I will be in Portland, OR from Oct 14-16. I am planning to get in a snow climb. I have listed the options below in the order of preference. I am familiar with mountain axe and crampons, but not very familiar with glacier travel skills. I will most likely be solo. Please advice me on the choice of climbs. And if here is anything I need to look for especially around mid-October.

1. Mt. Adams – South side standard snow route.
2. Mt. Hood – South slopes/hogsback standard route.
3. Middle Sister - Collier/Hayden/Irving/Renfrew glacier.
4. Mt. Rainier – up to Camp Muir only.

Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ashish wrote:I will be in Portland, OR from Oct 14-16. I am planning to get in a snow climb. I have listed the options below in the order of preference. I am familiar with mountain axe and crampons, but not very familiar with glacier travel skills. I will most likely be solo. Please advice me on the choice of climbs. And if here is anything I need to look for especially around mid-October.

1. Mt. Adams – South side standard snow route.
2. Mt. Hood – South slopes/hogsback standard route.
3. Middle Sister - Collier/Hayden/Irving/Renfrew glacier.
4. Mt. Rainier – up to Camp Muir only.

Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'd say mid-month Oct, totally depends on the weather. Adams in good weather would be a good bet, though maybe not much snow at that point; a bit though, as it was a heavy winter.
Hood, maybe. Lots of rock at that point; I dont' know it it will be coming down at that point. Check Cascadeclimbers.com for possible conditions. I say possible because you might not find many posts from people going up that late in the year. Again, depends on the weather. Might not be too much snow around that time, but could still be possible.
Middle Sister, I don't know that well. Look it up on SP. Again weather. . .
Camp Muir? Totally doable, depending on . . . the weather. Might be the most snow out of any of your choices. Might even need crampons for the upper part, as it might be melting and freezing so much it could be icy.
So, bring what gear you may, look at conditions and to see if anyone's climbed recently, such as on Hood, and the forecasts ahead of time, of course.
Good luck, and maybe you'll get up something. If I can, maybe I"ll join you. If conditions all-around, are right, of course. . ,

i'd probably be willing to give a shot at hood with you, if you wanted a partner- weather depending. you're gonna need to plan on a pretty steep, icy WCR variation, though- pearly gates will be unclimbable. if the snow isn't bad, you could do hogsback up to the bergschrund and cut over- saves a little on energy, but DOES expose you to more rockfall risk.

there will be enough dirt that you could probably solo the entire thing without stepping on glacier until you got halfway past crater rock.

We're experiencing some nice summer weather, so things can be quite mis-leading looking toward the fall.

You're taking a slightly higher risk by coming in and fixing yourself to a rigid climbing date.

My opinion:
Mt. Adams - doable with nice weather. Takes most people two days. Can be done with or without cramp0ns and/or ice axe. I recommend both.
Mt. Hood - no. (Rockfall danger and few climbers around.) OK, to climb to 10,000 ft. Maybe to 10,500 ft. But don't attempt summit. Crampons or ice axe for last 500 ft.
Middle Sister - no opinion. Kinda long drive from Portland.
Mt. Rainier to Muir - Yes. Plenty of climbers everyday. One-day climb. Quite safe. Crampons and ice axe makes things easier.

Thanks guys for the input, I really appreciate it. How about I stay overnight at Camp Muir and try to go a little further up Rainier on the standard route? How far up can I go before it requires Glacier Skills? Can I make it to Ingram flats? Are there any detours for spending a day above Camp Muir that do not require Glacier Skills?

Also, how about Mt. Saint Helens via the Worm Flows route? Does it have snow climbing in Mid Oct?

Bkb0000 - thanks a lot! I will update you about my plans as October comes near.

ashish wrote:How about I stay overnight at Camp Muir and try to go a little further up Rainier on the standard route? How far up can I go before it requires Glacier Skills? Can I make it to Ingram flats? Are there any detours for spending a day above Camp Muir that do not require Glacier Skills?

The short answer is no. Camp Muir is situated at the very edge of the Cowlitz Glacier. To get to Ingraham Flats you have to cross this, go over Cathedral Gap, and cross the Ingraham Glacier. You could hike up the ridge above Camp Muir towards Gibralter Rock aways, but venturing above 10k by your lonesome is not allowed without a soloist permit.

ashish wrote:Also, how about Mt. Saint Helens via the Worm Flows route? Does it have snow climbing in Mid Oct.

No snow, scree yes.