Trip Report: Mt. Hood Leuthold Couloir
When: 05/21/2017
Location: Mount Hood Leuthold Couloir
Conditions: 34-45º, windy
Duration: 14 hours
Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult
Kid Friendly: No
Pet Friendly: No
The Full Report:
I tagged my third summit of Mount Hood on May 21 after climbing the Leuthold Couloir. I've climbed the Wy'East route, the South Side via Pearly Gates, and Leuthold is definitely my favorite.
Keep in mind that I climbed with 10 other people, 7 of which were some badass high school students, so we were slow moving - this climb is definitely doable in in 8-10 hours, even less if you're fast.
After a windy and short night, we left our camp above the Palmer lift at 8800ft, about 4 am and began to traverse more or less straight over to Illumination Saddle. At the saddle, we donned ropes and descended onto the Reid Glacier.
After traversing under the Glacier's headwall, we began to ascend towards the base of the couloir, which is the obvious large chute with daylight visible on the other end.
As we began our ascent in the uncomfortably deep and collapsing snow, a gentle shower of rime ice began to fall on us. The higher we got, the more intense it became. After a slow-moving hour, we arrived at the base of the couloir, sheltered on climber's left while we peed, applied sunscreen, racked pickets, and donned hoods to ward off the oncoming debris.
As soon as we stepped into the hourglass of the couloir, the debris really started to fall. In order to avoid painful facial blows, we kept our heads down at all times. Golf-ball sized pieces of ice exploded on our helmets and bruised our unsuspecting limbs. As the chute opened, the stream became less intense, eventually dissipating entirely.
We continued up to the Queen's Chair, a large plateau at approximately 10,600ft. After a lengthy rest at the Queen's Chair, we continued up 600 feet to the summit ridge. There we enjoyed beautiful but windy views of the South Side and the summit, before cautiously traversing the corniced ridge.
We arrived on an empty summit at 1 pm and quickly began our descent via the Old Chute. We post-holed through deep snow to the Hog's Back, then glissaded to our camp at 8800 feet.
Leuthold is a wonderful, and challenging route. It is certainly not for first timers, but for those looking for a more exciting variation to the packed South Side of Hood.
After a windy and short night, we left our camp above the Palmer lift at 8800ft, about 4 am and began to traverse more or less straight over to Illumination Saddle. At the saddle, we donned ropes and descended onto the Reid Glacier.
After traversing under the Glacier's headwall, we began to ascend towards the base of the couloir, which is the obvious large chute with daylight visible on the other end.
As we began our ascent in the uncomfortably deep and collapsing snow, a gentle shower of rime ice began to fall on us. The higher we got, the more intense it became. After a slow-moving hour, we arrived at the base of the couloir, sheltered on climber's left while we peed, applied sunscreen, racked pickets, and donned hoods to ward off the oncoming debris.
As soon as we stepped into the hourglass of the couloir, the debris really started to fall. In order to avoid painful facial blows, we kept our heads down at all times. Golf-ball sized pieces of ice exploded on our helmets and bruised our unsuspecting limbs. As the chute opened, the stream became less intense, eventually dissipating entirely.
We continued up to the Queen's Chair, a large plateau at approximately 10,600ft. After a lengthy rest at the Queen's Chair, we continued up 600 feet to the summit ridge. There we enjoyed beautiful but windy views of the South Side and the summit, before cautiously traversing the corniced ridge.
We arrived on an empty summit at 1 pm and quickly began our descent via the Old Chute. We post-holed through deep snow to the Hog's Back, then glissaded to our camp at 8800 feet.
Leuthold is a wonderful, and challenging route. It is certainly not for first timers, but for those looking for a more exciting variation to the packed South Side of Hood.