Good Winter Climbs

[KingsMM]

Hey what would recomend as a good winter route? looking for easier stuff. Routes with a ski desent would be nice. Thanks

[kurthicks]

Not from any personal experience, but Middle Sister. you can do either side, but the east side is more commonly done. i'm sure someone here has done it. Hood is always mellow. McGloughlin if you're down south? Bachy...

 

 

[cluck]

South Side of Hood is easy and pretty nice in the winter if you can get a weather window. Great ski descent from the Hogsback on down.

 

Broken Top has some nice couloirs but might be a bit harder.

 

On the super-easy end, there are some Gorge hikes (Table Mtn, Mt. Defiance) that can be a good winter conditioning slog. No skiing, though.

[iain]

Broken Top is sick. You can make it as steep as you like. I recommend "crater bowl" which climbs up the east crater wall. The ridge to the summit is a rime/corniced nightmare. Great ski.

 

Middle Sister is good. Plenty of options there. Hell, any of the sisters have sweet lines and they are obvious when you get there. Pick one and go. Early Morning Couloir/Villard G. area tends to slide a lot and is windloaded, but sweet in the spring.

 

Jeff Park Glacier if you're in for a few days. Park Butte too.

 

Hood- S. Side is a winter classic. I recommend the mazama chute. Wy'East is usually a better choice later in the year. The circumnavigation is a sweet tour too.

 

Oh yeah and there's that little pile of dirt south of Broken Top too. But that's for the geeks. But Tumalo Butte is a fun short day, too close to keep the boarders away though.

 

 

[rbw1966]

If you have a couple days, South Side of Adams would be a fun ski ascent/descent.

 

Mount St. Helens via worm flows or monitor ridge.

 

Check out Oregon Descents by David Waag for more suggestions and beta.

 

Enjoy!

 

[KingsMM]

How far is the apoach for middle sister SE ridge right now? On Tumalo how much of it can you ski down?

 

[iain]

KingsMM said:

How far is the apoach for middle sister SE ridge right now? On Tumalo how much of it can you ski down?

I would take a solid day to get in to SE ridge of middle, depending on how deep the snow is. If it is deep it can be tough just to get into BT. Pole Creek would probably be the best choice for entrance, but the chambers lakes area is a lot of work to get into in winter. I'm not sure how far Pole Creek Rd is snowed in yet, but it can be a haul to get to the TH. Seems like there are similar runs for less work, but it would be fun to get in there. You would have the place to yourself.

 

You can ski the whole bowl on Tumalo. It just depends how far you want to have to ski out, since you are skiing away from the road as you descend. Or you can cut skier's left and ski the trees, which can be very good. This puts you down on the flats. Watch out for the 'bilers. Be careful with the bowl too. The entire bowl has cut loose just below the cornice before and destroyed all the trees down at the bottom.

[Ursa_Eagle]

iain said:

Oh yeah and there's that little pile of dirt south of Broken Top too. But that's for the geeks.

 

Ball Butte?

[cj001f]

rbw1966 said:

If you have a couple days, South Side of Adams would be a fun ski ascent/descent.

Skinning the road sucks. Aside from a few bilers you'd have Adams to yourself though.

[Lambone]

If any of you guys wants to climb/ski Mt Mclaughlin this winter and would like a partner...let me know. It is the closet "big" peak to my house, about 45 min drive.

[cracked]

Tumalo is fun, but if the weather's good that bowl will be tracked up in no time. Sometimes you get a boarder who postholes up the skin track . If you want a nice ski tour, go for the large hump to the south of 3F Jack, or do Maxwell Butte. Getting to the Sisters would require some skinning of flats, but I still want to do it. Imagine S. Sister with good pow....... .