TR Replies

pdx,

If you're up for volcano skiing, Amar has some good beta on his site that may be of use to you:
http://www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CascadeSki.html

I'm certain he could expound if you had specific questions.
-s

That's only because they're unwilling to hike to the REALLY good snow.  ;D

I haven't done much, but here's what I've got: Bailey is fun, but if you have to park at the snopark it's a LOOONG slog. Lots of stuff in the Sisters, like Jeff says. Bachelor after the lifts close. Thielsen. In winter or early spring, Black Butte (difficult to get in good conditions), the hump next to 3finger Jack, Maxwell Butte, Tumalo (powder....oooohhhh). Diamond Peak. Maiden Peak. Those are the only ones I've...

I'd happily cross to WA, I just can't (don't want to) drive 5 hours each way every weekend to get to the real mountains in WA or BC.
<snip>
Any recommendations for a mid-May trip around the Sisters?

Ah but you realize driving from PDX to the Sisters takes longer then driving to Rainier  ;D

If Cascade Lakes Hwy is open South Sister boosts wondeful spring skiing. For multi-day bc camps Green Lakes is a great destination. I...

Paul,

I'd happily cross to WA, I just can't (don't want to) drive 5 hours each way every weekend to get to the real mountains in WA or BC.

I'm aiming to go to Crater Rock on Hood this weekend, and Mt St Helens sometime before the May 15th.

I see from your TR website that you've done some great stuff in central OR. Any recommendations for a mid-May trip around the Sisters? I cross-country skied the Tam MacArthur Rim earlier this winter. Seemed like it would be a nice place to...

ac,

was there much for avy remnants on the slope?  I haven't been up there for 3 springs, but last time I was on Red Mtn it looked as though the entire face of the peak had ripped off several times - not so much an issue for skiing the face itself, but miserable for coming down the runout gullies below.

Mmmmmm. Schat's Bakery bread. It was a required stop during the drive from SoCal to Mammoth.  ;D

Thanks Ron! If I'm on the mtn Sun I'll say Hi.

We were also up at Black Peak and enjoyed 2 beautiful days. Plans changed as we glanced from a col at the northwest face. Deep snow over rock didn't look pleasent (to descend) and thin snow on the NW face didn't look promising either. We opted to head back down and climb around to the south side. Great skiing and easy climbing on scree and mellow slopes led to the summit. We enjoyed beautiful views of Bonanza (oh yea) and everything else (there's a few). It was nice to see a new area (and now I...

Excellent skiing, excellent company! It was hot hot hot on the way up to copper col... Good snow coverage all the way.

A classic moment was seeing a dog from take a vertical plunge of the edge of a cornice and go bounding down the slope with a party of skiiers from Bellingham!

- Kevin

And why am I not out again today? Oh yea, work. Why can't we get paid to play?

Sorry, I lost it before I finished the list:
S. Ingalls Peak 7640+
Fortune Pk. 7382
High Esmerelda 6765
Hawkins Mtn. 7160
Skookum Pk. 6394
Jolly Mtn. 6443
Sasse Mtn. 5730
Hex Mtn. 5034
Red Mtn (C.E. Valley) 5880+
Thorp Mtn. 5854

Anyway, there are some great runs off these.  All can be ascended and descended right off the summits. Many can be skied in the winter easily and fun in Spring.  It is intended to spark interest in the Teanaway and Cle Elum...

I was with Ema yesterday, this is for the three other parties we met. I dropped a blue Cloudveil jacket between the trailhead and the car, on the way out. If you picked it up, please send me an email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yup, The guiding fireman.  Hope to get my act together and get a TR posted.

I guess we pretty well wore out our welcome on the multiple pics on one thread, eh?
Didn't get a resounding majority to pick the one to keep, either.  So now I've painted myself into a corner and haven't got a clue as to which photo should survive, just that the "bombing site" one needs to go.

So Charles, how 'bout we have a [no photo limit] "Great Photos of TAY" thread?  Then we can move 3 of the 4 qualifiers over and then the folks on dial-ups can avoid...

Ron, how about a little awards ceremony next year? Maybe a 6-pack or a box of Clif Bars per catagory, or a little trophy (just saw some for $.99 each at Crown Hill Value Village) . . . best TR, most epic tour, best action photo, best powder photo, etc.

Forgot to mention: on all exposures, except north facing, the skiing was quite good all day on firm corn with 1 to 2 inches of wet new in shady spots.  A trap crust over 4" to 6" of dense powdery snow was what we found on north exposure above 6000 feet.

8) OK Greg, the cat is out of the bag.  What you were seeing were the tracks from Ben H, Mason, and myself that kicked off "The Gold Creek High Route".  I plan on doing a full post complete with photos once my work schedule calms down and I have a chance to put it up.  BTW we have aptly named those chutes "The Twins".  Keep it cool brother.

I noticed that the Random Tracks thread links to this thread but this thread doesn't link back. Here you go:

http://www.turns-all-year.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=ha1;action=display;num=1082335542

I am unfamiliar with this 'ski recon hike' business. There is no such thing as a ski recon, just a ski with a really long approach.  :) ;)

I suggest that Ron you head up there this summer and place the duct tape and marker in the beer cache so then it's a no brainer. I'm sure you won't forget where you hid the beer!

By golly, that's a right pregnant idea, Stefan!!  8)
Might have to wait until fall though.  
(You being from the Rockies and all, you wouldn't know this  ;) but) in these parts a lot of us ski clear on through the summer and don't get much into [ski-tou...

A very grand ski, eh, Lowell?  

It seems the Kaleetan side trip has been much sought after of late.  We were lucky enough to be able to ski off the summit (table top sized!) of Kaleetan 3/21/04, on our way around Chair.  Even then the route was anemic in the middle, but made the skiing choice through the bottleneck.  Our day was bluebird and warm with a superb corn set up at about noon.  Powder (cascade at least) was found going back over Melakwa's north face (where you, too found great s...

I was with a group who did the 'abbreviated' b-day tour on sunday and we all agreed that the shorter finish skipping Copper and Kangaroo passes was a great way to go. We'd done both tour routes before and the shortened version does provide a better run to the highway...and gives you more time to yoyo some of the better slopes along the way if you've got the energy and time.
-Pete

Russ -- yes, Greg's shortcut saves a lot of time. And the time avoided is mostly South facing sidehilling.  Grusome.

Khyak -- the disadvantage of doing the Birthday Tour backwards (yadhtrib rout?) is that you have more elevation gain and you are climbing up the best skiing slopes.