Anticipation had been building for several weeks prior to the annual hut trip to Tam McArthur Rim with Three Sisters Backcountry, and the weather appeared to be shaping up nicely for our 2025 trip. As in years past, we had a full crew and both huts reserved, and hit the road early to get to the snow park by 8:30 am. I carpooled over with Dan and Andy, and after a brief stop in Sisters to grab a cup of coffee, we pulled into the Upper Three Creeks snow park and found Rob, Hutch, and a few others already there. A few moments later, the rest of our crew joined, and after unloading gear and signing waivers, we loaded the sleds and were ready to head in.
Jonas was out of state visiting family, so we rode in with Gabe and another member of TSBA. As usual, we stopped for a quick discussion of the snowpack, and then pulled into the huts and proceeded to unload the trailers and organize our gear.
It wasn’t long before we were ready to hit the skin track and begin the search for some fresh snow. We divided into a couple of groups and headed up towards the Playground, with the thought of hitting the Satin Bowl and the Jelly Roll, and if the snow was good, heading out further towards the Proboscis.
I was with Dan, John, Brian, Shannon, Adam and Jon, and we wound up finding ourselves on top of the Jelly Roll for our first lap. The snow appeared to be pretty nice, with 4-5 inches of new snow on top of a couple that had fallen a day or two previously. We dropped in one at a time to keep it safe, and enjoyed some nice turns on the way down.
At the bottom, we talked about going back up, but decided instead to tour over towards the Proboscis with the goal of getting a look at the Orchard Bowl. We knew the Orchard Bowl had slid out big a week or so earlier from the beta we had from Gabe, but were curious if we could find a line that might be skiable. We made turns off the ridge near the Proboscis and worked our way down through some really nice snow and then wrapped around to the Orchard bowl.
Needless to say, the debris in the Orchard was large, and there wasn’t much good snow to be found, but it was fun to tour out to it anyway and take a look. At this point, Brian, Shannon and Adam decided to head back to the huts, and Jon and John went back to where we’d been to try to find some good snow, so Dan and I hung back for a minute to enjoy a beer and then head up through the forest to find some more turns. My beer of choice for the afternoon was on the lighter side — a Mid-Light Crisis from Iron Horse Brewing that I’d picked up in Washington on a ski trip to Mission Ridge a couple of months earlier with the family.
Our beers hit the spot, and once they were finished we set a skin track through the forest with the goal of heading back up towards the Jelly Roll. The lower forest between the Orchard Bowl and the Playground has some of the biggest and most beautiful trees in all of Central Oregon, and we couldn’t help but stop to admire them. Skinning through the quiet forest, with a few flakes coming down and a light coat of white on the tree branches — it doesn’t get a whole lot better.
Soon we linked back up to the Playground skin track and then back to our previous skin track. After a little more work, we were back on top of the Jelly Roll and ready to drop in. I headed down first, and snapped some pictures of Dan as he came down and skied by me.
When I crested the roll over, I could see Dan at the bottom and it looked like he set off a slide. As it turns out, it was someone else in our group (Mark), who’d kicked it off earlier. It was about 6 inches deep at the crown face and ran halfway down the bowl, and overall not surprising given the slope angle and freshly deposited wind slab.
From the bottom of the Jelly, we skied over to the Playground and worked our way to the Dan bowl, which held some really nice snow, before sliding our way back down the skin track and back to the huts to settle in for the evening.
Hutch was in charge of making dinner on the first night, and we all knew we were going to be in for a treat. He whipped up some gourmet ravioli, along with some bread and salad, and everyone ate well. The rest of the evening was filled with the usual – reliving funny moments from the past on ski patrol, discussing plans for the following day, enjoying some drinks, and playing a few games. Hutch’s rice crispy treats hit the spot for dessert, and with plans firmed up to head to Snow Creek the following morning, we stoked the fire and hit the sack in preparation for a longer day tomorrow.
The next morning dawned clear and cold, and we enjoyed a nice breakfast of bagels, eggs, and some of John’s fresh kiwi fruit. Once the dishes were done and we re-stocked the wood in the huts, the skins hit the skis and we headed out.
We worked our way up to the Playground and then to the Proboscis, and then headed out towards the Prow. The views were beautiful as usual, and soon we gained the Prow and were afforded views into the different rim bowls. All had slid a week or two earlier during the big warm up, but still looked quite stunning.
Being one of the first to the top, I set about taking a few pictures while the others worked their way to the top of the Prow to enjoy the views. Admiring the volcano lineup to the north and west, I had to admit, the view from the top of Tam in late winter is one of the better views in Oregon.
A bit later, we stepped back into our skis and headed off towards Broken Top and Snow Creek. There was little wind, and the sunny yet cold conditions made for some really nice skinning.
Although it’s not terribly far from the huts, it does take a couple of hours to get to Snow Creek. Along the way, I snapped several photos of our crew as we skinned along the ridge separating Snow Creek from the Tumalo drainage.
As we worked our way out towards Broken Hand, we separated into two groups. One group, led by Hutch, decided they wanted to drop east and explore some of the terrain in that direction, while my group, consisting of Rob, Mark, Jon, John, Brian and I decided the snow in Snow Creek was worthy of some turns. We continued on to our high point at the base of Broken Hand, and dropped in on a little gully that held surprisingly soft and nice snow.
I dropped in after Mark from the top, and the turns were soft and nice! Both of us were pretty excited on how good the snow was considering that much of the ridge and surrounding area was windswept and firm. After making turns, I setup to shoot a few photos of the others as they came down…
We regrouped at the bottom of the slope and found a logical point to drop into Snow Creek. To our surprise, there were only a couple of turns that were scratchy, and once we entered Snow Creek the snow was a perfect surface consisting of about 4-5 inches of powder.
The ski into Snow Creek is one of my favorites at Tam Rim, and it was big fun to get to ski it after being shut out due to weather on the last several trips. Below is a three-shot sequence of Mark and John making nice turns on the smooth surface.
We skied down quite a ways, and about half way down I stopped to snap some pictures of Rob and Brian as they came down. Even several months later, I’m still shocked by how well the snow skied!
We enjoyed the snow all the way down to our usual stopping point further down in the hole. It’s a great spot to eat lunch, and it was also a prime time to put my beer of choice for the day – a super smooth tasting Bodhizafa IPA from Georgetown Brewing Company – on ice, or in this case, snow.
It felt good to kick back and relax for a bit, and enjoy lunch with a pretty awesome view. A bit later, Mark was ready to head out, and set a skin track back up. A few minutes later, I headed out, and the others followed shortly thereafter.
The steep rollover slope required ski crampons to get up the last section due to a belligerent crust layer a few inches down, but we made short work of the climb and were soon ready to drop in for a second lap. Brian and I headed further west, in search of a nice looking line with some steep pitches. Brian dropped in first and I snapped a few photos of him as he headed down.
Before dropping in, I took my camera out of the bag and took a few pictures of North and Middle Sisters. The view from this vantage point was too good not to grab a few photos with my zoom lens. After being satisfied by taking a few shots, I dropped in and made my own tracks next to Brian’s.
Brian took a bunch of wide-angle photos of me coming down, and the below shot turned out pretty well, with some of the cold smoke still suspended above me from 2 or 3 turns earlier.
After regrouping at the bottom of the slope, I headed on down to make some final turns back down to our lunch spot to meet up with the others while Brian wanted to get a head start on climbing out since he was the only one in our party that didn’t have ski crampons along. Down at the bottom, I regrouped with the others, donned skins, and began climbing for the second time out of the hole. As we got about halfway up, I was able to get a few good pics of Jon, who met up with Brian and decided to get another half lap in.
Eventually, we all worked our way out of Snow Creek and back to the ridge to prepare for the ride back to Tam. Brian, Jon and I took a pretty direct line back towards the Rim, and enjoyed some good turns down before switching to skins for the final push back to the Proboscis. The turns off the Proboscis weren’t great, so we headed over to the Jelly Roll for a final lap back to the huts. That evening, we settled in, and enjoyed another excellent dinner with good company.
The next morning dawned clear and cold after a couple inches of snow fell overnight, and I knew it was going to be a pretty good day. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast before heading out, with our objective being East Peak for starters. Turns out it was a pretty good decision, and by the time we got to the top there was 4-6 inches of really nice, fresh snow blanketing the slope. It was fairly windy, but the wind transport made for some really nice turns as demonstrated by Mark, Jon and Rob below.
After our first lap, it was a no-brainer to head back up and do it again. The second time up the track was a bit easier since we weren’t breaking trail, and soon, we found ourselves back on top and ready to shred.
The remainder of the day was spent putting tracks in the various bowls behind the huts, and we found some pretty good runs in the Playground and off of skier’s right of East Peak.
Later in the evening, our third night pretty much followed suit with the previous two, with some tasty hors d’oeuvres prior to a pretty awesome main course. We played some drawing game that Brian and Shannon brought that I was terrible at and generally enjoyed ourselves before heading to bed with thoughts of riding the 100 acre woods the next morning.
Our fourth morning dawned clear and cold, and we enjoyed another great breakfast. Knowing that the snow around the Pyramid and the Hundred Acre Woods might not be that good, we headed out there anyway to get stretch the legs and see something different.
The skin across the lake, out across the flats and then across Little Three Creeks lake is quite enjoyable, and soon we were climbing up through the steep glades to gain the ridge on the backside of the Pyramid. It’s always a bit of a grunt to get up, but once you gain the ridge it makes it worth it for the views.
The ridge was nice and calm, in stark contrast to last year when we were nearly blown away, and it was a good spot to enjoy lunch. The snow on the other hand wasn’t as good as the view, and was a bit crusty. Nevertheless, we stepped into our bindings a few minutes later and were ready to ride.
We linked turns through the glades, and although it wasn’t the best snow, it was still fun. At the bottom, we all regrouped, and transitioned over to skins to make the trek back to the huts. Dan and I held back while the others stated out, and enjoyed a beer while transitioning. My beer of choice was a good tasting German Chocolate Cake Ale from Icicle Brewing Co. in Leavenworth, WA that I’d picked up a couple of months earlier on trip with the family to ski and visit in-laws. It definitely hit the spot!
After enjoying our beers, we headed back towards the lake, and it wasn’t too long before we were back at the huts. I was on tap for making dinner on our fourth night, and before long I had the halibut fish tacos cooking on the grill, along with the black beans on the stove while Hutch made the Spanish rice in the other hut. We had all the toppings to go on the tacos, including shredded cabbage, onions, cilantro, feta, limes, and salsa, and they were top notch!
The next morning, we woke to a few inches of fresh snow, and given it was our last day of the trip, we ate breakfast a bit earlier before packing up all of our gear and stashing it in the sauna. As had become the norm over the past few days, we headed up towards East Peak, having to put in a new track since the previous one was buried.
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We worked our way up to the top of the Satin Bowl on East Peak, and pulled skins in anticipation of a good run. I dropped in first, and setup to shoot some shots of the skiers and riders as they came down. Hutch dropped in first and was looking good, and was followed by Jon and then Andy. The snow was prime and everyone laid waste to the powder.
We ripped turns down to the bottom of the run, and then headed back up for another lap. The snow was really nice – probably some of the best of the trip, and provided some extra motivation on the skin track after 5 days of working to earn our turns. Upon arriving at the top, we headed over to give the Jelly Roll a try, and it didn’t disappoint.
From the bottom of the Jelly Roll, we scooted over to the Playground, and wasted little time in putting some lines in the bowl.
The snow in the Playground was great, so we headed back up to turn another lap as soon as we could. The Playground is one of my favorite slopes at Tam – I just wish it was about 4 times longer! On our second Playground lap, I caught several pictures of Andy enjoying the fresh powder…
After our second lap in the Playground, we headed back up to the top of the Jelly Roll to finish our day with a run there and then exiting to the huts via the Dan Bowl. The Dan Bowl proved to not disappoint, and we found some really nice fresh powder as demonstrated by Brian and Andy below.
We finished with a smooth exit via the skin track right back to the huts, and it felt pretty satisfying to have completed another sweet trip to Tam Rim. It was also time to kick back and relax a bit, while beginning to load the sleds with our gear and also enjoying a beer. My final beer of the trip was a Fire Rock Pale Ale from Kona Brewing, which seemed fitting given our location.
We had to wait just a bit for Jonas who was out skiing, so it was a good time to eat some food as well as enjoy our beverages. Brian had the interesting idea to warm his sandwiches over the fire ring on the snow shovel. To each his own I suppose :).
After we got everything loaded on the sleds and prior to heading out, I took a group picture of the 2025 hut crew from the snow bank adjacent to the owl yurt. Of course Adam had to show off for the camera :).
The sled ride out was nice, with gorgeous views of the Sisters and Jefferson to the west and north. At one point we lost Dan’s suitcase and had to stop to retrieve it. It was funny enough to everyone that he actually brought a suitcase in with him, but it was even funnier when Brian grabbed it and extended the handle, and walked it back to the sled.
Before long, we were back at the Snow Park, and after unloading our gear from the trailers and wishing Jonas a great rest of the season, our trip was over. I’d have to say that this 2025 trip 100% exceeded my expectations, but it seems like that is par for the course with Tam Rim – each time I visit I usually find conditions quite a bit better than what I expect. Next year’s crew is going to be a bit smaller, but I’m already looking forward to returning in 2026!
