With winter taking it’s sweet time to arrive, and since I was itching to get some December turns in, I decided to head up solo to Mt Hood to see what I could find. I left the house early, and made the drive north, arriving at the climber’s lot around 7:45 am. The mountain was looking more like October rather than December, and it felt weird to be heading up the road in approach shoes rather than snowboard boots. Nevertheless, I felt like it was going to be a good day.
About halfway between the car and Silcox, the morning alpenglow on the mountain was undeniably beautiful, and I had to stop to snap a few pictures. A short time later, I arrived at the overlook into the Mile Canyon, and made a mental note to take a different route down on the descent.
A bit more hiking brought me to Silcox, around 7,000 feet, and it was at this elevation that I was finally able to don skins and put the shoes on my pack. The snow was quite frozen and firm as I headed out, and after a few hundred feet I decided it was appropriate to put the ski crampons on to be more efficient.
I worked my way up the Palmer and made good time. Above the mid-station, the Timberline crew was performing some maintenance on the lift. The line on one of the spans had come off and they were de-icing it and working to get it back on the sheaves.
I skinned by them and arrived at the top of the Palmer, and found a few other folks there. One group of two were quite interesting – a couple of younger guys from Guatemala. One of them, named Joseph, offered me some Guatemalan coffee, which hit the spot after climbing a couple thousand vertical. Turns out he was quite the volcano addict and photographer. He showed me some pretty cool pictures he’d taken of Volcan de Fuego in his home country and it was unlike anything I’d seen before. Definitely pretty cool. We exchanged Instagram info and then it was time for me to take a lap and see if any of that firm snow was turning to corn.
A few minutes later, I shoved off from the top of the Palmer and started down. The top few turns were firm but carvable. Further down, the snow softened and became really nice, and the lower third was some of the best corn I’d skied in several years. Pretty ironic for mid-December, but I definitely wasn’t complaining. I worked my way down below the mid-station and into the gullies, stopping a few hundred feet lower. When I’d shoved off at the top of the run earlier, I wasn’t certain if I was going to do more than one run, but now I was stoked and definitely ready to make a full day of it.
I skinned back up with an extra spring in my step, and made it to the top of the Palmer again in nothing flat. While there, I met Rich, who I’d known casually through his work at Backcountry Gear in Eugene before they closed last year. We chatted some and decided to head up above the Palmer to check out the conditions. The snow was firm, but the temps were warm, so we donned ski crampons and headed up.
Around 9,400 feet, I decided to call it as it became clear it wasn’t going to soften and the conditions were getting worse. Rich decided he wanted to go up a bit further, so we made loose plans to possibly meet up later in the day for some turns lower down.
Before I headed down, I determined it was a good time to snap a few photos as well as enjoy the beer I’d been hauling around in my pack. My beer of choice for the day was a smooth drinking “Da Hawaii Life” lite lager from Maui Brewing Company that I’d brought back the previous month from Maui while vacationing with the family. It didn’t disappoint, and before long it was gone and it was time to make some more turns.
Once the beer can and tripod were safely stowed back in my pack, I stepped carefully (due to the icy conditions) into my bindings, and started down. The turns were firm and crusty wind sastrugi, but turned to corn once I was a few hundred feet above the top of the Palmer. I stopped at the top of the Palmer briefly, and then shredded the snowfield below in perfect corn conditions, working all the way down to my previous low point before stopping.
Again, the turns were some oft the best corn I’d had in years, so it was an easy decision to head back up for a third lap. A few minutes later, the skins were back on the boards, and I made quick work back to the top of the Palmer. While putting my split together and eating a snack, Rich came down from above and we regrouped to enjoy the ski out to the car together. Turns out he went up another 400-500 feet higher than me and conditions continued to get worse. At any rate, we skied the Palmer together in perfect corn and it didn’t disappoint.
I fired off some pictures with my R5 as we headed down, and eventually I led us over to skier’s left to where the best corn was from earlier in the day and it was still awesome. From there, remembering how bad the Mile canyon looked, I suggested we head down the small snow finger that led nearly back to the Climber’s lot, but provided a much better (in my opinion) ski down.
Our choice to descend skier’s left proved to be a good one, and we were able to slide to within a few hundred feet of the parking lot with only one short carry.
It was a short hike back to the car, and soon we were changing out of ski boots and into — I know this sounds ridiculous — shorts and t-shirts. It was around 55 degrees at the car, and about 60 in the direct sun. Pretty nuts for mid-December. Rich invited me to split an Alesong beer with him, and it was definitely refreshing after a great day. I’d never had a beer from Alesong Brewing out of Eugene before, but after tasting that one I made a note to get out there this year and check them out!
Around 4:00 pm, it was time to pack up and head for home, since the daylight was burning quickly on what was close to the shortest day of the year. I bid Rich farewell and headed out, stopping below Govy to shoot a picture of the mountain in the afternoon light, before making the drive down to Sandy and home via I-5. All things considered, and although it wasn’t a traditional December day on the mountain, it was one I won’t soon forget and one of my more memorable outings on Mt Hood.
