Definitely firm after a week long spring freeze-thaw cycle so we were stoked about the conditions.
|
Todd and I got a super-early start. The plan was to punch up the couloir to the summit
early enough to be able to downclimb back to our skis for the descent down the Wy'East Face.
Departure from the Meadows lot was a bit before 4am, which with the time change overnight
meant that it was still yesterday or something.
Definitely firm after a week long spring freeze-thaw cycle so we were stoked about the conditions. |
|
| Party of three ahead of us already on their way up the face. |
|
| Todd trudging on. Icy conditions below actually required the use of crampons before we even climbed past the top of the Cascade lift. There was a really weird meltwater layer on top of iced-over groomers. Our skins didn't have a chance. |
|
| Party of 2 who'd climbed across the top of the White River Glacier around from the Timberline side - heading up the gap between the two big rock features. |
|
| Kicking in towards the upper part of the face (Todd Marcum photo) |
|
| Just a bit further to go . . . (Todd Marcum photo) |
|
|
Taking a breather near the top. . . the desert stretching eastward
nearly two vertical miles below us
We were sort of hoping for at least some filtered sunshine, but by the time this image was taken we'd been getting baked on the face full-force for several hours & our steps were starting to become more and more bottomless. We both became concerned about what the downclimb of the upper couloir might be like to get back to our skis and decided to forego. |
|
| Todd at the top of the Steel Cliffs looking over toward the Hogsback. You can see three other weekend enthusiasts going up the ramp. |
|
| Taking in the scenery - Mt. Hood Skibowl is visible way below directly in front of Todd |
|
| Queueing up for the 5000+ vertical foot descent down the face and into Heather |
|
|
Todd jumping in at the top of the elevator ride. You can see the string that is Meadow's uppermost
chairlift in the upper left corner.
Long way to go. Things were definitely beginning to soften, even for 10:30-ish. Had to do a bit of sluff management from time to time |
|
|
4000 feet later . . .
Nearing exhaustion at the end of the traverse to get out of Heather Canyon.
Our route is visible top-to-bottom behind us. Essentially the line of unbroken snow that follows the fall-line starting from the top of the hill. All that's left is the remaining 1000 feet down to the parking lot. |
|
|
Packing up & totally gassed. The snowpack is still looking pretty chubby - should be a good
summer.
Note the "first aid" resting on the top of the car |
|