Back at low altitude

Well, it turned out not to be a cakewalk after all.
We exceeded our estimated ascent time by three and a half hours and the Rapid Descent Vehicles were deemed far too dangerous to deploy on the upper half of the mountain as it was way too steep.
In fairness to the team, they apparently misread the info on the trail length as it was 6 miles, not the 3.6 they had prepared for.
The RDV's were still invaluable nevertheless. Our ankles, knees and quads were burning on the way down and the RDVs provided much needed relief as they were used to cover 20-25 percent of the total descent.
More details and pictures when I am back at a real computer.

Live from 11,278 FT!

The eXtreme team is on the summit!
The last 800 feet is up an almost vertical face; much, much tougher than we ever imagined.
Now for the descent....yipes!!

8000 ft

Live blogging from Mt Hood
Just a mere 3000 ft to go

We,ve Got Gear!

After overcoming some confusing off ramp signs, we made our way to REI Outdoor on NW Johnson. Then we confronted our biggest challange yet; how to work Portland's newfangled parking meters and how to get the receipt to stick to the curbside window. After some innovative brainstorming reminiscent of the Apollo 13 mission we finally got it to stay in place.
Inside at the rental counter there was a collective jaw drop when we spotted the enormous crampon equipped hiking boots.Once we tried them on they weren't as clumsy as they looked, but still hardly the thing to make fast time in. By the time we left we were outfitted with boots, crampons, helmets, hiking poles and an ice ax.
Yipes! I fear we have lost sight of our principles.

The eagle has landed

Just touched down at PDX. Got a great view of da' Hood as we made our descent. Looks like a lot of snow cover so the crampons should come in handy.
More live blogging when we pick up our gear and hit the downtown scene.

Let's Roll!

In less than 30 hours the xTremeteam will be starting our record attempt on Mt. Hood, unofficially dubbed "Assault on da' Hood, 08'".
We'll be liveblogging throughout the day with a definitive update from the summit asssuming we can catch a T-Mobile signal up there.
Stay tuned!!!!

T minus 7 and Counting

Anticipation is approaching fever pitch with just 7 days and 6 hours to go before the xTreme Team starts their attempted record climb of Oregon's famed Mt Hood.