Thread: ATTN: Climbers - Hood 12/12 - Devil's Kitchen Headwall

looking for a partner for Hood's DKH route on monday.. not finding any takers via the usual channels, so i'm posting here too, in the off chance there's a gun loving local climber who's up to the challenge

its sort of an obscure, forgotten route- from a T-line, South-Side approach, the route is a network of couloirs that run up the vertical face of the crater rim under the summit ledge. it's a technical climb, and a headwall climb, but its a couloir climb- so it's not nearly so exposed as it might sound.

anyone capable of any of the other south side variations should be able to at least follow on this route.. AI/MI climbing experience a big plus, but not necessarily mandatory- you just need to be competent at multi-pitch rope work and be otherwise capable of getting up the mountain.

i have all necessary technical gear, but an additional 60m twin rope would be useful. i have a set of loaner ice tools, but you'll need your own boots/pons/harness/personal gear.

this is not an appropriate first-time climb.

PM me here

i've bailed on the DKH route, and decided to go with the WCR (western crater rim) route. DKH will likely be too cold, and if nothing else, probably too dangerous to solo.. and it looks like i'll be soloing.

but this is a basically non-technical route, not much more difficult than the standard hogsback route. you'll still need to own/rent boots and pons, and have VERY warm clothing (with wind chill, temps will likely be around negative 15 to neg 25 at the summit).

Good luck sounds like more fun than the class final I have tomorrow. Please post a pic or two to get me excited for later in the year.

.. please bring back a couple of pics,, us barkolounger athletes need the visual motivation

just got back... no partner, so my send ended in bail.

i hit a vertical ice step about 50' from the summit... i got halfway up the thing, looked down, and decided i'm just not the guy that free-solos vertical ice above a 1,000' drop. i down-climbed and regrouped at the 'schrund... briefly considered pushing up the "Old Chute," but by the time i got back down to the bergshrund it was 0930- would have been another 1-1:30 to get up, another 45 to get back to the schrund, and there was a massive cloud blanket at about 6,500' extending as far as the eye could see closing in FAST from the east.... so i packed up my bubblegum and descended.

it's cool... it was an otherwise freaken awesome climb. good quality ice on a route that usually doesn't cater to ice-climbers. just wish i had somebody to belay me up that damned step...

being a solo foray, i didn't take many pics... but i'll post a few when i get them uploaded.

I was wondering how it went. Had a beautifiul view of the mountain for about an hour between 2-3 pm on my way from an appointment in Beaverton. It looked amazing and I could feel the cold in my bones.

Sounds like a good day and a good plan B. Live to climb another day. Congrats on living life to its fullest today.

not the greatest climb album.. but here's a few that might be interesting

sometime around 0330... about ready to head up ~5,800' elevation (t-line overnight parking lot)


the couloir network, upper center ~10,300' elevation


the snowbridge over the bergschrund


somewhere in the upper couloir


the ice step that shut down my summit bid... doesn't look like much in the pic, but it's 15 feet of near vertical ice over a 45* slope of hard ice dropping over 1,000' to the crater floor. don't fall.. ~11,175' elevation, give or take


a shot back down the couloir from higher up... crater rock, mid center.. bergschrund low center


back at the bergschrund again, feeling sun for the first time. ahhhhhhh.... it was viciously cold up there.


right around 7,000'... the clouds that moved in and scared me a bit. they never did roll into the mountains, though.. as fast as they swept in, the west side high-pressure system held them off for the rest of the day.

Nice! Beat the hell out of my day by a mile (or approx 6 miles for you)

going up again tomorrow, and once again looking for a last minute partner...

gonna do "pearly gates" route - this route is NOT the classic 45* snow of years past, it's currently a technical ice route with WI2+ steps... but is not particularly hard, given an individual otherwise capable of getting up the mountain.

PM here, or message via facebook: Benjamin Beckerich

gonna do "pearly gates" route - this route is NOT the classic 45* snow of years past, it's currently a technical ice route with WI2+ steps... but is not particularly hard, given an individual otherwise capable of getting up the mountain.

Did you make this second summit shot? Can you give me a good visual description of WI2. I saw very little in the way of descriptive online with a quick glance. I was going to try that route in 2009 but traveling alone with no real ice experience and that little crack in the ice just below I went with the newer/older old shute route. I had two ice axes with, one standard and one for technical climbing.

I had another partner bail on me at the last minute, so I had to solo it again. Being a weekend, there were actually other climbers on the mountain.. I followed two guys up who seemed to be headed for the Pearlies, and caught up to them just under the Bergschrund, but they were intending to solo up. I cut left at the 'Schrund and scampered up the Mazama Chute, between formations on the right side of the rim snow field. Good solid WI2 at the top- very pleasant climbing, once past all the steep unconsolidated powder.





As to the grading... WI2 is basically any steep ice, +/- 60*, that REQUIRES the use of at least one tool. I'm calling the Pearlies, as I met them on Monday, WI2+ because it's more difficult than WI2, but doesn't quite meet the criteria for WI3, which doesn't really start until you're hitting more and/or bigger vertical steps (75-90 is generally considered "vertical," despite the fact that we know 90 degrees is actually, truly, vertical). So basically the route is a pretty solid WI2, with a short WI3-esque crux.

Hope that makes sense.

Bad ***.
Its been almost twenty years since I've been up Hood.
Thanks for sharing the pics.

Thanks, and my pleasure. Sounds like it's about time you get back up there. What route(s) did you take, two decades ago?

It's been since 1965 for me. Up the North side from Cooper Spur.

Originally Posted by skywag

It's been since 1965 for me. Up the North side from Cooper Spur.

wow.. that was probably back when the Coopspur was still the "main" route up, no?

Nice pictures. PM me if you're looking for a partner in the future. I have limited ice climbing experience, but have a couple solos under my belt.

amazing...what is a good way for one to get into climbing without a huge investment in $$? I did do some ice climbing/rappelling once in Switzerland, but thats about it.

Originally Posted by jdub75

amazing...what is a good way for one to get into climbing without a huge investment in $$? I did do some ice climbing/rappelling once in Switzerland, but thats about it.

Used gear... That's really the only way to get into it on a budget. Some guys will never use 2nd hand gear for vertical rock, but alpine gear is generally pretty bomber, and not subject to the same kind of repetitive shock-loading as rock gear- you won't really find anyone advising against it. Especially for clothing and ice gear.

bkb .... as a former climber who was known to solo stuff when I had no partner available all I can say is "I get it" on why you did what you did but it's also DUMB!!!! I did try my hand at some ice climbing. Good grief it was hard and more than a bit unnerving every time I sunk a pick in and I heard that cracking sound. After that I stuck to rock in the summertime. Somehow over the years I lost my lack of fear of falling and cratering and now am perfectly happy to not go higher than the 4th rung on a ladder.