Mount Hood: the PNW gets weirder

A strange tree in the Pacific Northwest. Photo: Matt Paul.

The Pacific Northwest gets stranger by the minute.  Or maybe just stays stranger by the minute.  The forecast for 4/29 didn't look remotely good for climbing a decent sized mountain like 11,249' Mount Hood.  My experience in the Northwest has led me to believe that usually the weather is worse than the forecast lets on.  Taking these things into account we made our trip plan for Hood thinking the snow would be microwaved slop, kept soggy by heat trapped in the clouds all day.  We figured we might as well sleep in a bit, catch up on some zzz's, have a civilized cup of coffee then punch out 7,000' vert on Hood and ski down.  Good plan, till we got to Hood River.

When we arrived the sky went blue-bird.  We were psyched, but we realized that we might have blown our timing for getting decent snow quality.

Just a puff of cloud on the summit of Mount Hood.

We knew we would have to make haste to get our skis on the snow before it all turned to mush.   But as soon as we reached the trail head we hit a stumbling block: there was no snow at the trail-head. We plowed through a few hundred vert on dirt trails.

"I like walking on dirt in ski boots!"

As soon as we hit consistent snow, we picked up the pace.  Glimpses of Hood peered through the burned out forest as we gained the ridge heading toward the Cooper Spur, our chosen climbing route.

The torched forest was beautiful in a strange PNW sort of way.

Above treeline, the Spur jutted into our faces.  Behind it the steep north face of Mount Hood rises above the Eliot Glacier.

Slogging up the snowfield toward the Cooper Spur.

The Cooper Spur points directly to Hood's summit.

 We traversed the ridge and went straight up.  We soon realized we didn't need to rush.  The snow was rock hard for the last 1,000' to the summit and it wasn't softening soon.  This made for great climbing conditions, but but the skiing left something to be desired.

Ascending the steepest part of the climb about 500' from the top.

This part was pretty steep too...

 The snow was steep and firm enough that we decided against skiing the upper 1,000' or so.  Around 10,000' I side-slipped until it became somewhat edge-able.  Good times...

Matt down climbing some steep, hard "snow".

You can almost hear how sweet the skiing is in this picture...it sounds like the ocean.

Off the steeps there were some great wind buffed turns.  It was nice to be able to snap a few fun turns in.

Matt Paul cranks some soft chalk.

Another fun turn.

On the Eliot there were even a few good corn turns.  I love how snow changes.

Fun turns were all over the Elliot Glacier and below.

Every good ski tour ends with a nice walk in the woods.

Mount Saint Helens: in the PNW get above the clouds ~ ~ ~

The Mount Saint Helens White Room.

We were treating this as a training trip.  The weather was supposed to be miserable.  And it started out just as it was supposed to: gray, gloomy and moist.

Matt Paul avoiding a large hole in the Worm Flow moraines.

But, as it happens in the Pacific Northwest, if you don't like the weather you have to change your altitude.  As we got higher on the mountain we out-climbed the clouds and broke though the cloud ceiling that was thick everywhere below 5,000'.

Perseverance paid off and the clouds cleared just above 5,000'.

Above the cloud the unfiltered sun bore down on us.  It's been two days since we did this climb and my thighs are still burning from opening my ski pant vents and not sun-screening my legs.  We climbed fast and made the most of the good weather.

Matt churning up the Monitor Ridge towards the crater rim of Mount Saint Helens.

Matt taking a breather at 8,000'.

Me standing on the Crater Rim.  The true summit is the far peak in the background with the HUGE cornice.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Matt at the crater's edge.

Me on the rim of the smoking caldera.  This is a must see!  Even if the skiing is awful, the views make the trip well worthwhile.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Me peering into the center of St Helen's Crater Rim.  Photo: Matt Paul.

Me standing on the true summit of Mount Saint Helens.  HUGE cornice.  Photo: Matt Paul.

The snow was much stickier than expected, but there were a few good turns to be had above 6,000'. Below that and it was survival skiing.  The transitioning snow varied between velcro and glue and it was a struggle not to have a leg ripped off.  But heh, skiing's always better than walking right?

Matt descends a rib of Monitor Ridge with Mount Adams jutting above the clouds.

What goes up must come down.  So we set off into the clouds back to the trail head.  The only way to keep glide was to ski on skin tracks and  the snowshoes packed trail.  We kept a few snow-shoers on their toes on the way down.

The skiing below 6,000' wasn't amazing, but Matt made it look alright.

Descending below the cloud deck on volcanic moraines.