As the end of February drew closer, it was time to get ready for the annual hut trip to Tam McArthur Rim run by Three Sisters Backcountry. This year’s trip was a bit bittersweet. I’d been coming into the huts every year since 2010, other than missing one year during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year however, unlike years past, I didn’t have a reservation ready to go for next season, so I knew this would likely be my last trip for at least a year. Plus, we were only going for two nights instead of the usual four, and our we only reserved one hut instead of two. Nevertheless, I figured it would be a good trip – it usually is at Tam Rim.
On Sunday morning, I met up with Andy and John early in Eugene, and we loaded up John’s electric Equinox with gear before heading up the McKenzie Highway. After a brief stop in Sisters to charge (and refuel at the market), we met up with the rest of the crew at the Three Creeks Snowpark before signing waivers, loading sleds, and heading out.
Since we were currently suffering through one of the worst winters on record, and with a meager snowpack on the ground, we loaded gear into the back of a flatbed truck instead of snowmobiles trailers. After driving over halfway up the road towards the huts, we were able to transition from truck to snowmobiles and finish the remainder of the shuttle in. Per usual, we stopped at the lake and did a terrain and avalanche overview, before heading into the huts and unloading gear.
Seeing the huts sitting above the snowpack on the trailers was quite a contrast to the year prior, when the pack was deep, but not too surprising given the winter we were experiencing. After getting an overview of hut safety as well as what was new from new owners Syver and Lisa, we shouldered our packs and headed up the skin track. Since the weather was a bit inclement and snow was falling, we decided to head up towards East Peak for some first turns.
At the junction to the Jelly Roll, we set our own skin track up to East Peak, and elected to head further east, passing by what, at least in my inner circles of friends, is known as Desperation Point. It was nice to skin on this side of the peak, which is something we did often in the early years at the Tam huts, but not too much in the last several years while seeking out bigger and longer objectives. It was only a matter of minutes before we topped out on East Peak, and a few minutes later we dropped in to some rather decent snow, at least by this winter’s standards.
We headed down to the bottom of the short east side bowl, and then made the short traverse across the flat to ski the draw above the huts. The turns in the upper pitch of the draw were nice. Once in the trees, the coverage was a bit sparse, and we skied our way down to the skin track just above the huts before heading back up for another lap.
The goal for our second run of the afternoon was to find some more good snow, and we ended up settling on the Jelly Roll and the Playground. John and I were interested in hitting the Proboscis, but the weather and limited visibility rendered that option a no-go. The Jelly proved to be a good objective, and although it didn’t pull the camera out of the bag for our ski down, everyone still enjoyed the turns back down to the hut, where it was time to get ready for dinner and settle in for the night. Rob cooked us up a great meal, and I enjoyed a tasty Pillbox Porter from Lanikai Brewing Co. that I’d picked up on the big island in Hawaii on a fall trip earlier in the season with the family. It hit the spot, and after enjoying it along with a tasty margarita that Rob made, it was time to hit the sack in anticipation of the following day.
The forecast for Monday wasn’t looking terribly nice, but we woke to a couple inches of wet snow and were happy it wasn’t raining. The forecast was calling for rain later in the day, so we enjoyed a quick breakfast and headed out early in hopes of scoring some fresh turns before the temperature climbed too high. Not feeling too stoked on heading out really far afield, we set our sights on the terrain close to the huts and headed up towards East Peak to see what we could find.
Rob was having some skin troubles, but soon we were climbing up lower Satin bowl and heading towards the top. I had been setting the track since we left the huts, and unfortunately partway up the Satin bowl I skinned over a void and somehow managed to crack my ski severely just under the heel lifter. Fortunately, I was able to put the halves together and ride out, but I was pretty disappointed to have broken my old Milligram, which is definitely they favorite split I’ve ever owned and the one that’s been with me to more objectives than any other board.
At any rate, I let the crew know what was up, and headed down to the huts, enjoying one last final slide on my beloved split. Upon getting back to the huts, I found Andy who was coming in after skiing a lap on the east side of the lake. We chatted for a bit before he headed back out, and then I grabbed my new Milligram, snapped a few pictures of the huts, and headed back up the skin track to try and reconnect with John, Joe and Rob.
Eventually I caught up with Joe and John, but not until finding them all the way at the top of East Peak. It turned out Rob had headed in to grab another pair of skins, so the three of us skied East Peak, and then the east side of the Jelly Roll, before finally working our way over to the Playground to enjoy a lap or two. At the top of the Playground, it was an opportune time to take a break, grab a snack, and enjoy the beverage I’d been lugging around in my pack for most of the day. This day’s offering was a “Cheers to the Land” Oat Pale Ale from Claim 52 Brewing, and it was right on point.
After enjoying our break and the peaceful quiet at the top of the Playground, we dropped in and skied some pretty heavy and unremarkable snow. I was tempted to head back up, but the intermittent snow that was falling was mixed with rain, so we decided to call it for the day and head to the huts. For dinner, I fixed up some halibut fish tacos, which has become some what of a tradition at the huts, along with all the fixings, and we feasted that evening, before enjoying another round of margaritas, playing a game Andy had called “Florida Man,” and then finally hitting the sack. None of us were stoked on the forecast for the following day, which was calling for rain to 7500 feet overnight, but at least it was still snowing wet, heavy flakes as we went to bed.
The next morning dawned, and I not of us could believe it, but we woke up to about 14 inches of wet, heavy snow on the deck. It seemed as if Tam delivered one more time. John and I set about shoveling the snow off the deck, and Rob, Joe and Andy got the coffee and breakfast going so we could head out and have some fun.
We hit the skin track about at the same time as the crew from the other hut, and I ended up breaking trail all the way up to the junction between East Peak and the Playground. Our team elected to try East Peak and hit the Satin Bowl, while the other crew headed towards the Playground. With the fresh snow, we were definitely wary of avalanches, but hasty tests along the skin track didn’t yield any results on our route. We worked our way up the usual route, eventually topping out at East Peak a short time later.
After removing skins, we were ready to drop in. The snow was wet and heavy, but it was fresh snow and deep, both things that none of us had seen for months in the Pacific Northwest, so we were pretty happy with the hand we were dealt. I dropped in first, and setup to shoot a few pictures of the skiers as they headed down.
We worked our way to the bottom of the bowl, and turned around and headed right back up for a second lap. At the top, this time we worked our way into the trees on skier’s right, to get a little steeper and funner line. Joe grabbed the camera from me, and snapped a few photos while I enjoyed some turns in front of the lens. As mentioned, it was wet and heavy, but still made for fun turns and smiles all around.
At the bottom of Satin, Rob joined back up with us and we all headed back up for another run, happy to enjoy the fresh, albeit heavy, snow. I snapped a few more pictures of the skiers as we headed down, and at the bottom we decided to head over and see if anything was left in the Playground.
By the time we skinned over to the Playground, it was warming even more so than it already had, and the snow was mixed with rain. We made our way to the Playground and could tell that the group from the other hut had triggered a slide with a ski cut upon entering the bowl. Given the steeper slope angle of this terrain it wasn’t surprising, so we made plans to hit the slope a bit further skiers right and outside of the bowl. While we were standing at the top of the Playground discussing our final descent back to the huts, a large portion of the Playground on lookers left released naturally and slid to the bottom of the bowl. Again not surprising given the conditions. I learned later when I got home that my friend Stratton Matteson had died in an avalanche in Canada on this same morning, and I couldn’t help but think that this natural avalanche in the Playground was Stratton’s way of reminding us not to drop in.
We stuck to our plan and “skied” the mellower terrain to the right of the Playground, and it was so heavy it was getting hard to make turns. At the bottom, we jumped on the skin track and headed back to the huts, where it was time to load gear on the sleds and head out. To cap off a fun few days of skiing, I enjoyed an Overboard IPA from Big Island Brewhaus that I’d picked up in Hawaii while vacationing with the family.
After another 30 minutes or so had passed, everyone had worked to get the sleds loaded and ready, and we were ready to head out. The timing was perfect, as it was beginning to mostly rain, and it seemed like a good time to say goodbye to Tam Rim for the year. I snapped a few photos before we headed out, including the shots below.
The shuttle out was mostly uneventful, although we did have to stop halfway out and transition gear to the truck. The ride out was also definitely wetter than I remember – most years there’s either been cold smoke or sunshine to accompany us. Eventually we made it to the snowpark, and after unloading the sleds and throwing our gear into the rigs, it was time to call it a trip. While we didn’t get the cold blower or big touring days I’ve become accustomed to while visiting the Tam huts, it still was a good trip with good friends, and I’m going to miss not being on the schedule next year. Oh well, perhaps that will motivate me to get my life in order and get on the schedule for the year following. One thing’s for sure, I don’t plan on this being my last trip to the huts, and am already looking forward to the day I return, hopefully for some cold smoke and sunshine! Here’s a parting shot from the trip of our crew ready to hit the trail home.
