You have to hand it to Oregon - where else can you climb a mountain and surf in the same day?On July 13, David, Jeff and his friend Todd and I climbed the Sunshine Route on Mt. Hood's North side. This is the most technical climb I've done to date: roped glacier travel, technical routefinding, level 1 ice climbing, down-climbing sketched-out loose glacial debris (you won't see pictures of this), quick belays - all in all a good 12 hours of fun. We all had Jeff to thank for taking us up a route we wouldn't normally be on, but it was good to get out of the comfort zone and gain some serious experience points.
Dave and I hiked in Thursday night over a nasty icy crevasse mess in the dark, set up camp and got to sleep at 11:00 p.m. Morning came early, 04:00, but spirits were high and it was a beautiful morning. Before we could get out of bed, a guide from another party (who said they started out at 1 a.m.!) gratuitously informed us that they would be turning back due to thunderstorms on the horizon. Poor choice for them - one storm blew by us and the rest of the day was crystal clear and hot!
We separated into 2 rope teams, and I took the sharp end of the rope for the first half of the day. It was great fun, a little nerve-racking, especially for the section of ice, but a considerable experience-builder. We hit the summit by 10:30 - nothing but clear skies as far as the eye could see - only time I've seen Mt. Hood that way.Lesson of the Day: Go back down the way you came up. We decided to take the ridgeline down, which if you opened a dictionary to the word 'sketchy' you might find a picture. Lot's of rockfall and general unpleasantness. We didn't make it down until 4 pm, and by that point I was starting to invoke various Dieties to get me the hell home.
Anyway, for the complete album, go here.
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