Santiam Alpine Club
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Hood South Side

May 22 to May 23, 2023

Coordinator: Andy DeGregorio

Summit Altitude: 11259 feet
Elevation Gain: 5400 feet
Round-trip Distance: 8 miles
Excursion Time: 11 hours (car-to-car)

We met at midnight and departed about 20 minutes later into a moonless night, the stars were out in force. The wind made the cold bite, but the breeze died over the course of the next several hours, and the sun began to rise as we approached the Devil's Kitchen. We put on helmets and crampons before gaining the hogsback and traversing low through the hotrocks to the Old Chutes. Climbing on a weekday paid off, there were only a handful of other parties and the 1 O'clock Couloir was clear. We ascended to the catwalk and most of us then proceeded to summit at about 7am, where we had a beautiful, sunny view with so little wind that even though it was in the 20's, it almost felt warm. We took our time, enjoyed the view, and then descended the way we came up. Erin had to rush back so she could fall asleep on a zoom call (she made it!) and Dan got his split board assembled above the Palmer and made short work of the descent (which didn't thaw out until below the top of the lift) while the rest of us made the trudge down, arriving at our cars about noon. We took a few minutes to change, have a snack and high five before driving home and getting back to reality.


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