14,343 La Plata Peak Colorado
14,357 Blanca Peak Colorado
14,321 Uncompahgre Peak Colorado
14,300 Crestone Peak Colorado
14,293 Mount Lincoln Colorado
14,279 Castle Peak Colorado
14,278 Grays Peak Colorado
14,276 Mount Antero Colorado
14,271 Mount Evans Colorado
14,259 Longs Peak Colorado
14,252 Mount Wilson Colorado
14,204 Mount Princeton Colorado