[TR] Mt. Jefferson - West Rib 05/22/2023

[bedellympian]

Trip: Mt. Jefferson - West Rib

Trip Date: 05/22/2023

Trip Report:

Went to ski the W Rib on El Jeffe with Kellen. Pretty melted out and some big slide debris/runnels. We skied the aspect down towards N Milk Creek instead of staying on the ridge all the way down. Top 1k' was icy but then it got good. Probably tail end of the season for this already with the warm weather and rain.

 

Pictures:

Overview pic. We dropped the gully with the big runnel in it that appears to extend directly below the summit pinnacle.

Hiking up

Summit Pinnacle

Hood to the North

Sisters to the South

Skiing down

Final slide alder down to Milk Creek.

Gear Notes:
Standard volcano spring skiing kit.

Approach Notes:
Trail to Milk Creek is pretty clear. Easiest way we found was up Milk Creek and then up and left per Oregon High overlay. Minimal shwack/scrambling to reach snow.

[olyclimber]

Awesome pics.  Thank you for sharing!

 

[Kameron]

Fun looking ski hill, one of these years I'll have to schralp it

[pgowdy]

Damn! We ended up climbing Jeff on June 3-4th and had a completely different experience. We went up Jefferson Park Glacier and found the knife edge ridge climb to be in AWFUL shape. Partially covered in rotten snow, it was very hard to protect and we had to move very slowly to get across. We got to the summit pinnacle, and it was much the same story. Really rotten, soft, shitty climbing snow. 

I have a feeling we caught this peak at a really terrible time, but we super underestimated the technical challenges of this thing. Cool to see your trip went so well only 2 weeks back! Cool to see how much the mountain has changed in such a short period. 

[JasonG]

I think most find the Jefferson Park route to be in much better shape after the rime is gone, but before the 'shrund becomes problematic.  You'll have more fun the next time @pgowdy!