Words by Sadie Ford @sader_tooth, Photos by Sadie Ford and Koby Yudkin
On a beautiful pink and lavender morning, Koby Yudkin, founder of Trillium Alpine Guides, and I embark on a goal to summit Mt. Hood. The objective is to reach it via the Devil’s Kitchen headwall, one of the longest and most technical ice climbing routes to the peak, and ski off nearby by way of the Pearly Gates.
The key to a high success rate in the mountains, I believe, is to use the weather report as your North Star. That way, the situation is the boss in every sense, while you maintain flexibility in building your trip around the most important aspect- the conditions. The conditions, the bringer of joy and the hammer of sorrow.
“The situation is the boss” is a mantra I frequently repeat to myself so as not to impose existing patterns on new information when planning outings. To encourage patience in my heart. Having been on this planet for three decades, I have had the displeasure of reading about several accidents that often have a common denominator: people forcing windows/conditions. Often, they spent months planning a trip with no backup dates, or the presenting opportunity is the only avenue for them to get out in the next two weeks. People often confuse a lack of failure for success by risking red flags. I would bet on my abilities more often than not, but am careful to gamble on things I don’t have control over. This has given me assurance that it is always worth it to be patient. Only fire when you have a clear line of sight, and try to feed two birds with one scone.
After watching a storm cycle romp its rounds, Koby (Spudkin) and I knew we had our window.
After a pleasant 6am start with a brilliant sunrise and generous lack of wind, Koby and I skin up to Crater Rock, the fumaroles doing their thing, pumping out sulfur clouds like a smoke machine. Koby is backlit by the sun and sulfur smoke as he makes some stupid joke while flexing his muscles and goes “Ohhhh, have you seen my mountain, it’s this big, and it’s over therreeee.”
Ya gotta pump up your pals before a send of notable magnitude, and I couldn’t be more sure of my pal than in that moment.
Koby and I hike out way up to the bottom of the icy tube that we will wiggle through to ascend our way to the summit. The rime ice curls over in stunning arrays that resemble frozen surf waves breaking. Bright blue solid ice, the kind we’re looking for to drill our ice screws into, peaks out at the base of these waves and gives us confirmation that this is an excellent day to bag this route.
Koby's eyes, his cobalt steely peepers, shine with excitement as they match the brilliant blue ice we drill into. To my surprise, his walrus mustache tickles out of his face mask as he calmly denies the need for a belay. This is a man with experience. Rope dangling from his harness, Koby begins his climb up a 60° ice tube, the tips of his skis knocking little chunks of rime down onto me on my ledge as he fits through a notch.
After a few minutes, I hear a holler, and my end of the rope goes taut. I wonder to myself if I may be the only person silly enough to have climbed this route in soft snowboard boots, which was already proving to be an added challenge as good grip became harder to attain. I was glad to be on the rope and thought about how impressive it was that Koby climbed this pitch without a belay. Perhaps time for hard boots?
WE LOVE UPPIES.
Climbing technical routes with cool Koby is like if you were to take a cucumber, put it in the freezer, and then take that cucumber out, and then put it in a harness and climb with it.
We top out at the summit of Hood to a clear vantage and comfortable conditions for a victory snack. Four pitches of some of the best ice climbing I’d ever experienced.
Once satisfied, we downclimb approx 100ft to a natural flattening of the angle that other skiers had made into a ledge. We transition to shred mode and begin to ride. Creamy smooth powder makes each of our turns an elation. Absolutely nailed it. Hard ice for the climb up, soft powder for the descent. Great company. It does not get much better than that.
