Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: June 3, 2004
Phenomenal red sunrise from up top. Also saw the sky turn to daylight for some inexplicable reason on the way up -- found out the next day a meteorite had exploded high up. Glad to claim my 27th state highpoint.
Route Climbed: Hogsback Date Climbed: May 25, 2004
Beautiful morning. I started at 2:45 am from the lodge and summited at 7:15. More of a hike than a climb as the only fairly steep section is above the hogsback. I really regreted not bringing my skis as hiking down along the ski run was really boring.
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 23, 2004
Tried for my second summit of this mountain.
We set out with full conditions at 2:30 am. There were 2-3" of fresh snow at timberline lodge. Driving snow at higher elevations with 6-12" of fresh snow. We made it to base of crater rock (approx. 9600 ft) but the weather showed no signs of improvement. We turned around due to poor visibility and concerns of avalanche up higher. Descended in whiteout using a compass. Talk about vertigo! Couldn't tell if I was going up or down!!
good experience climb eventhough we didn't make the summit.
Route Climbed: south side route Date Climbed: 5/20/2004
left the lodge around 6am. great weather until the hogsback. from then on clouds moved in and out the rest of the climb. summited at 10am and stayed long enough for something to eat and a few pics. little to no wind the whole time. the bergschrund has opened up a lot. several climbers were traversing around to the left, yet still were sinking in. suggest the mazama variation for the rest of the year.
Route Climbed: South Side -standard Date Climbed: 5/16/04
Climber's beware.
Ran into a party who was doing a high traverse above Palmer snow field to get on Wyeast. Apparently, as they were headed East, not more than 50-100' off the right side of the boot pack leading straight up from the East side of the the top of the Palmer lift towards triangle moraine, the 1st climber fell 20-30', un-roped, into a hidden crevasse. He only hurt his ankle and his partner was able to drop him a rope and he climbed out with 2 tools and one good leg.
Today, other climbers were higher up on the mountain, near triangle moraine and a climber fell 50-60' into a crevasse that was very difficult to see, in an area that usually isn't crevassed this time of year. Apparently, there were several gaps that were just opening. Climber was rescued and flown to hospital to treat injuries.
Bottom line, even on the dog route, bad things can happen. Suggest folks doing the South side stay more towards the center of the snow field leading up to triangle morraine and pass the morraine on the West side, versus heading straight up. Ditto on descent. Pay attention to where you glissade/ski/plunge step and steer away from the East side of the snow field closest to White River canyon.
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 15, 2004
Started to climb at 1:00 am and reached the summit at 7:30 am with Tom Wiemer and Bill Kelley. Got back at 11:00 am. Day started with stars then turned into white out before reaching the summit. At the summit cleared up with great views. On the way back again turned into white out from Hogsback to lodge.
Route Climbed: South Route Date Climbed: 5-10-2004
Started out with clear skies, no headlamps needed, moon was great. Had clear skies up to the Hogsback. Schrund is now open, we went right , I'd recommend left. Noticed some clouds moving in rapidly as we topped out of the Pearly Gates. Still sunny on the summit, with high winds. Didn't stick around long. As soon as we got back to the Hogsback we were in a whiteout. 4-5ft visibility made for an interesting descent. Route finding all the way to the lodge was fun.
Route Climbed: South Highway Date Climbed: May 2, 2004
Left the parking lot at 4:30, were greated by a lenticular that was sitting at the top of ski lift. It lifted soon after and all that remained were about 100 other climbers. Snow was great and the skis were clear. Roundtripped it in 5 1/2 hours.
When the wind whipped up in the parking lot the night before the climb, it would kick up lots of dirt (Made for gritty teeth in the morning) would recommend a bivy or to sleep in a vehicle.
Spur looked great, wish I had the time/knowledge of the mountain to access that route.
Route Climbed: Reid Glacier Headwall Date Climbed: May 1, 2004
See Brian Jenkins's entry below. We took the longest line on Reid Headwall, which normally maxes out at 50° snow. Some of the high angle (60+°) traverses and gullies we climbed through due to ice fall wouldn't usually be done. I also think that the mixed section we did indicates that this route is now out of condition for the season. The bergschrund crossing won't last much longer either. This route has much more sustained steepness than Leuthold Couloir or Wy'east.
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: April 24, 2004
A gorgeous day in the mountains. Beginning with a very non-alpine start (7:30am) we were planning on only skinning up part of the way and then skiing down. However when we got to the hogsback the snow conditions were good and we ended up climbing to the summit. Conditions were calm and very warm - and there were surprisingly few people on the mountain. After descending the hogsback and sitting to remove my crampons, we watched as a skiier descended from the summit and set off an avalanche below the west crater rim. Luckily he was not hurt but the sight of all that snow crashing into a smoking fumarole was a bit scary. Just below the hogsback we strapped our skis back on and enjoyed an incredible descent back to the parking lot.
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: April 18, 2004
Reached the summit in a whiteout with wind and horizontal snow. Rime was forming on everything, including goggles, and my gloves kept freezing to my ice axe. Snow conditions were about two feet of unconsolidated lying atop a week-old melt-freeze crust. Quite a bit of wind-transport was going on in the Pearly Gates. If it were sunny this could have created a big avalanche concern later in the day.
Left at 2am. Skies clear as report stated. We were the only party that we could see, and only one more in the Timberline parking lot (going on Wy'East).
Snow was perfect for crampons, a quiet and chilly night for climbing: as mentioned, perfect!
Our team of three reached about 9500, just below Crater rock, where the fun would have begun--however one of the members was not feeling well, and so an "executive" decision on my part turned us back.
After a rest, the trip down uneventful, we arrived at Timberline at 9:30am. Despite the _perfect_ missed summit weather (as I saw on the way down) I still had lots of fun.
Route Climbed: south route Date Climbed: 4-10-2004
started at 5:30am, a little later than i wanted to. very windy almost the entire way. the cevasse is open both sides of the ridge. beautiful view from the top. not too crowded. great conditions on the way down.
Route Climbed: Wy'east Date Climbed: April 11, 2004
We took the lower approach, crossing the White River Canyon at 7200 ft, after doing a recon on the upper approach a few days earlier. Once on the lower Wy'east face we found huge suncups and nieve penitentes. Higher on the face snow conditions were much better. From the east crater rim to the summit the route is melting rapidly. Soon you'll be scrambling over rotten rock on this exposed last part of the route. Right now it's covered with a rotten snow/ice hybrid. Get on this route early in the morning while the final part is still frozen.
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: Apirl 9th, 2004
I took a heavy pack intending to do a "high camp" 2 day climb. Once there, I instead decided to just bring my "golite" summit pack and do the single day Timberline direct to the summit via the Hogback. Beautiful weather (almost too warm but the softend snow was better on the knees on the lower portion of the descent), not too many climbers going up on a Thursday night/Friday morning , nice company - Mark, son Kyle, Steven. Long climb (reached summit at 7:30 am) - nice exposure on a beautiful mountain glazed in ice - stinky volcanoe though and the Forest Service did NOT resupply the Bluebags at Timberline self register >:-0
Route Climbed: West Crater Rim Date Climbed: April 6, 2004
Went up intending to do Wy'east, but bad weather and an out of condition upper crossing of White River Glacier convinced us to do WCR instead. We took the steeper variation to the left of Hot Rocks -- excellent climbing on 50° snow. We did have to dodge some minor ice fall in the Old Chute. This route is definitely more exposed to ice fall than the South Side, but not as much as Leuthold Couloir. The bergschrund on the South Side is now open with a snowbridge crossing in the middle of the Hogsback.
Route Climbed: South Side (Hogsback) Date Climbed: 3-21-04
Three of us summited on a perfect day, views of Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, Jefferson, Sisters and more. We saw one climber at the top of hogsback slip and fall on south side of hogsback to bowl, got up, and summited! Be careful! Two of our team snowboarded from just below hogsback, fastest descent for me.
Route Climbed: Hogsback Date Climbed: March 20, 2004
Climbed solo on an amazing weather day. No moon made for a very dark climb for the first few hours. Snow conditions where great the whole way. NO CROWDS, only a few people ahead of me. Met fellow SummitPost member Caude at the bottom of the hogsback, thanks for the good advice and summit photos. Had the summit virtually to ourselves for about 45 minutes! By the time I got back to the bottom of the hogsback I found myself stripping off layers, it was hot the whole way down! Great day.
toclimbon - Jun 8, 2004 2:58 pm
Route Climbed: south Date Climbed: 6-7-04Pretty dicey weather But, still managed to summit. Lots of soft snow above palmer to summit. Much work But, worth it!
koz - Jun 7, 2004 4:44 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: June 3, 2004Phenomenal red sunrise from up top. Also saw the sky turn to daylight for some inexplicable reason on the way up -- found out the next day a meteorite had exploded high up. Glad to claim my 27th state highpoint.
Zzyzx - May 31, 2004 3:53 pm
Route Climbed: Hogsback Date Climbed: May 25, 2004Beautiful morning. I started at 2:45 am from the lodge and summited at 7:15. More of a hike than a climb as the only fairly steep section is above the hogsback. I really regreted not bringing my skis as hiking down along the ski run was really boring.
Jeff H - May 27, 2004 12:23 am
Route Climbed: South Side (Hogsback) Date Climbed: April 28th, 2004Watched a beautiful sunrise while alone on the summit and was back in Portland in time for work by mid morning. Great way to start the day.
esugi - May 26, 2004 5:15 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 23, 2004Tried for my second summit of this mountain.
We set out with full conditions at 2:30 am. There were 2-3" of fresh snow at timberline lodge. Driving snow at higher elevations with 6-12" of fresh snow. We made it to base of crater rock (approx. 9600 ft) but the weather showed no signs of improvement. We turned around due to poor visibility and concerns of avalanche up higher. Descended in whiteout using a compass. Talk about vertigo! Couldn't tell if I was going up or down!!
good experience climb eventhough we didn't make the summit.
modeboy - May 21, 2004 12:30 pm
Route Climbed: south side route Date Climbed: 5/20/2004left the lodge around 6am. great weather until the hogsback. from then on clouds moved in and out the rest of the climb. summited at 10am and stayed long enough for something to eat and a few pics. little to no wind the whole time. the bergschrund has opened up a lot. several climbers were traversing around to the left, yet still were sinking in. suggest the mazama variation for the rest of the year.
cluck - May 18, 2004 9:14 pm
Route Climbed: South Side -standard Date Climbed: 5/16/04Climber's beware.
Ran into a party who was doing a high traverse above Palmer snow field to get on Wyeast. Apparently, as they were headed East, not more than 50-100' off the right side of the boot pack leading straight up from the East side of the the top of the Palmer lift towards triangle moraine, the 1st climber fell 20-30', un-roped, into a hidden crevasse. He only hurt his ankle and his partner was able to drop him a rope and he climbed out with 2 tools and one good leg.
Today, other climbers were higher up on the mountain, near triangle moraine and a climber fell 50-60' into a crevasse that was very difficult to see, in an area that usually isn't crevassed this time of year. Apparently, there were several gaps that were just opening. Climber was rescued and flown to hospital to treat injuries.
Bottom line, even on the dog route, bad things can happen. Suggest folks doing the South side stay more towards the center of the snow field leading up to triangle morraine and pass the morraine on the West side, versus heading straight up. Ditto on descent. Pay attention to where you glissade/ski/plunge step and steer away from the East side of the snow field closest to White River canyon.
e.acar - May 16, 2004 11:33 am
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: May 15, 2004Started to climb at 1:00 am and reached the summit at 7:30 am with Tom Wiemer and Bill Kelley. Got back at 11:00 am. Day started with stars then turned into white out before reaching the summit. At the summit cleared up with great views. On the way back again turned into white out from Hogsback to lodge.
jhalz - May 11, 2004 12:18 pm
Route Climbed: South Route Date Climbed: 5-10-2004Started out with clear skies, no headlamps needed, moon was great. Had clear skies up to the Hogsback. Schrund is now open, we went right , I'd recommend left. Noticed some clouds moving in rapidly as we topped out of the Pearly Gates. Still sunny on the summit, with high winds. Didn't stick around long. As soon as we got back to the Hogsback we were in a whiteout. 4-5ft visibility made for an interesting descent. Route finding all the way to the lodge was fun.
IdahoClimber - May 5, 2004 5:54 pm
Route Climbed: South Highway Date Climbed: May 2, 2004Left the parking lot at 4:30, were greated by a lenticular that was sitting at the top of ski lift. It lifted soon after and all that remained were about 100 other climbers. Snow was great and the skis were clear. Roundtripped it in 5 1/2 hours.
When the wind whipped up in the parking lot the night before the climb, it would kick up lots of dirt (Made for gritty teeth in the morning) would recommend a bivy or to sleep in a vehicle.
Spur looked great, wish I had the time/knowledge of the mountain to access that route.
dkantola - May 2, 2004 11:48 am
Route Climbed: Reid Glacier Headwall Date Climbed: May 1, 2004See Brian Jenkins's entry below. We took the longest line on Reid Headwall, which normally maxes out at 50° snow. Some of the high angle (60+°) traverses and gullies we climbed through due to ice fall wouldn't usually be done. I also think that the mixed section we did indicates that this route is now out of condition for the season. The bergschrund crossing won't last much longer either. This route has much more sustained steepness than Leuthold Couloir or Wy'east.
jtschanz - Apr 26, 2004 4:39 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: April 24, 2004A gorgeous day in the mountains. Beginning with a very non-alpine start (7:30am) we were planning on only skinning up part of the way and then skiing down. However when we got to the hogsback the snow conditions were good and we ended up climbing to the summit. Conditions were calm and very warm - and there were surprisingly few people on the mountain. After descending the hogsback and sitting to remove my crampons, we watched as a skiier descended from the summit and set off an avalanche below the west crater rim. Luckily he was not hurt but the sight of all that snow crashing into a smoking fumarole was a bit scary. Just below the hogsback we strapped our skis back on and enjoyed an incredible descent back to the parking lot.
dkantola - Apr 19, 2004 4:58 pm
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: April 18, 2004Reached the summit in a whiteout with wind and horizontal snow. Rime was forming on everything, including goggles, and my gloves kept freezing to my ice axe. Snow conditions were about two feet of unconsolidated lying atop a week-old melt-freeze crust. Quite a bit of wind-transport was going on in the Pearly Gates. If it were sunny this could have created a big avalanche concern later in the day.
pjc30943 - Apr 17, 2004 12:55 am
Route Climbed: South Date Climbed: April 4 2004Left at 2am. Skies clear as report stated. We were the only party that we could see, and only one more in the Timberline parking lot (going on Wy'East).
Snow was perfect for crampons, a quiet and chilly night for climbing: as mentioned, perfect!
Our team of three reached about 9500, just below Crater rock, where the fun would have begun--however one of the members was not feeling well, and so an "executive" decision on my part turned us back.
After a rest, the trip down uneventful, we arrived at Timberline at 9:30am. Despite the _perfect_ missed summit weather (as I saw on the way down) I still had lots of fun.
modeboy - Apr 13, 2004 10:16 am
Route Climbed: south route Date Climbed: 4-10-2004started at 5:30am, a little later than i wanted to. very windy almost the entire way. the cevasse is open both sides of the ridge. beautiful view from the top. not too crowded. great conditions on the way down.
dkantola - Apr 12, 2004 1:17 pm
Route Climbed: Wy'east Date Climbed: April 11, 2004We took the lower approach, crossing the White River Canyon at 7200 ft, after doing a recon on the upper approach a few days earlier. Once on the lower Wy'east face we found huge suncups and nieve penitentes. Higher on the face snow conditions were much better. From the east crater rim to the summit the route is melting rapidly. Soon you'll be scrambling over rotten rock on this exposed last part of the route. Right now it's covered with a rotten snow/ice hybrid. Get on this route early in the morning while the final part is still frozen.
dmuja - Apr 10, 2004 1:22 am
Route Climbed: South Side Date Climbed: Apirl 9th, 2004I took a heavy pack intending to do a "high camp" 2 day climb. Once there, I instead decided to just bring my "golite" summit pack and do the single day Timberline direct to the summit via the Hogback. Beautiful weather (almost too warm but the softend snow was better on the knees on the lower portion of the descent), not too many climbers going up on a Thursday night/Friday morning , nice company - Mark, son Kyle, Steven. Long climb (reached summit at 7:30 am) - nice exposure on a beautiful mountain glazed in ice - stinky volcanoe though and the Forest Service did NOT resupply the Bluebags at Timberline self register >:-0
Doug
dkantola - Apr 7, 2004 8:43 am
Route Climbed: West Crater Rim Date Climbed: April 6, 2004Went up intending to do Wy'east, but bad weather and an out of condition upper crossing of White River Glacier convinced us to do WCR instead. We took the steeper variation to the left of Hot Rocks -- excellent climbing on 50° snow. We did have to dodge some minor ice fall in the Old Chute. This route is definitely more exposed to ice fall than the South Side, but not as much as Leuthold Couloir. The bergschrund on the South Side is now open with a snowbridge crossing in the middle of the Hogsback.
Norman - Mar 29, 2004 11:03 pm
Route Climbed: South Side (Hogsback) Date Climbed: 3-21-04Three of us summited on a perfect day, views of Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, Jefferson, Sisters and more. We saw one climber at the top of hogsback slip and fall on south side of hogsback to bowl, got up, and summited! Be careful! Two of our team snowboarded from just below hogsback, fastest descent for me.
Cornvallis - Mar 27, 2004 5:17 pm
Route Climbed: Hogsback Date Climbed: March 20, 2004Climbed solo on an amazing weather day. No moon made for a very dark climb for the first few hours. Snow conditions where great the whole way. NO CROWDS, only a few people ahead of me. Met fellow SummitPost member Caude at the bottom of the hogsback, thanks for the good advice and summit photos. Had the summit virtually to ourselves for about 45 minutes! By the time I got back to the bottom of the hogsback I found myself stripping off layers, it was hot the whole way down! Great day.