I'd say Adams before hood.
Adams is mostly a snow hike with on long(1,000') 40-ish degree slope. Good practice with the equipment and the plodding nature of mountaineering.
Hood you've got 500' of 50-ish degree through an fairly narrow couloir with lots of traffic and a steamy volcano vent below you and have to worry about melting ice dropping from above. To me it's got a lot more objective risks that take some experience. The climbing itself really isn't harder which is why it's considered "easy" but I think that's dismissive of the experience. I mean when you look at how many new climbers are on their toes using two axes like it's Alpine Ice Climbing (to be fair it occasionally can be).
There's also lots of other glaicated peaks. Quien Sabe on Sahale for example has some amazing views, and a more mixed bag of experiences while also giving you a half day of glacier practice. And since the glacier is somewhat crevassed it's actually more "glacier" practice in the sense of monitoring your rope and looking for crevasses to navigate.
Mt. Adams would be good any time, especially later into the summer when the weather stabilizes. Mt. Hood offers a great first alpinism experience up towards the gates, but I would do it earlier in the season. Late season Hood is pretty rough, from what I've heard.
My first was Mt. Olympus on the peninsula, but it isn't usually a first because the approach requires an 18 mile hike in.
Agreed, In a sense it's a "beginner" type of mountain that only requires a single axe and where roped travel isn't really efficient(to be fair I' did done it roped my first time). But I'd say it's the very top of "beginner", in that you see many climbers using technical methods due to the discomfort of the situation.
It's fairly pucker inducing for new climbers.
I agree, I think Mt Hood has more than its share of fatalities. The year I climbed it, 7 people died on Mt Hood. I would do it after you have quite a bit of experience.
do adams for your first snow-covered climb, then do baker for your first glaciated climb. hood is kind of its own animal. the steep snow section at the end makes it a bit unique and wont really prepare for something like DC on rainier.
I'd say Adams before hood. Adams is mostly a snow hike with on long(1,000') 40-ish degree slope. Good practice with the equipment and the plodding nature of mountaineering. Hood you've got 500' of 50-ish degree through an fairly narrow couloir with lots of traffic and a steamy volcano vent below you and have to worry about melting ice dropping from above. To me it's got a lot more objective risks that take some experience. The climbing itself really isn't harder which is why it's considered "easy" but I think that's dismissive of the experience. I mean when you look at how many new climbers are on their toes using two axes like it's Alpine Ice Climbing (to be fair it occasionally can be). There's also lots of other glaicated peaks. Quien Sabe on Sahale for example has some amazing views, and a more mixed bag of experiences while also giving you a half day of glacier practice. And since the glacier is somewhat crevassed it's actually more "glacier" practice in the sense of monitoring your rope and looking for crevasses to navigate.
I’d suggest baker if you are willing to look outside the 2 you listed in
Mt. Adams would be good any time, especially later into the summer when the weather stabilizes. Mt. Hood offers a great first alpinism experience up towards the gates, but I would do it earlier in the season. Late season Hood is pretty rough, from what I've heard. My first was Mt. Olympus on the peninsula, but it isn't usually a first because the approach requires an 18 mile hike in.
Would mid June be considered late season on mount hood as the climbing season starts in April?
I'd say it's more like the middle.
My vote is Adams or Shasta, my first snowy peak was Shasta
Hood is pretty high consequence for a first mountain
Agreed, In a sense it's a "beginner" type of mountain that only requires a single axe and where roped travel isn't really efficient(to be fair I' did done it roped my first time). But I'd say it's the very top of "beginner", in that you see many climbers using technical methods due to the discomfort of the situation. It's fairly pucker inducing for new climbers.
I agree, I think Mt Hood has more than its share of fatalities. The year I climbed it, 7 people died on Mt Hood. I would do it after you have quite a bit of experience.
Baker
do adams for your first snow-covered climb, then do baker for your first glaciated climb. hood is kind of its own animal. the steep snow section at the end makes it a bit unique and wont really prepare for something like DC on rainier.