Mount Hood - South Side - May 2018

Mount Hood Climb - May 17 & 18, 2018 - With Timberline Mountain Guides

View of Mount Hood from flight. 

Climbing Mount Hood (11,245 feet) was on my bucket list since beginning of 2017. But I had to push it out due to some personal priorities in 2017. 

Finally in December 2017  I finalized that the climb is going to happen in Spring / Summer of 2018. I finalized the date for the climb fairly late - In mid April. 

I did my research on this mountain and realized that the best option was to climb with Timberline Mountain Guides (TMG). Timberline Guides is most experienced guide service on this mountain. 

Mount Hood is one of the cascade volcanoes and the highest peak in State of Oregon. We were going to climb south side route to the peak. This was a 2 day trip - with Day 1 for training and Day 2 for actual climb / Summit day. 

Day 1 - May 17th - Snow Training Day

We were supposed to meet at TMG office at 9am for orientation and gear check. This is where we met our 3 guides - Chris, Lucas and Phil. There were a total of 11 participants in snow school, 8 of which were going to climb the mountain on day 2. 

After an hour and half of introductions and gear check, we headed out for our training. It was about 15 minutes hike out from the parking lot to lower slopes of the mountain. 

We spent about 4 hours on learning various essential climbing techniques. The guides went into details of every technique since all of us were new to mountaineering. We learnt about rest stepping, box stepping for ascending and descending, use of ice axe, fitting of crampons, footwork with crampons on, self arrest with an ice axe, climbing a steep slope on short rope and anchoring ourselves on the slopes. 

It was very informative, but also very intimidating because actual mountain would be much more challenging than these slopes.

Heading out for Snow Climb training

Approaching the steep slope for training

Training slopes

Our Guide Lucas (Left) training us on effective use of ice axe

Heading back to Timberline Lodge parking after training

Day 2 - May 18th - Climb Day

We were supposed to meet at 1.30am at Climber's register (Elevation - 5,924 feet)  just outside TMG. All 8 climbers and 3 guides looked all ready to take on this mountain. Guides did quick check for everyone's gear. Guides asked us to wear climbing harness at parking lot itself to save time and efforts on high mountain (Because it becomes increasingly challenging to do simple tasks in cold with the gloves on. So wearing harness ahead of time was a very good idea!)

At 1.55am we headed out to hop on to the snowcat ride. Snow cat (Pic below) is essentially a tractor which drives us as high up on the mountain as snow cover allows. This saves us time and efforts on lower mountain - which is not technical or steep. Some people regard this as cheating, but we didn't mind since real challenge begins at higher altitude.

TMG's Snow Cat

There was ample snow coverage for snow cat to drive us to 8,500 feet. It was 2.20am and we started getting final readiness done for the climb - eating a snack, hydrating. Phil, Chris and Lucas (our 3 guides) assessed the snow conditions and asked us to wear crampons. We started our ascent with crampons and headlamps on.

2.20am - Getting ready to start the climb

Chris was breaking the trail. The climb was very steep from very first step out. Chris was setting up the pace and everyone followed his footsteps. One should always follow the footsteps of climber ahead of them. This way it creates a great stairway for entire team.

At 2.50am Chris took a break for adjusting clothing layers. We continued our way up after a quick 5 mins break. During dark all one sees is footsteps of climber ahead of them. So all we had to do was one step after another and keep the pace.

At 3.30am we took another break. At this point we were already at 9,300 feet. We had gained 800 feet in a span of 1 hour - which was a very good pace on a mountain like this. There was a pungent and unpleasant smell in the air (Later on I realized that it was sulfur from active fumaroles on this volcano). You are supposed to eat about 300 calories at every break and hydrate yourself. Human body loses appetite at high altitude. But it is key to eat high calorie (high glucose) food even if you aren't hungry. We headed up after a brief 10 minutes break. I just wonder how quickly those 10 minutes pass. Doing easy tasks such as taking a layer of jacket off, or getting water bottle out of your backpack become tasks in themselves up on the mountain.

The trail became even steeper after this break. The Sulphur fumes were making me little bit dizzy and I started running out of breath after 5 minutes into the climb past second break. I slowed myself down and told Lucas that I need to catch up with my breath. Lucas slowed down a bit for me but he asked me to keep moving and continue up further. I kept my own pace and kept doing the drill - Head down, breathe and one step after another!  Lucas was motivating me saying that I was maintaining a good pace. We kept climbing up. Although I was about 50 feet behind my team, I was still passing other climbers on my way up. That made me feel that I was doing a good job regardless of slightly slower pace.

We took next break at Devil's kitchen (~10,000 feet). Devil's kitchen is where there are sulfur fumaroles. These fumaroles mean that Mt Hood is just a ticking time bomb which can erupt anytime! (Incidentally we were climbing on anniversary of Mt St Helens eruption)
One should not wait too much at this point because sulfur is a toxic gas and can derail your climb.

Climb above Devil's kitchen becomes steeper and technical. We took our ice axes out of pack now. We started climbing with Ice axe in uphill hand and a hiking pole in downhill hand. After a brief 10 minutes climb we reached Crater rock (~10,400 feet) . This was our final break before the summit. The climb is all technical after this point. We have to summit and come back down to this point as fast as we could because of numerous risks on mountain - Ice fall, Rockfall, Crevasses, rapidly changing weather to name a few!   

5am: Final break at Crater Rock (10,400 feet)

Looking at Hogsback and  towards summit from Crater Rock 

Pearly Gates (Right gates)

Roping up as a team

Our Route 

Our Approach past Crater Rock. Black dots along the red arrow are the climbers going up. 

This is where we roped up as a team. I was on a rope team with my guide Lucas and Joe (fellow climber). We dropped our hiking poles here and carried just ice axe from this point on. We started ascending Hogsback on a short rope with about 6 feet of distance between 2 climbers. About 400 feet above is Bergschrund, infamous crevasse on Mt Hood.
There are two routes from here to summit. One route option is traverse left of the crevasse and climb from Old chute. This route is slightly less steeper but longer approach to the summit. Other option is to traverse right of the crevasse and climb up from Pearly gates. This route is steeper and direct approach to summit. Typically guides make decision on route depending on conditions on particular day. Our guides chose to climb Pearly gate (Left gate). So we were up for some steep climbing.

I had never experienced such steeper terrain before in my life. We had to  be very careful while navigating this section. We kept our pace and without any slack in the rope we kept climbing up. Lucas decided to anchor us about midway in the pearly gate. So Joe and I had to secure ourself with ice axe and had to wait patiently till Lucas climbed ahead of us to secure himself at the top of the gate. It took a lot of power in legs are core to stand on a steep slope.
The rope got tangled to our bad luck and I had to put some hard efforts to untangle the rope so we could start climbing again. After some efforts we made it to the top of the gate and finally we were standing about 100 feet below the summit - with final stretch to go!

Final stretch is always the hardest on any mountain, but we kept our pace and Summited at 6.15am.
It was just the perfect day on the top of mountain. There was no wind whatsoever and clear sky above us. We took some pictures from top.
Mount Jefferson, Mount Adams and Mt St Helens were clearly visible from the top. We couldn't see Mt Rainier due to cloud cover over Rainier.

Fellow Climbers on the Summit. 

Mt Jefferson (2nd Highest peak in Oregon) clearly visible. Three Sisters peak can be seen on far horizon behind Mt Jefferson. Both are part of Cascade Volcanic Arc. 

Looking West from the Summit.

Perfectly triangular shadow of mountain over the clouds. 

Summit it is!!!

We started our descend after 15 minutes of break and brief celebration to enjoy our success. Now we had the most challenging part of the climb - going downhill on steep sections. Going down from mountain is hard in itself and this steepness was making it even more challenging.

We reached the top of pearly gate after descending 100 feet from summit. Here we saw a traffic jam of climbers coming up and going down. So we had to wait patiently for the jam to get cleared. Pearly gate is a narrow (6 -8 feet wide ) chute with steep grade (55-60 degree). So all climbers have to be very careful and cautious at this section. Any mistake on this part can result into fatal accident.
We started descending when our turn came. Joe had to lead this time since we was at the tail end of the rope. Lucas was anchoring us from the top till we could reach the anchor at the bottom of the gate. It takes equal or albeit more time to down climb this section than climbing up this section. Its much more challenging to come down - by maintaining footing and balancing on steep grade. I secured ourselves on anchor when we reached the bottom of the gate. Lucas descended after that.

Then we continued down climb. All this while we descended with face to the mountain.  About 100 feet below at 7.50am we reached Burgschrud (The Crevasse). Lucas decided to anchor himself about 30 feet above crevasse so we can get down safely. It took us 1 hour 20 minutes to downclimb from summit to this point, more than it took us to get from this point to top. This can give you an idea about steepness of this section.

Looking back at the  Summit from top of Pearly Gate 

Looking down on Left Pearly gate - about 100 feet below the summit

Climbers traffic jam at Pearly Gate

Bergschrund - Infamous crevasse of Mt Hood @ 7.50am

Pearly Gate

Hogsback and Crater rock at the end of the Hogsback (Center of picture) 

Hogsback

Below the crevasse we started descending with our back to the mountain and taking box steps to maintain our balance. At 8.20am we reached the Crater Rock. We passed an active sulfur fumarole while descending. (Pic below). We took a short break here, collected our hiking poles.
We also unroped here since the technical downclimb was over. We kept descending and took a 2 minute break at Devil's kitchen - just 200 feet below Crater Rock.

Hot Rocks - Fumaroles with Sulfur fumes near Hogsback

View of Hogsback from Crater rock

At Devil's Kitchen. Sulfur fumes can be seen. 

Taking a break at Devil's Kitchen

 After that short break we kept descending further and reached 8,500 feet at around 9.20am. This is where we had started our climb earlier in the morning.

I removed a layer of jacket and applied sunscreen. We also took off our crampons here. The snow below was too soft and it was unsafe to walk in crampons. Here on we had to descend 3,500 feet to reach the parking lot. I kept a slow pace to protect my knees and avoid a fall in soft snow. Other team members went far ahead of me. Lucas waited behind to sweep. I had really good conversation with Lucas over next hour and half. We took a couple of short breaks on our way back and reached the parking lot at 10.45am.

The climb was successfully over! I had achieved my goal and felt a sense of accomplishment.  Although mount hood is shorter than other major peaks in USA, don't underestimate this mountain.
This is a serious mountain with Glaciers, Crevasses, Ice fall, Rockfall, rapidly changing weather of pacific northwest, very steep terrain (Much steeper than Mt Rainier Disappointment Cleaver Route). Mistakes can be fatal. This mountain demands respect from the climbers.

I was on a mountain after exactly a year and 3 days and it felt amazing after climbing this peak. A great part of my success is attributed to my wife Sharvari who motivated and supported me when I doubted my fitness. Kudos to her!
Also I have a great deal of appreciation for my guide Lucas who kept motivating me when I struggled to keep fast pace at certain sections. Lucas was great guide and a knowledgable person.

And lastly, it was a great team effort. Things can go wrong due to lack of coordination when you are on a short rope. But Lucas, Joe and I had great communication and coordination and we worked awesome as a team.
After all - There are only three sports:Bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games - Ernest Hemingway. I can see why Mountaineering fits really well in this statement of Hemingway.

Time to set goals for 2019!

Climb Timeline Summary

Total Gain - 2,700 feet
Total descend - 5,300 feet
Time to Ascend - 3 hours 45 minutes
Time to descend - 4 hour 10 minutes

2am: Left Parking lot and boarded snow cat - 5,924 feet
2.20am : Started the climb - 8,500 feet
4.20am: Devil's Kitchen - ~10,000 feet
4.50am : Crater Rock -  10,400 feet
6.15am : Summit - 11,245 feet
7.50am : Returned to Burgschrund -
8.20am : Returned to Crater Rock
9.30am: Returned to 8,500 feet
10.45am: Returned to Parking lot : 5,924 feet

My Recommendations for prep and climb- 
1) Focus on legs and core strength. Its a steep climb and you need a lot of strength
2) Be in good cardio shape.
3) Hydrate before the climb.
4) Carry atleast 2 liters of water.
5) Don't take longer break near Devil's kitchen. Sulfur fumes can be dangerous for human body.
6) Enjoy the climb!