The last successful climb by a Chemeketan climb team, was three years ago, when three separate Chemeketan climbing teams all summitted Mt. Hood. Summit attempts in 2012, 2013 and earlier in 2014 were all thwarted by poor weather or unsafe route conditions.

The climb had been rescheduled twice during the month of May. First, due to increased avalanche danger and second for a less than optimal weather forecast.

During the month of May, Mt. Hood claimed the life of one man and severely injured another in a fall. In the first incident, an unstable cornice on the summit ridge gave way and the climber fell to his death on the Eliot Glacier. In the second incident, the climber fell several hundred feet while ascending the Old Chute route, just short of the summit ridge.

Patience rewarded our climbing team with fabulous weather and the strong climbing team completed the round trip from Timberline Lodge in under eleven hours; 90 minutes ahead of schedule.

The climbers met at Mazama Lodge in Government Camp for a pasta dinner and three hour nap on Thursday evening. The group enjoyed calm winds and moderate temperatures on the moonless night as they departed Timberline Lodge at 1:20 am. The midweek climb insured that there would not be large crowds on the climbing route.

We shared the mountain with a Mazama team of eleven and several other small groups of four or less. Some of the small groups turned around at the Hog's Back saying they were unprepared for the steeper terrain above.

We carried twelve pickets to protect the route up the Old Chute and the knife edged summit ridge traverse. We set a picket every 40 meters ascending the Old Chute and closer along the summit ridge. The Mazamas were not using pickets and cut right before the summit ridge and ascended the "Mazama Chute". This appeared to be the most popular route, but it had a steep headwall at the finish, which slowed the large group considerably.

The snow on the Old Chute was firm and well consolidated under a one inch crusty slab of snow. Climbers higher on the route caused some modest ice chunks to fall and we did our best to stay out from under them as we made our ascent.

Each climber got an airy taste of exposure as they moved along the scary narrow sections of the summit traverse protected by pickets and the running belay, before attaining the broad expanse of the main summit.

After summit photos and about 30 minutes on the summit, our bodies had cooled and were ready to get moving again. We descended in reverse order, collecting our pickets on the descent. All climbers managed the steep snow of the Old Chute very well.

We regrouped at the Mazama Lodge for showers and a short debrief before heading our separate ways.

Climbers: Phillip Gray, Eric Jacobson, Drew Huebsch, Roger Monet, Milan Apeltauer, Theresa Conley (assistant leader), Steve Dougherty (leader).