High pressure continued to dominate over the Pacific Northwest, and it looked like the weather window for Saturday was shaping up nicely. Joe, Dan and John were game to get out for some turns, and we settled on North Sister’s south bowl as our objective, with access via Pole Creek. I met Joe in Sweet Home at 5:30, and soon we were headed up Highway 20 as the sun rose. It felt odd, and a bit sad, to drive by the usual winter riding spots with only a few spots of snow here and there. This winter has definitely been the worst one on record that I can remember.
A bit before 7:30, we pulled into the trailhead, surprised to see a few inches of snow still remaining from the storm the previous weekend. John and Dan arrived shortly after we did, and we shouldered packs and headed up the trail, through the burn. Since the fire, hiking through the burnt forest provides for better views of the mountains as well as some interesting looks at the carnage left behind…
After a few miles, we crossed Soap Creek, gained a bit of elevation, and reached snow that was continuous enough to skin around 6000 feet. The lack of snow coverage down low was appalling, especially since the pack should be nearing it’s deepest point towards the end of March. Eventually, as we worked our way higher, the peaks started to come into view….
Rather than skin up the Hayden Glacier as I’ve done on previous trips, we elected to stay north of the Hayden and climb along the base of the southeast bowls of the North Sister. As we gained more elevation, the views became increasingly better. Below are a couple of shots of the crew skinning up as well as looking out across the flats towards South Sister….
We worked our way up above the large amphitheater bowl between the Hayden Glacier and the North Sister as the sun started to soften the snow on the southeasterly aspects. At the end of a small rock ridge before a necessary traverse, we took a break to rehydrate and grab some lunch, while soaking in the views. Then, we traversed into the bowl and booted up the headwall in the middle right of the below picture….
I led the pitch up the headwall, enjoying the climbing purchase provided by my new Fitwell boots. Crampons weren’t necessary, but I was glad I had my ice axe out for a bit of extra security. Climbing out of the amphitheater felt like climbing in a sauna, and I was sweating pretty good by the time we reached the flats above…..
The final leg of our climb included a 1500 foot boot pack up our intended objective — the North Sister’s south bowl. The first 500 feet of the climb was on nice corn, underlain by a hard layer of blue ice. Crampons were necessary. Immediately following the corn, we found about 700 feet of unconsolidated soft snow approximately 8-12 inches in depth. The final few hundred feet to the ridge were nice corn again. During our climb, we hiked right by an impressive fin of rock formed by years of erosive processes from wind, water, snow and ice. In my opinion, this fin is one of the most impressive features I’ve encountered in the Oregon cascades…..
As we reached the ridge dividing the east and west sides of North Sister, we stopped for a quick breather and to enjoy the spectacular views looking back south towards Middle and South Sisters, as well as to the west down onto the Collier Glacier….
A final hundred feet or so of climbing brought us to our high point for the day of about 9,600 feet. We could have continued higher along the ridge if we’d wanted to, but the skiable snow didn’t extend beyond our current point, so we elected to stop, given the hour was already 2:00 pm. We soaked in the views for a half hour or so, enjoying the sun and snapping a few pictures as well before dropping in…..
I dropped in first, and made smooth turns down the corn snow for a few hundred feet before stopping and waiting for the others to drop in. As they came down one by one, I snapped some photos with my Canon 6d….
One of my favorite things about riding the volcanoes is the long, sustained runs followed by a day’s climb. There’s something special about one long continuous run, rather than several shorter laps interrupted by transitions from ride mode to skin mode….
About halfway down the bowl, I rode down to Dan, who grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots of me getting in on the action….
Rather than ski down our exact route up, we elected to ride over to and traverse out onto the Hayden Glacier at the bottom of North’s south bowl. On the traverse out, I stopped to snap a few photos of our work, including the two below.
Once we made it out onto the Hayden Glacier proper, the snow turned from corn to chalk, and it skied well. Riding down the Hayden is one of my favorite experiences in Oregon, as the turns go on and on and on. Numerous fun features, including small wind lips, rollovers and natural drops allow for much expressive creativity on the ride down. Below are a few photos I snapped of Dan on the way down….
Back at treeline, we stopped for a quick break, then skied sticky snow over rocks, trees and dirt down to the trail at about 6000 feet. A three mile hike brought us back to the cars at the trailhead at 5:00, where well deserved cold beer was waiting. As the sun went down behind the hills, the temperature dipped down and reminded us that spring was not quite here, but given the conditions on the day, I think we could have made a strong argument otherwise. Hopefully the snow sticks around on the high peaks for a little while, otherwise it’s gonna’ be a long, long summer. Here’s a parting shot from the trip of Middle Sister in the shadows….
