Hoody Adventure - 1/17/2009

Last weekend Aaron Hartz and I climbed Mt. Hood via the Wy'east route (East Crater Rim). Our route took us across the whiteriver glacier and up an access chute to the snowfields above the newton clark glacier. Up to that point we had encountered difficult conditions... Variable snow conditions mixed with blue ice and significant ice mushrooms/gargoyles. But, the route choice ended up being a good one because it took us along a ridge crest above the ice that was apparently chrashing into the crater of the volcano. Parts of the route were protected with a running belay using pickets and the snow conditions improved the higher we got. We summited around 11, and then downclimbed the old chute. Conditions in the old chute were icy and steep, but we passed through quickly and then traversed over to the hogsback right about level with the bergschrund. Overall a pretty nice/standard day on hood, especially for early season.

This is when things took a turn... As we decended to the hogsback, at the point where the bergschrund crossed I happened to glance over to the climbers right and saw 4(?) people at the base of the pearly gates. Three of them were bunched together right in the debris chute, with another person in a safer location. I asked a guy who was standing there (later found out he was spotting for icefall) if they were okay and he said "no, that guy just fell 200 feet". I told him that I was in mountain rescue and asked if they needed any help to which he replied "yes, I think they do." When I got to them, I found out that they guy had fallen from far above and had broken both ankles. I also saw that where they were sitting was particularly subject to icefall and that if the rescuers and patient didn't get out of the debris chute that there was a good chance that someone else was going to get injured or killed. Within minutes this point was punctuated by a rather large icefall event that literally sent me running from the gully (an interesting concept with crampons on a steep slope). Behind me the two rescuers and patient in the gully were getting slammed with ice. For me this was the scariest part. I honestly wasn't sure they were going to be okay, but slowly, one by one they checked in.

So, I'm not going to go into the details of the rescue other than to say that we were extremely lucky to make it down without anyone else getting seriously hurt. The icefall was some of the worst I've ever seen, and more than once large chunks bracketed us on both sides. We did end up lowering this fella (who was a very experienced climber by the way, and a nice guy too) at least 600 feet down into the devils kitchen area to where we could carry him over to a blackhawk helicopter piloted by the folks from the 1042 air national gaurd (see my second post ever for pics).

The really sad part of the story is that five days later a gal named Brooke Colvin was killed in the same spot by falling ice. Another very skilled climber who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. :(

Here are the pics:


Ice gargoyles up to Aaron's thighs!


Sunrise on the Newton Clark Glacier


Cloud sea


A view from the east crater rim of climbers on the standard route up the mountain


Taking a break at a flat spot


A view of the upper portion of the route, which winds up gulleys on the right skyline


Aaron looking back down one of the gullies


Aaron traversing the last exposed bit over to the summit


Summit dorks! :)


Aaron decending the icy step in the "Old Chute"


Shot taken by someone else of the initial patient contact


After we completed the lowering, a reach and treat team arrived with happy meds! :)


Helicopter on approach


Helicopter


Looking back on the scene, with the red X marking where the rescue started