Category: Mt Hood

Fall has officially arrived in Oregon, and we’ve been enjoying a beautiful Indian summer during the first part of October. Unlike last year, when a big storm blanketed the cascades in a fresh coat of new snow, the mountains are nearly bare right now. Rather than chance waiting on a storm for October turns, Dan, Joe, Cindy and I elected to head to Mt Hood on what would turn out to be an unusually warm fall day. After the usual stop at Joe’s Donut Shop for a quick coffee refill, we pulled into the parking lot at Timberline. Stepping out of the car, it was rather warm and hadn’t even approached freezing the night before.

We quickly sorted gear, strapped on skis and boards, and headed up the climbers trail towards the White River Canyon. The wind was non-existent, and even though I was wearing light pants and a light long sleeved shirt I felt overdressed. We made quick time to the base of the White River glacier…

Down below a group of 4 folks were ice climbing on some cool features at the foot of the east side of the glacier. I made a mental note that late September/early October would be a good time to come back for an ice climbing session. We climbed up to somewhere around 8000 feet and stopped for a quick break to re-hydrate and snap a few photos….

We continued climbing, now with a good view of both the glacier and the Palmer snowfield. I was surprised the lifts were running, as it appeared people had to not only upload to get to the top of the Palmer, but they had to take skis off on each run because there wasn’t enough snow on the mid-station ramp. Near the top of the Palmer, Joe snapped a picture of Dan and I with the glacier in the background…..

Our plan was to just run a few laps on the Palmer, but as usual we got suckered into the White River triangle above the Palmer because the snow “looked so good.” Joe and Dan switched from hiking to skiing boots, and we started up. A few hundred vertical feet later, the snow didn’t look so hot. In fact, we did a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see if we should continue up or not. I won, which meant we continued climbing, so we did. The snow got more cupped, so a few hundred feet from the top of the Triangle we called it. Below is a picture looking back down from our high point.

While we were taking a break and getting ready to head down, we heard a huge rumble and looked up to see a substantial portion of the Steel Cliffs crumble away in a landslide. The three of us stared in awe, and my initial thought was I may need to run if this gets any bigger. Fortunately, it didn’t, but this was by far and away the biggest slide/rockfall any of us had seen on Hood. I can still see rocks the size of cars hurtling off the face as the slope slid on itself.

After the rock show, we headed down the triangle, and it actually skied better than it appeared. The snow was soft and actually quite nice. I dropped in first and setup to snap a few pictures of Joe as he followed. Dan came down last, and I got a few pics of him as well….

Along part of the triangle there was a small patch of fresh snow left over from the few inches of snow that had fallen a week earlier, and I left it open for Joe and Dan to rip, knowing they’d be stoked on it. Clearly they were, as the smile on Joe’s face below indicates…..

We were able to “ski” to the top of the Palmer, but the road along the top of the Palmer had melted out and the skiable snow was a few hundred feet below us. As we hiked along the road to the lift shack, we met Chris with ski patrol and chatted him up for awhile. He indicated the rockfall/slide on the Steel Cliffs had been felt with the area’s instruments, and was possibly triggered by a tremor. After trading a few stories, Chris headed out towards the White River and we got ready to rip the Palmer. As usual, the snow was creamy and sweet on the snowfield….

At the mid-station, we stashed a couple of beers in the snow and hiked back up under the chair, making good time. Roughly 25 minutes later there we were again at the top of the Palmer. Dan grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos of me while I ripped some sweet October turns…..

At the bottom of the snowfield, we met up with Cindy, who likes to hike up from below at her own pace, and took a rest while drinking our ice cold beers. Riding down the Palmer canyon was a blast, but I was surprised at how little snow there was. We made turns to the top of the Mile canyon, but that was all as the lower canyon was melted out. So, the boards went back on our packs and we hiked down the road in temperatures that approached 80 degrees.

Back at the parking lot, it felt damn good to change into shorts and flip flops, and sip on a cold beverage, eat some pickled salmon, and feast on fresh chips and garden salsa. All in all it was an excellent day with better than expected snow, and all of us were glad we got out early for October turns. Now let it snow!

Where to go for August turns? Seems like that’s the question every year. After spring and summer adventures during the volcano season, August can sometimes feel like a let down. That is, until I head out to Mt Hood. This year, like the last, Dan was game to head north for some turns, so we met in Albany and carpooled up to Timberline. After a quick stop at Joe’s Donuts for breakfast, we arrived in the lot about 8:45, and were hiking up the climbers trail adjacent to the White River drainage about 9:15. We met a skier from Vancouver, WA who kept up company to the top of the Palmer. Hiking up the trail, numerous wildflowers were in bloom from the recent rain, and the White River Glacier was making it’s summer retreat….

While watching the glacier, we heard a rather loud rumbling at the bottom, and turned to see a huge outburst of rock, mud, ice and water flow from the bottom of the glacier. The slurry ran down the bottom of the canyon for several thousand feet, pouring over the remaining snowfields in the bottom. Though there was no reason to be down there, it was a good reminder of the mountain’s power and why the bottom of the canyon is no place to be in the summer.

At the top of the Palmer, Dan and I continued on while our skier friend headed down to lap the public park on the Mile run. We climbed up the While River Snowfield, which was surprisingly well filled in given the below average snow year, an eventually worked our way up to the base of the White River Headwall.

Our original plan had been to ski from around 9500 feet, but once we were there it looked like the snow higher up would be decent, so we continued on. Crossing the rock ridge near the base of the White River headwall, I could tell the snow on the Zigzag and upper mountain looked really nice, so our decision to descend the White River snowfield was trumped by the Zigzag Glacier and higher snow around Crater Rock.

As we worked our way up to the Devil’s Kitchen, a large cloud started to form quickly. Both Dan and I watched, as it hung around and looked menacing. Lightening was on both our minds, as it was humid, but not too warm given the slight breeze.

We crossed over and around a few crevasses near the Devil’s Kitchen, and worked our way up the slope towards the Hogsback. The snow above Devil’s Kitchen and below Hogsback was somewhat inconsistent, and as we continued climbing the cloud looked more and more menacing. Given the hour, the snow conditions, and the weather, we opted to turn around a few hundred feet from the Hogsback and head down. Once we were back down on the flat below Devil’s Kitchen, we stopped for a few quick pictures before strapping in for some August turns….

I headed down first, and the turns were pretty decent on the snowfield above the White River Headwall. Dan followed, and I snapped shots of him as he skied down to and then past met…..

 

At the top of the White River Headwall, we elected to traverse over to a connecting snow finger well above the Zigzag Glacier, which dropped several hundred feet down to the Ziggy. Dan skied down in front of me with my camera, and shot a few pictures as I made turns above Illumination Rock…..

The snow finger skied well, but once we were onto the Zigzag proper was when the snow went from good to great. Unlike the year prior, the Ziggy was perfectly smooth with no suncups. We both opened it up and descended down for another thousand feet of smooth, excellent August corn….

It’s easy to forget that Hood is a big mountain, and the below shot puts that into perspective — in the photo I’m snowboarding on the upper Zigzag below the connecting snow finger (upper right) that nearly connects to the White River headwall.

Midway down the Zigzag Glacier, Dan and I traversed skier’s left and continued to make turns down while angling back towards the Palmer snowfield. After riding as far as we could, we gauged the weather, which seemed to be holding, and climbed over and up to the top of the Palmer…..

Once to the top of the Palmer, it was time for a well deserved beer and a break. 15 minutes later, we were ready to ride the fresh corduroy laid down by the Timberline cats, and dropped in just after Patrol swept off the hill…….

We skied down the 2500 vertical feet of the Palmer and Magic Mile canyons to within a few hundred feet of the lodge, one of my favorite things about summer turns at Mt Hood. On the brief hike down to the lodge, I snapped a few pictures of Timberline with an orange filter and the below picture was the result….

Back at the car, Dan and I enjoyed another beer, along with some summer favorites including fresh chips and salsa made from the garden, as well as fresh cucumbers and dip. On the drive home, we were fortunate to make good time heading south (I5 north had three separate wrecks), and enjoyed reliving the day as well as planning for September turns to come. One thing about August turns — they never seem to be a letdown, even after a great spring/summer volcano season! Here’s a parting shot from the day…..

After an unusually warm week with valley temperatures reaching upwards of 70 degrees, a late season storm was approaching Mt Hood and appeared to have the potential to deliver a significant powder punch on Monday. The forecast was calling for 8-12 inches overnight with temperatures in the low 20’s, so I made tentative plans to head north and spend the day in the old growth forests of Mt Hood’s backcountry with Ron. Telemetry showed 2 inches of fresh snow when I went to bed at 10:00 pm, but 16 inches was on the ground by 5:00 am in the morning when I woke. As part of my normal routine, I checked the NWAC report, and the avalanche danger was rated Considerable. After exchanging texts with Ron, we agreed it was a go and I hit the road heading north on I-5, arriving at his place around 7:00 am. We arrived in the parking lot around 8:15 am, with low visibility, moderate winds and moderate snowfall. It looked like about 18 inches of new snow had fallen overnight, and by 8:30 am we had packs shouldered and were on the skin track.

The temperature was hovering around 20 degrees, and though the snow was light, the winds had created wind slab in places. Touring out towards Sand Canyon, we noticed some compression cracks while skinning. Due to the conditions, we were quite cautious when crossing Sand Canyon, performing a couple of hasty pits and other tests. Results indicated the slab was reactive, but no bed layer was present. Continuing on, we came to the PCT crossing of the Little Zigzag Canyon near 5800 feet, the only point on our tour that posed any real objective danger. The west face of the Little Zigzag was the windward side, but still we were cautious on the descent. Even though the canyon walls are only about 100 feet high, they have potential to be dangerous in the right conditions. We skied down one at a time, and regrouped in a safe spot near the bottom of the canyon to discuss heading up the opposite side. Ron agreed to proceed cautiously, with the intention of performing another hasty pit when he was partway up the canyon wall and a few hundred feet from me. I waited as he set out, and snapped a picture of him heading out on his way (below). Shortly after, I put the camera away to focus solely on watching him.

About 10 seconds after I put my camera in the bag, I saw a shooting crack run out in front of Ron and heard him yell Slide! I watched as the slope shattered like glass and started to run down around him. At first, I thought it was small enough to just run by him, but the entire slope failed and came down. Even though it’s only 100 feet, it packed a mighty big punch and knocked him off his feet. In fact, the toe of the avalanche came down towards me and ran a few feet past me. I watched Ron move downhill slowly, and he appeared to slide about 30 feet before a second wave of snow covered him up. What happened next was a bit of a blur, but I remember seeing a hand wave once, and then it was gone. My initial thoughts were “shit, this is actually happening” and “how could he be buried on such a small slope.” I remember feeling a bit panicked and started moving towards where I’d last seen his hand, then stopped and regained my composure. Years of avy training in courses and on ski patrol took over, and I pulled out my beacon, got a signal and found him within what I estimate to be about 90 seconds. He was fully buried, with only half of one arm out and a portion of his face exposed. Later I learned his mouth had some snow in it, but he could breathe through his nose. Given he’d only traveled 25-30 feet, he was uninjured and I was able to dig him out in about 5 minutes. The next hour was spent digging for his ski poles, which we eventually found a few feet below the surface. The below picture shows the debris pile looking up the east facing canyon wall.

After we found Ron’s poles and regained our composure, we explored the bed surface of the slide and found a sun crust (which wasn’t present on the very similar and same aspect slope in Sand Canyon). The crust produced a quality one shear. The weak layer was the very light low density snow that has fallen as the storm cycle began, and the obvious slab was the wind slab created from the recent new snow and wind. In the hour or so that we looked for Ron’s poles, we had significant time to reflect on what happened, what we could have done differently, etc. There were a couple of key take aways from this event for both of us. First, there were obvious signs of instability, and we were aware of them. Skiing in the storm cycle is something many people (including me) do routinely and something that can be done safely. The difference from this tour is that normally the zones we ski on higher avy days can be reached without encountering any objective hazards. On this tour, the Little Zigzag is basically the one objective hazard between the car and the safe skiing zones, and it is a very small feature on Mt Hood. This is take away number one, and something I’ve known but obviously didn’t give enough credence too on this day – small slopes (and even really small slopes) can be dangerous in the right conditions and can ruin your day. They should be treated with the respect they deserve, and one should be especially cautious of them during high avy days as it’s easy to let your guard down and think that if they slide nothing will really happen.

Takeaway number two – if possible, completely eliminate the objective hazard. In this case, we likely could have crossed the canyon several hundred feet down the slope, which would have been prudent. And, of course, there’s always the option of turning around if a safe crossing doesn’t exist. My last take away relates to alpha angle and runout. Even though I felt I was in a safe spot if something were to happen, the toe of the avalanche ran past me by a couple of feet. In retrospect, the next time I’m out, I’ll be applying a larger safety factor to potential runout zones when skiing one at a time.

After our incident, and a discussion on what lay ahead, we made the decision to continue on rather than head back to the car, given the rest of the tour to get to our objective consisted of skinning through low angle glades. Around 11:30 am, we reached a suitable place to head downhill and peeled skins, making turns down through the nicely spaced old growth. The wind affected snow near treeline gave way to very nice powder protected by the shelter provided from the trees. The first run was good, but we skied a bit tentatively, wanting to make sure the conditions were bombproof, which they proved to be.

We skinned back up for another lap, and this time opened things up a bit, skiing the whole line from top to bottom, confident what to expect after our first lap. Ron snapped a few photos of me, and I returned the favor and pulled out my camera and fired off a few shots…

We utilized our existing up track and ended up making another three laps, each one as good as the last in the fresh snow. It continued to snow the entire time we were touring (the forecast had only called for less than an inch during the day), with and additional 5-6 inches falling since our morning incident. Around 2:30 pm, we decided it was time to head back to the car, knowing we still had to recross the Little Ziggy. Our skin track from the morning was completely filled in, so another 3 miles of trail breaking was the price we had to pay. Coming back to the Little Zigzag, we were extra cautious prior to crossing. Skiing downhill of the fracture line (to a point where the slope didn’t release) we performed extensive tests trying to get the slope to release – it didn’t. Skiing back up hill to our earlier crossing from the morning, we dropped in one at a time, skiing the bed surface, which had 5-6 inches of new snow on it. Ron went first, and I followed when he was over to the opposing canyon wall. The remainder of the skin out was uneventful, and soon we were back at the car, tired after a long, fun and lesson filled day.

The car ride back to Ron’s was filled with discussion about the day, and mostly continued discussion about our incident. At Ron’s, a cold IPA hit the spot before I embarked on the two hour drive home. Cruising down I-5, I was thankful for another day in the mountains and for the lessons learned from this day. Below is a parting shot of Ron skiing the trees.

It’s gonna’ be ugly this spring if it doesn’t snow soon I thought to myself as I checked the weather forecast again. As it sits presently, the snowpack in the Oregon cascades is running anywhere from zero to about 20% of normal. With 2014 three days away, I was jonesing for turns and decided it was time to get out to stretch the legs regardless of conditions. Ron and Todd were game as well, so plans were firmed up to do a tour up the  south side of Hood on Sunday.

I woke before my alarm in the morning, made some coffee and hit the road. A few hours later, I arrived at Ron’s and soon we were headed up the highway towards Timberline. As we neared Govy, we got our first glimpse of the mountain, and could tell the snowpack was dismal. In Govy, Ski Bowl was bare for the lower third of the mountain, with only a few inches coating the upper mountain around 5000 feet. As we neared Timberline, the snow finally started to increase in depth, to a whopping 20 inches or so near the lodge. We met Todd in the Climber’s lot, pulled out gear and started skinning up the canyon.

The snow was rock hard and very slick, kind of like skinning on a hockey rink on an incline. The sun was out, but a stiff wind kept us cool and the snow hard as we worked our way up towards Silcox Hut. Ron and Todd agreed to stop long enough for me to snap a quick photo…

Mixed with the icy snow surface was a decent amount of water ice, which made proper skinning technique a must even on the mellow slopes. Skinning over what normally wouldn’t get a second thought suddenly demanded more attention to detail, where a fall would hurt at the very least but could end up in slide.

The headwind which was blowing down the mountain and keeping us cool (but the snow firm) also kept the upper mountain shrouded in a cool lenticular cloud all morning….

A few hundred feet below Silcox Hut, I stopped to put my beanie on and set my sunglasses down in front of my pack for less than a second. Promptly, they were picked up by a strong gust of wind and blown down the slope. They kept sliding and sliding, and though I went after them, I never did find them. With the wind, they likely ended up in the White River canyon. That little mishap cost me a couple hundred feet, and by the time I caught up to Todd and Ron they were hunkered down under a rock. We made the call to descend from here, given the wind, and then maybe head back for another lap.

Even though it was icy, the snow skied decently. If it hadn’t been for the wind, it may have even been corn for our descent. Ron and Todd dropped in while I snapped a couple of photos. I followed, and found the best snow to be in the gully about halfway between our high point and the car…

Down at the car, the Climber’s lot was full, and we rehydrated and ate a snack. The wind picked up again, and Todd elected to head home. Ron and I stuck around for awhile, and finally the wind died down so we headed out for a second lap. Skinning up the second time was much nicer as the snow finally started to soften. I snapped the below shot looking down into the Salmon River canyon during a quick break on the uptrack, which snows the lack of snow on the lower mountain.

After passing some snowshoe enthusiasts (they were out in force — I’m guessing they don’t have anywhere to go either), we skinned partway up the Palmer snowfield with a few other skiers. By the time we reached an equivalent elevation with the mid-station around 1:45 pm, we could tell it would only be a few more minutes before the snow started to refreeze. The window for corn snow is pretty limited this time of year.

The second lap was quite a bit better than the first, and we did find a few spots where the snow resembled corn. I snapped a few photos of Ron while he ripped the snow on his handmade skis, then found a few fun turns in the canyon. Sitting back down at the truck in the lot, we both agreed it was nice to wrap up December with a greater than 3000 foot vertical day of riding

After a Mirror Pond pale ale and some grub, I hit the road home. Given the conditions, I’d have to say it was a good day, but compared to normal December standards it was well below average – it really needs to snow in a bad way! Here’s a parting shot from the day…