[powstash]

(x posted from TGR)

The funny thing is that I'm not really a morning person - I'm not. But I'm always up for a DP and especially so if there's a summit up for grabs as well. Fack that alpine start garbage...skiers don't alpine start. Skiers DP, period. And if you simply stay up all night and start hiking at 2am, it's still a DP. I think that run in with the "mountaineers" has me a bit revved up still....more on that later.

Every summer I head to Oregon, back home. My parents and sisters still live there and my kids need to see the ocean each year and remember they have grandparents up there. It's also a chance for me to slip away for a day or two and play on my home mountain - Mount Hood.

Two years ago it took me three trips to the hill to summit the thing (weather was brutal) but since I was solo on that last attempt I chose to leave the skis at the bergshrund on the South Side route and have regretted that since. Since the South Side is a "been there done that" I chose a more striking line this year - the Coopers Spur. Since I had the line picked out, I only needed someone amped enough about skiing in July who wouldn't flinch at the opportunity - Squirrel99 was my man. He would later admit that he thought we were going to be skiing some headwall and not a steep exposed "you fall and you WILL die" proud line. Ignorance is bliss.

the "proud line"


I met the rodent just shy of 11pm at the Circle K in Gresham and we were off to Cloud Cap via Hood River. Driving through the clear night I couldn't help but dose off a bit despite the last 13 miles of rough gravel road. We kept pushing back our start time saying, “Ok, a 3am start will be good” to which we’d then say, “well, how about we sleep for an hour and leave at 4am” and so it went.

“Is this it?” “I don’t know,” I replied, I think this is the start of the trail to which Squirrel replied “Wait a second, I thought you knew how to get here!?” “It can’t be that hard – the mountain is up there” pointing at the silhouette in the sky.

1.5 hours of nap time and we were off at 5am – a bit later than we had planned. As we neared the timberline the sun painted the mountain.

Follow my ski tips - they point to the line.


Good morning from St. Helens, Rainier and Adams (L to Rt)


We kept ascending over snowfields and scree trails to the "spur" stopping a bit before to stow some gear we knew we wouldn't need.

As we got closer I was even thinking that the line was steeper than I had thought. I had never really been closer than the road from Govy to Hood River so viewing the line from a distance gives you no perspective as to how the last 3300' kicks straight up. I'll admit that I had some tentative thoughts about our chances. Fortunately I was out in front of Squirrel so I couldn't find a sounding board for my hesitation - I just had to ignore it and keep on going. The wind started to kick up and was quite chilly as I reached the start of the "climb" where I switched from trail runners to Scarpa Matrix. Found a couple of Wild Country stoppers - booty gods were smiling on me.

Getting Closer


The Rodent himself

Can you spot the Rodent?


Yea, those are alpine boots. One determined Squirrel and one sweet line.


Getting steeper - the view was hard on the eyes- Rainier and Adams (left to right)


Just after I took this photo we observed a large dishwasher size rock and some of its smaller followers peal off from the lookers right. We weren't in any danger from it but it got our attention.

I passed Squirrel and led up into the rock chutes. As I entered the first slot a rock just bigger than a bowling ball pealed off just above me and to the side. it bounced past me and as I turned I saw it was headed on a collision course for Squirrel. I yelled "ROCK, ROCK!!!" and saw Squirrel stand up from a head down climbing position. He had was I would estimate to be 1.5-2 seconds to make his move. I could see him hesitate with the thought of "do I move right or left". I thought that I was about to see my buddy die by getting hit squarely by this rock. (Amazing what you can think of in 1-2 seconds) At the last possible moment he dove to the climbers right as the rock whizzed by in the exact location were he was standing - about chest high. "we've got to get up and down this thing pronto!" I yelled down.

I only managed a couple more photos on the rest of the climb.

Near the summit looking down - falling here est verboten!

On the summit - looking down the route we'll ski. This rib is a "don't even think about falling" no fall zone as well -

I walked over to the true summit and waited for Squirrel who I had heard earlier groaning or moaning. I thought he was singing along to his iPod. After he got on the summit he sat down and gritted his teeth and moaned about his feet. He was in some wicked pain.


Obligatory Summit shot - looking south with Jefferson in the background.


to be continued....
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Me want powder

[powstash]

Just as we were getting ready to click in and head down a couple of guys from the Portland Mountain Rescue showed up from the Old Chute route and walked over to check out what we were up to. I could tell that they weren't confident about our choice in route to ski descend and after respectfully and kindly offering up a couple of other choices by way of suggestion they said they'd watch and to have a great run. They were cool guys (with skis on thier packs as well) and I was glad that they didn't give us neg vibes.

I clicked in, offered up a little "guide my skis, keep me confident" prayer and off I went. The first turn is always a bit tentative especially when there is 3000' of nothing below you and a sliver of a path to a safe descent. I remember slipping out a bit farther to the skiers left than I inteded to and reminding myself that is was "Just another turn in a long season".




The route down hugs the rocks and then slips skiers right down the first of two chutes.


I stopped in the first "safe" spot and looked back up to see Squirrel starting off - and noticing that those turns looked and felt pretty good.

This photo makes it look like a blue run. It was a bit steeper than a blue.



Summit steeze - the summit is just behind Squirrel


Squirrel skied down to me and past to the next pre-determined safe spot. We'd leap frog in this style the rest of the way down until we were on mellow slopes. We still had a couple of spots to get past until we felt like a fall wouldn't result in instant death. But the skiing was so engaging and 100% focus. I really enjoyed it.




Squirrel did too.




I only wished I had a better camera and the skillz. Like for this photo:



We finally got through the rock chutes and down far enough on the slope below to where it mellowed out to just under 40. A couple more photos and we cut loose for some long turns down towards the lower mountain.

The Squirrel was hurting something fierce with the feet cramping issues but he skied like the MANG flashing one mid section of the descent like it was just another line at Alpental. After linking snow patches and milking it for every last inch of 4700 feet we were back to the car in just over 2 hours from the summit and on our way to some well deserved pizza in Hood River. As we drove down the conversation turned to how appreciative we both are to have experienced this day - particularly following my brain surgery in early Feb and the Squirrel's dance with the big C a few years ago. Nothing like extra innings to life making the sweet moments all the more sweet.

I'm not sure if I'll pull out the sticks until the snow flies. Likely not. Thanks Squirrel for the best finishing day to a season that I've had since 2002. Funny thing is, the Rodent was my skiing companion that day as well. The stoke never dies for Squirrel, never.

Parting Shot -

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Me want powder

[Grant]

Sweetness, powstash.
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Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for.
-Marco Rubio

[bjz]

very nice!!! we have been getting some visitors lately

[tele mark]

Nice report & solid line, keeps me looking forward to skiing Hood someday.
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Telemark Tech System

[xkyzero]

So cool. Love the parting shot.
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This guidebook is not a substitute for good judgement, experience and common sense.

[aglandau]

Lots of volcano trip reports these days. I'm always struck by the way these behemoths just tower over the surroundings in perfect alignment.
How high is the valley floor and the smaller mountains in the foreground ?

[mowgli]

Love the TR. That slope makes my manliness shrink just looking at it here in my home. Must have been unbelievable. WTF is DP?

[Gaper Jeffey]

I really like the photos Powstash. Thanks for posting them here too.

[bcrider]

[Gwen]

Wow! Good job guys. That top of Cooper Spur is a serious "No Fall" zone. It seems every few years some well-seasoned climbers lose it on the descent of those upper slopes and end up in a heap thousands of feet below. You guys skied it, wow is all I can say.
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I hope I can be in a binder one day...

[tk]

Great TR, powstash. Thanks for posting.

[The New Guy]

Most Excellent. thanks for sharing
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"Those who look outward dream; those who look inward awaken..." - Carl Jung

Fat Boy Mountaineering Club. Take nothing but whippers, leave nothing but craters.

[heather]

SMOKING TR!!! Amazing line.

[Telemarketer]

Great TR! Thanks for keepin my ski stoke going even though its 90 degrees outside!