Trip Report: South Side Mt. Hood Summit Climb

When: 3/06/2018 Location: Mount Hood - South Side Conditions: 23 degrees Fahrenheit at Timberline Lodge with 5mph winds, 12 degrees Fahrenheit at summit with 25 mph gusts. 1-3 inches of fresh snow on top of crust. Clear, mostly sunny. Duration: 6 Hours, 20min. Left timberline lodge at 6:40AM and reached the summit at 11:40AM. Back to car by 1pm. Difficulty: Moderate Kid Friendly: No Pet Friendly: No Usefull links: www.fs.usda.gov The Full Report: My one climbing partner for the day and I began our climb of Mt. Hood from Timberline Lodge at 6:40 AM. Both on skis, we skinned the cat track on the right side of the Palmer ski lift making one short water break at the Silcox Hut. From there we navigated the rest of the snowfield up to the Hogsback through some rime. After a short break to refuel and to put crampons on our ski boots, we headed up the Hogsback and to the summit via the Pearly Gates. From Crater Rock up, the fresh snow that had fallen from the few days prior was deeper than at lower elevations. Approximately 8-10 inches, although a bit crusty on top from refreezing. The Gates, while nothing to complain about, were solid but could have been slightly harder for better purchase. A quick summit photo and we down-climbed back through the Gates to the base of the hogback where I had left my skis. My partner, a more proficient skier, packed his skis to the base of the Pearly Gates where he skied all the way back to the car from. Myself having recently come from splitbaording, skied the Hogsback to the base of Crater Rock but hiked through the rime most of the way to Illumination Rock from where we both skied back toward the Palmer ski lift and down through the resort to the car. The skiing was far better from Illumination Rock down, then it was up above on the crustier layer. All in all, conditions were great, and it was a beautiful day to be on the mountain with only a few other climbers up that day, we were close to having it all to ourselves.