July 1, 2000
11,239 feet
| Mt. Hood was a solo ascent that took me about 9 hours. Since I went solo, I took my time and was more careful in certain areas since I was climbing unroped. The climb began at 2am with a shared ride in a snowcat (presumably the same snowcat used by Scatman Crothers in "The Shining") to the top of the Palmer lift where I immediately was forced to wear my crampons as the snow surface was very hard and glazed in ice. As I ascended the lower mountain, I had two other groups in the area. It took a long time to get up off of the snowfield and to the ridge called the "Hogs back". The other groups roped up at this point. The hog's back is terminated by a bergshrund, a crevasse at the trailing edge of a glacier. The climb dictated an end run around the bergshrund to the left. From below, I was concerned because the climb required hiking just above the crevasse which wouldn't be typically a safe thing to do unroped. | ||
Looking back up the Hog's Back toward The Pearly Gates. Notice the group of roped climber making their way up. |
Looking down from the top of the Hog's Back. A group of climbers gather to form rope teams.. |
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As I moved past the crevasse, I could see that it was not very deep (or more likely, plugged up with a large block of snow from the frequent snow and rock falls). The crevasses on Rainier looked to be over 100 feet deep, this one was only 15 or 20 feet deep at this time. The bigger concern on the top of the mountain was the risk of ice or rock fall in the area called The Pearly Gates. A couple days earlier some climbers were injured severely by a rock slide in this area at around 7am (about the same time I was there). |
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 A climber works through the ice cups near the top of Mt. Hood |
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The upper mountain went slowly for me because my legs were still very sore from my Rainier climb and because I was carrying a large pack that included alpine skis and ski boots for part of the descent. The upper half of the mountain was very icy and the surface of the ice-glazed snow was very cupped. The ice cups actually made the climb easier because they provided better foot placement. I arrived at the summit around 8am. It was very windy, but afforded me a nice view. I was careful on the far side of the summit as the drop-off is severe. Someone had died there just a couple days prior by getting blown off the edge. |
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 Looking out over a "cloud sea" from near the top of Mt. Hood  Enjoying the summit of Mt. Hood |
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| The descent was much easier and went by much quicker. Because of the glazed surface, the skis weren't usable until I made it further down the mountain. I actually put them on too early and found that skiing on cupped ice with a large, heavy pack on isn't the easiest thing to do. After a couple falls on the ice, I reached the groomed ski area. Skiing there was much easier. | ||
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