Carly Kovacik and myself successfully summited Mount Hood on June 11th. The Pearly Gates were clearly out of season at this point, but the Old Chute Route was a solid go. We got up into the crater shortly after sunrise, worked our way around a few volcanic fumerols, and reached the 600 foot ascent up the Old Chute snowy ice climb. This was our first time ascending this type of feature, and at a 40-50 degree angle, didn't pose too much of a challenge (going up). We reached the crater rim in good time, traversed a narrow cat walk, and we were soon standing on the summit. We enjoyed the summit for a bit, then made our way back across the cat walk and faced the daunting Old Chute down climb. The down climb was certainly a different experience compared to the up climb. I personally have never down climbed a steep snow/ice wall for that amount of distance, and thus took things very slow and cautious-like. I wasn't certain if a full-on slip would be a death fall, but serious injury would be certain given the angle and distance to the bottom. Nevertheless, Carly and I got down, relaxed a bit next to steaming hot rocks, and then slogged/glissaded our way down the mountain and back to Timberline.
Google map of Mount Hood is here. YouTube video is here.
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