Trip Report

The weather forecast for the Mount Hood climb was not exactly inspiring; still we went for it since there have been times when it is cloudy or foggy all around the mountain, but clear up high. This was the case early Sunday morning when we headed up. As we drove up after 2 AM we popped out from under the fog blanket and into a starry sky. By 2:45 AM we set off and made our way up to the Hogsback. From the Hogsback there are a few ways to go with the Old Chute or the Pearly Gates are the most common. I planned to go via the Pearly Gates but wanted to make the final call when we got there depending on conditions. The route looked good with steps already kicked in so we made our way around the bergshrund ( a crevasse where the snow pulls away from the mountain) and up into the steep chute. We slowly made our way through the steep area and to the summit. The high winds cut celebratory time short plus the greatest challenge lie ahead: getting down safely. Danni Harris did a great job of leading down through the chute and setting protection in case of a fall. All teams carefully down-climbed and we regrouped back on the Hogsback. Then we un-roped, took off our crampons and glissaded down the ridge. We returned to Timberline roughly 12 hours after we started, tired but happy over our success. Five of the climbers had just completed Basic Climb School in April and this was their first big, roped climb. They were all well-prepared and did great climbing. But where they really excelled was in bringing summit treats-chocolate- to share; an extremely important mountaineering skill that will get them invited on many future climbs.