Friday, February 19, 2010

Mt. Hood Summit and Ski Descent

The winter-long pattern of warm rain and crappy skiing conditions relented this week as a high pressure system moved into the area. I made the executive decision to take a mental health day and cut out for a climb and ski descent of Mt. Hood. I called my buddy, Matt Bedrin, who's trying to become the first person to climb and ski the highest 40 volcanoes in Cascadia, so I knew he'd be game for a last minute, mid-week outing.

We geared up and left the car at 2 am, only seconds before the first and only yard sale of the day. Walking across the parking lot, Matt hit a pocket of black ice and went down hard. My brain barely had time to think "be careful" before I hit the ground a split second later. With bruised egos, scraped elbows and a groggy heads, we picked up our stuff and started the slog up the Palmer.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


We prepped for a battle, as the wind was blowing 20-30 mph from Timberline Lodge all the way up to the top of the Palmer, making for some cold, dark skinning conditions.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


With an east wind, we were able to find a little shelter near the lift shack at the top of the Palmer, and we stopped to fuel up. The cold set in pretty quick, so we geared back up and started moving after a quick rest. 15-20 minutes later, just as we were warming back up, the wind dropped to a dead calm. At first I thought it was a brief lull, but from there on out we were treated to excellent, calm skies.

We got to the Hogsback as the sun rose and stared up at the blank canvass of a mountain, wiped clean by the snows earlier in the week.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From the Hogback, we punched in a boot track up towards the Old Chute.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


We had the whole mountain to ourselves and were treated to amazing views of the Cascades and surrounding foothills - mid-winter solitude at its best.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


5000' of vertical was just too temping, and we eventually bid farewell to the summit and started the ski descent. The upper section was survival sideslipping, but we eventually found the goods on the steep slopes of the Old Chute and then the Hogsback. Great turns in a beautiful setting.





From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From there we got some photo ops at Illumination Rock and then charged the ripper corduroy back to the Lodge. Great Day!

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent


From Mt. Hood Ski Descent




Good luck to Matt on the Cascadia 40!

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent