I got out and did some summer riding today at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. The snow is phenomenal for this time of year and I have never seen such a snow pack for July. The runs on Palmer and Magic Mile were fantastic with great summer corn snow and almost no limits on where you can ride. The snow became a bit sticky later in the day and I needed to periodically wax with Graphite wax.
At around 1:00 PM I grabbed my pack and headed up above Palmer for a little back country climbing and riding. On many previous trips, I have climbed the Hogsback, above Crater Rock which is the old lava dome from Mt. Hood`s last eruption. There are still very active fumerols in this inner crater.
Today, I decided to do something that I have had my eyes on for some time now and that was to climb a very nice looking chute on Illumination Rock which is a massive rampart of Basalt about on the shoulder of Mt. Hood. This rampart is a part of a massive cliff band that divides Mt. Hood`s south and west flank. On the south side of this ridge lie the Coalman, Zigzag and Palmer Glaciers which feed into the Salmon and the Zigzag Rivers. To the west of this massive cliff band lies the Reid Glacier with a truly immense sheer cliff ridge on it`s northern edge. Beyond this lies the massive Sandy Glacier on Mt. Hood`s northwest flank.
I hiked my way above the top of Palmer to an elevation that would allow me to traverse over to Illumination Saddle where the view onto the Reid Glacier is breath taking. This is a frighteningly crevassed glacier with some of these fissures over 300 feet deep. Route finding when snowboarding this terrain is essential. After a brief rest here, I dropped a nice 50 degree pitch to the base of Illumination Rock and traversed southwest below it to get to an area where three very prominent chute are visible. The steepest and longest of these is also the narrowest with several twists and 50 to 100 foot cliff walls on the sides. At one point it narrows down to about 6 feet before opening out. The entire pitch of this chute is about 60 degrees and about 600 vertical feet.
When I got to the bottom of the chute, I dug a pit to check the stability of the snow which turned out to be decent. There was a layer of wet, loose slushy corn snow about 4 inches thick on top of a very firm, well bonded snow pack. I had triggered a few surface slides earlier, but nothing that gave much cause for concern and the pit indicated a very low risk of anything bigger.
I left my pack on a large rock at the bottom and began ascending the chute. Before long I was really wishing I had brought the crampons and the ice ax for it got very steep and footing was becoming a problem. A slip here would have meant an out of control slide to the bottom. At several points I considered turning back, but going down without a board seemed more dangerous than continuing. I kept the snowboard firmly grasped in both hands by the binding heel cup and used it like a large ax to anchor the edge into the snow as a handhold while I kicked steps into the snow. After about 45 minutes I finally reached the top of the chute completely winded and ready for a break.
The sight that greeted me was simply awe inspiring. I was on top of a narrow fin of crumbling Basalt and Pumice about 5 feet wide with an 800 foot sheer drop to the north onto the Reid Glacier. The sense of vertigo this created was intimidating. I rested there taking pictures and admiring the view and the immenseness of the scene before me. When one looks at Mt. Hood from the resorts, there is simply no concept of the sheer ruggedness and size of the upper peaks of this Cascade giant.
After about a half hour up there, I strapped in began the cautious descent down. The hard pack with slush did not warrant pointing the board down the chute with it`s narrowness and rocky sides. Instead. I did a series of traverses with a quick pivot turn at the sides of the chute. When I got to the narrows, this required a short sideslip to negotiate my way through the rocks and stress fractures in the snow.
I had just about gotten through this section, when the whole surface let loose and I found myself in an ankle deep river of moving corn snow. At first I was not too concerned for I was approaching a wider stretch that I could traverse out of the slide`s path. Alarmingly, the stuff above me began to slide and soon the entire chute above began to funnel through this narrow slot becoming several feet deep. At this point, I pointed the board straight down the chute and outran the slide until I got to the wide section, where it fanned out and became ankle deep again.
As I made several turns in this moving river of snow, I remembered that on the climb up there was a large stress fracture across two thirds of the chute. It was about 2 feet wide and 3 foot deep. Unfortunately, I could no longer tell exactly where it was but could make a guess by the way the sliding snow was behaving. As I approached the point that appeared to be the edge, I attempted to Ollie over it, but due to having about a foot of this sliding snow on top of my board, all I could really do was unweight the tip and hope to clear the gap. It almost worked, but I ended up in the crack and had to scramble out of it before the snow filled in around me. After this point, the ride was uneventful to the bottom where the slow moving slide fanned out and came to a halt.
I picked up my gear and had a good long ride back over to Timberline as a thunderstorm was closing in. This chute is an amazing ride and under powder conditions would be epic. Needless to say, I will be doing this one again!
Trip Pictures:
View of Crater Rock and the summit of Mt. Hood while hiking over to Illumination Rock
Illumination Rock
Looking up Illumination Chute
The top of the chute
Looking back down the chute
The breath taking view of the Reid Glacier
Taking in the view
"Dropping!"
View of the chutes; the one I hit is the highest one next to Illumination Rock on the right
Route
Click here for a slideshow of all trip photos
Trip Report: Illumination Chute Mt. Hood Oregon
Trip Report: Illumination Chute Mt. Hood Oregon
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