Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Mount Hood, South Side Chutes
Technical Information
- Mountain: Mount Hood
- Elevation: 11,249ft
- Routes: 1 O’Clock Couloir & Mazama Chute
- Length: 5,000ft
- Grade: I, AI1 Mod Snow
DOUBLE REPORT
Over the final week of November 2024, I scouted a couple days on Mount Hood that looked absolutely prime. I originally planned to climb on the 30th with Trent, but since I was heading home for winter break a few days early, I opted to run a quick solo mission on the 27th. I wasn’t set on summiting during my solo and only planned to go as high as Devils Kitchen to scout out the route, but conditions were so perfect that I decided to push on. A couple days later, I summited again with Trent. By the end of the stint, I’d summited Hood twice in three days! Due to the proximity of the climbs and the similarity in routes, I’ve decided to double up the report. Definitely not because I’m lazy… Also, heads up this is a retro report (almost caught up on those!).
MAMA HOOD
Growing up in Hood River, Mount Hood is special to me. I’ve skied Hood every winter since I could walk and grew up hiking in her foothills. Its a mountain I see every day and identify strongly with. Besides the personal connection, Mount hood is the highest mountain in Oregon and offers the best alpine climbs in the state (WOOOO!!!!!). Now that Im getting into more technical climbing, Hood is the gift that just keeps on giving.
CLIMB 1
Coming up from OSU, I hopped onto highway 26 that goes around the south side of Mount Hood. I rolled into Timberline at 6pm and it was already getting dark, so I ate one of my road burritos (two burrito strategy never fails. one for dinner, one for the climb) and hit the sack.
My alarm rang at 3am, and I slowly got out of my cramped Subaru Outback. While suiting, up I noticed another guy hop out of his rig nearby and we got to talking. Since we were both solo, we decided to roll together for the day. Thomas was a cool dude, and chatting with him made the slog to Devils Kitchen fly by. We plan on reconnecting for some climbs in the future.
After Getting to Devils Kitchen, Thomas unfortunately decided to turn back because we were a bit behind schedule. He had also stopped to climb on his way home and still had quite a long drive ahead of him. I on the other hand, had a short drive and decided to push on.
Leaving my skis at Devils Kitchen, I set of breaking trail up to the hogs back. I was post-holing up to my knees for quite a while… Luckily, after stopping for a break, a PMR lady charged by and broke trail down below Hot Rocks and up towards Old Chute. Following her tracks made the climb way way more enjoyable.
Slogging up the snow slope was pretty exhausting, and when we got near the top, the PMR girl headed towards Mazama Chute. Mazama is a little bit steeper and had two small ice steps (only head high) at the time, so I opted for the more chill 1 O’Clock variation that lies between Old Chute and Mazama. In the Picture above, You can see Old Chute near the center of the frame and 1 O’ Clock Couloir just to the right of it. Mazama is hidden by the massive rime ice formation on the right side of the photo.
SUMMIT AND SKI
I topped out around 10 or 11am and had the summit all to myself. The PMR climber had beat me and only tagged the summit briefly before descending. Being all alone on the summit was pretty epic, especially since this was my first time on Hood. I had cell service, so I took a short video to send to my family and snapped a summit photo before heading back down. Once I reached Devils Kitchen, I clicked into my skis and hit the slopes. I was feeling like a million bucks. I felt so much happiness and satisfaction with what I’d just done. Its the most intense climbers high I’ve ever experienced. What an amazing feeling, and what a climb!
Also, Toting up skis is always worth the weight for such a fast and fun decent. I also believe it’s the safest way to get down. It lowers the amount of time your exposed to alpine hazards and negates any chance of crampons catching and tripping you. Who likes booting downhill anyway?!??
ROUND 2
Two days later, I was right back in the thick of it. Trent had driven to my place the day after my first climb, and the next morning, we were on our way to Timberline. We got to the lot around 3:45am and started at 4:15am. The wind was howling, and it felt much more like winter than it had on my climb a couple days before.
UPPER MOUNTAIN
At Devils Kitchen, we took a short break before hiking up the hogs back and crossing under Hot Rocks. Having the route fresh in my mind made the climbing feel much easier overall, and its always nice to have a partner with you. We cruised up the steep snow slope and opted to take Mazama Chute because a duo above us was knocking down a constant stream of ice chunks from 1 O’ Clock. I was glad to check out a new route, as I’d just done 1 O’ Clock. Mazama also added some spice that we were both stoked on.
We climbed quickly through the first small ice step and then stopped at the second because it looked a little sketch, and neither of us had climbed much alpine ice. After talking and spotting a good way up, we both decided to solo it. I went first and was able to kick in really good foot placements, so it ended up being way more chill than expected.
SUMMIT #2
This time, the summit was busy with lots of people who had gone up Old Chute. It was fun having so many people up there and we even got to join in singing happy birthday for a climber in the group next to us. We also chatted with some people who had come up Pearly Gates. Once we’d eaten and rested up, we headed out, down-climbing 1 O’ Clock Coulier.
Having skied down a couple days before, booting felt like an eternity. Skiing is definitely the move. Anyhoo, great climb!
BETA
Mount Hood carries some unique dangers not seen on other PNW volcanoes. Fumaroles and massive rime ice formations being the main culprits. Fumaroles are found in the Devils Kitchen, Hot Rocks, under the Steel Cliffs, and on the north side of Crater Rock. Be careful not get too close to these features, as the heat coming off them creates large pits in the snow with overhung edges that readily cave under bodyweight. You do not want to fall into one of these fumaroles. Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide are no bueno. Also, large rime ice formations or “chicken heads” love to shed ice or topple over completely when hit with direct sunlight. This is a big reason why many climbers choose to leave Timberline at midnight. You do not want to find yourself under these formations during the heat of the day.
In terms of the route, there are three main Old Chute variations. In order from left to right they are: Old Chute, 1 O’ Clock Couloir, and Mazama chute. Old Chute is the easiest, 1 O’ Clock is slightly steeper snow, and Mazama is even more steep and can have one or two ice steps. In the image below looking up from Hot Rocks, the left arrow leads to old chute and the right to 1 O’ Clock and Mazama.
