Take #2...Hood Summit

[retired jerry]

Don't people still climb Hood in rope teams? If one falls, the others do self arrest? You're not going to tell me they don't use Alpenstocks anymore are you? : )

I haven't done Hood in many years but that's how they used to do it. A few years ago they did that when that helicopter crashed next to the hogsback. One rope team fell, was unable to stop, took out another team, and they all fell into the crevasse.

Maybe that shows the weakness of that system.

If you placed anchors and belayed, it would be much slower. There's already a traffic jam there, so that could make it impossible.

[Guy]

Though I haven't done it in about 10 years or more, when I was climbing did Hood quite regularly I only ever did it solo felt much safer to me than being on a rope. Would plunge my ice axe handle into the snow, take 2 steps, move and plunge the ice axe again. I found going up was the easy part.

Coming back down through the Pearly Gates was right on the edge of my comfort level. Actually if I'm honest it was past my comfort level. Always breathed a sigh of relief when I got back below the bergschrund. This is probably why I haven't gone back in 10 years though I haven't completely given up on the idea of doing it again.

[retired jerry]

When I did it 30 years ago, everyone roped up.

I can't remember a time when someone on a team fell and was stopped by the others, except in practice.

[Bosterson]

Don't people still climb Hood in rope teams?

There's a difference between the South Side walkup routes and the other routes that require alpine/ice climbing and anchors. Generally, ropes are not used on open snow slopes unless you're crossing a glacier and worried about falling into a crevasse. Having climbers roped together in the Old Chute without snow anchors and a belay creates a risk of one falling and pulling the other(s) down with them, not to mention flossing off the mountain any other climbers they pass (which is what happened with the helicopter crash accident).

This issue came up earlier this year on Cascade Climbers after someone encountered a rope team up there:

Choosing to rope up long on steep, firm, unglaciated snow without any anchors simultaneously made everyone's day that much more hazardous and ignored decades of historical data highlighting how dangerous it is to misapply this technique in this specific piece of terrain.

...

If you're unclear on why this is an example of misapplication: When you're tied together without anchors on steep snow, it's unrealistic to expect your partners to be able to self arrest/hold the team if you fall. Then, when someone does fall, you have a 30-60m clothesline that will floss everybody below you off the slope. The rope isn't keeping you safe/reducing the falling hazard and is dramatically compounding the risk by multiplying the effects of a fall. In short, you're better off soloing. On this exact slope, this has been the cause of countless accidents, injuries, deaths, and one helicopter crash.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... Mount_Hood

[retired jerry]

Back 30 years ago, everyone roped up on the South side above the bergschrund so they didn't fall into it.

I'm sure there were cases where someone was stopped before falling in, but that helicopter incident is a counter example.

So, no one ropes up like that anymore?

And, so as not to confuse anyone, back to the original question, take a class or learn from an experienced person before climbing even the "easy" south side. People die occasionally. Don't rely on anything read on the internet.

[Water]

Yeah, the only people who rope up these days without protection are gumbies who don't know what the hell they're doing. Or the occasional guide who knows what they're doing, will short rope a client or small team.

The last people I can recall roped up unfortunately were the husband wife team who later fell on the descent. She broke both ankles and he broke his femur I believe. It stuck me as bizarre they were roped up when they arrived at the hogsback. They were relatively short roped. The husband seemed the stronger climber but was in front which is not where the strongest person should be when short roping.