Reid Headwall season?

I was hoping to try this early to mid May, but some personal issues have pushed it into late May (May 22nd onward) Looking at past trip reports it seems that late April to early May are when a lot of people try this route. All my Cascades experience is further north and late June to mid July on Baker/Shuksan/Rainier. April and May seem unfathomably early to me if not going downhill on planks, but I'll defer to others. Assume we have a whole week to fly out and wait for a weather window, what's a good week to shoot for? Am I correct in assuming that waiting till late May is a bad idea?

Shepido wrote:

April and May seem unfathomably early to me if not going downhill on planks, 

Can you clarify what you mean by this?

People climb Hood and descend on foot from December through whenever the season ends.

Am I correct in assuming that waiting till late May is a bad idea?

Probably.

I’ve climbed the Reid in February, March, April, and once (the latest I’ve done it) on the first week in May.

If you are locked into one week, there’s a decent chance you’d fly out and never get on route.  I’d recommend booking flights last minute when a long period of good weather appears on the forecast.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Can you clarify what you mean by this?

I would not attempt to climb any of the northern cascades peaks or descend them in February/ March/April unless I was doing some sort of Ski-mo thing. I assume (maybe wrongly) that the snow would be very soft and unsupportive, and still winter like. 

I am surprised that people climb hood so often so much earlier than the other more northern cascade peaks. 

I would not say waiting till late May is a bad idea to climb the Reid Headwall. It really depends on the spring weather. It could be good, it could be a mess. We once did the Sandy Glacier Headwall in mid May. Also did the the north face gully the first week in July and had great conditions. Go figure that one. At the end of the day, pick a week, check out conditions and plan accordingly. 

As for needing support, Cascade snow can be quite dense (aka Cascade cement) I have skied and walked at different times. Realistically if one needs skis, one may find the avy danger on west side to be incompatible. 

Shepido wrote:

I would not attempt to climb any of the northern cascades peaks or descend them in February/ March/April unless I was doing some sort of Ski-mo thing. I assume (maybe wrongly) that the snow would be very soft and unsupportive, and still winter like.

This isn't really the case, at least not on Hood.  It can be deep snow (often poor climbing conditions), or it can be firm walkable ice, it just depends on recent weather trends.  I was up there yesterday and it was bootable from the parking lot to the summit on the standard route.

 I am surprised that people climb hood so often so much earlier than the other more northern cascade peaks. 

A big reason for this is access, as Hood has a reliably plowed road to 6,000 ft all season long.  Access to many things in the northern Cascades is much more difficult until roads open.  The standard route also is blasted by crosswind, so it often is firm travel even when there is deep snow elsewhere.

I'd take single anecdotes about dates with a grain of salt; it might be theoretically possible to climb the Reid in late May, but that would not be the norm, and it might not be a great idea either.  If you are planning a trip just to do that route, planning it for an uncommon possibility isn't likely to be successful.  The "average date" of all the Mountain project ticks for the Reid is April 17th, you'd probably be better off planning your trip sometime in April and pivoting based on weather history and forecast.  

Weather is volatile this time of year, so it's very possible there isn't good climbing weather during your 1-week window; for example, I do not think we have had good Reid weather and conditions for a couple weeks, and it looks bad for at least another week.

NOAA Hood weather link for reference: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=45.3308&lon=-121.7103#.W6F6ZehKguU

NWAC avy forecast and weather: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=45.3308&lon=-121.7103#.W6F6ZehKguU

Shepido wrote:

I would not attempt to climb any of the northern cascades peaks or descend them in February/ March/April unless I was doing some sort of Ski-mo thing. I assume (maybe wrongly) that the snow would be very soft and unsupportive, and still winter like. 

I am surprised that people climb hood so often so much earlier than the other more northern cascade peaks. 

Yeah, ski season on Hood is primarily April/May/June. In winter I usually walk down the South Side because it's wind scoured rime ice and the ski conditions are complete junk. If I'm skiing in winter it's other aspects of high peaks or powder down in the trees in winter. Reid is SW aspect; it's stacked with rime mushrooms that collapse in the sun and most of the climbing is up gullies that funnel falling debris. Climb Reid in January. Go skiing in May.

I guess the currently guidebook by Bill Mullee is apparently totally garbage then recommending April through June, and off by 6 months I guess.

April-June was great when that book was published over a decade ago. But... climate change and all that.

Shepido wrote:

I guess the currently guidebook by Bill Mullee is apparently totally garbage then recommending April through June, and off by 6 months I guess.

The Mullee guide says November-June for the Reid (not April-June, I don’t know where you’re getting that).  Late May and June are probably cutting it kinda close these days, so the guidebook is right for 6 of the 8 months it recommends.  If you think that makes this whole guide “totally garbage” and “off by 6 months,” I’d say you’re being a bit hyperbolic…