S_Carter

It is fairly easy to solo the route from HT trailhead car to car in a short day. This has been a yearly ritual for me for the last few years but last year I knocked off a piece of rock, the size of a car. If I leading above a partner, we would have both been swept away. I cannot recommend this route.

Earlier this month, it was completely covered. My guess is that it will could be a few more weeks.

Trip: Three Sisters ski tour attempt (North and Middle) - Date: 6/7/2008 Trip Report: My partner and I saw a weather window and decided try to ski each of the Three Sisters over a relaxed three day period with entry and exit via Pole Creek. Leaving Eugene at 6:30 am, we had enough time to ski in, set up camp at 7,400' and to climb the north ridge of Middle Sister that first day. Sastrugi at around 9,000 feet caused us to leave the skis and hike up to the summit on crampons. The ski descent was good. The Hayden Glacier was in excellent shape for skiing. The following morning, we slept to 6 am, mistakenly thinking that we would have plenty of time to climb North Sister, get back and move our camp to Camp Lake. We ascended with skis on our backs up the south slope between the southeast and southwest ridges. This slope appeared to be a great place for a ski descent. We encountered a couple of other climbers coming down from the summit. Otherwise, it did not appear that there had been much traffic on that part of the mountain. The "Terrible Traverse" took a lot of time as usual but felt pretty good. We got into a position of descending about 15 feet of nearly vertical, soft snow that felt a little weird though. Going up the "Bowling Alley" placed us in a bit of a crux. About 3/4 of the way up, there was a 10 foot section of nearly vertical, thin layer of rotten rime ice. Fortunately, while chopping away the rime, I found a bit of water ice mixed within the underling frozen rock and was able to place our only ice screw. We rappeled off the south side of Prouty Pinnacle. I believe that we had fairly good anchors for the three rappels but backed up the top anchor with a tricam. We used a single 50 meter rope, that brought us back to the beginning of the "Terrible Traverse". Unfortunately, our trip up North had taken more time than we had expected. The snow on the south slope was frozen hard by the time that we got back to our skis. We had to ski off the west side, which was still soft, and then ski back over the Col to get back onto the Hayden Glacier. This all occurred during a big change in the weather, with high winds. We skied back to our camp in the moon light and made the unpleasant discovery that our tent which we thought was secure, had been blown away. Our goal of skiing South Sister on the following day was replaced by concerns of getting through the cold, windy night without our tent and sleeping bags. Luck was back on our side shortly however. After clumsily skiing for perhaps a quarter mile, we found the tent wrapped in a tree. We slept soundly for the remaining part of the night and exited in light rain. We plan to try this again when the conditions are right. In a good snow year, the northwest ridge appears to be an easy way to ascend South Sister from that direction and would hopefully have good snow for a ski descent also. I will attempt to post photos. http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=37601&cat=512[/img] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=37602&cat=512[/img] http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=37603&cat=512[/img] Gear Notes: Telemark skis, 50 meter rope, two pickets, one ice screw, a few nuts, a three small cams, three small tricams (one left on smmit of North).

Fun, easy route. There's no way to get lost on it. The first pitch looks harder than it is. It has so many cracks that it is something like climbing a ladder. If using a 50 meter rope on the first pitch, you should set the first belay as high up as possible in order to get to the next big belay station. Pro placement gets pretty thin on the next pitch but the climbing is easy.

Zee, check your private messages.

My partner and I came up the east buttress that same Sunday. The size of the crowd on top was amazing! Perhaps a couple of more bodies could have been squeezed in with difficulty. The large groups looked liked they were being led by capable people and everyone was courteous. Sure, there was some rock fall but the only one that hit me was the one kicked off by my partner on the buttress. Anyway the fastest way to exit with that crowd was to downclimb past the crowd at high velocity. Everyone stepped aside nicely and I was out of the danger zone soon enough.

Headin' up to Mt. Slesse in ten days for what we hope is a pleasant time on NE buttress. Hate to carry too much gear though. Anyone know what shape the pocket glacier is in? What's the likelihood of finding a water supply along the route during this time of year?

I was up there early June 2 after ascending the North Milk Creek and saw two groups come over the Jeff Park glacier. Glad to know someone summited. I didn't do the pinnacle myself as I was soloing. I should have waited awhile and maybe I could have hitched a ride. Milk Creek Gully has a lot of avalanche debris in it now but still is a good ski descent. There are a couple of waterfalls that come out of nowhere at around 7000' though.