Home > Trip Reports > February 27 - March 1, 2012, - Tam McArthur Rim, Or

February 27 - March 1, 2012, - Tam McArthur Rim, Or

2/27/12
OR elsewhere
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Posted by stoudema on 3/2/12 11:54am
This past week I was able to ride some of the best snow of my life while spending 4 days at Tam McArthur Rim outside of Sisters, Oregon with a few good friends.  Andrew, Andy and I left the valley early on Monday morning and met Todd in the Three Creeks snowpark at 8:30, where about a foot of snow had fallen the night before.  We waited for a half hour or so before Shane and Jonas showed up with the sleds to shuttle us and our gear the six miles into the huts.  After a less than snowy season thus far, our timing was perfect with a foot and a half of fresh waiting for us upon our arrival.  Little did we know it was going to puke for the next two days!  After getting our gear situated in the huts, we set out for some some turns, hitting some of the mellower terrain to check out conditions, etc. 



The weather was perfect, and we hit a few small bowls and the trees on the first run.  After some nice turns, we ventured out to the playground area where the guys from the other yurt were riding.  Here's a view of the overall area we'd be playing in for the next few days...



After a few good runs in the playground, it was time to retire to the huts for some beers and to shoot a few night photos, since the weather was clear and snow was in the forecast.  Here's a shot of the huts...



I wandered out to the lake to shoot some photos of the rim while the moon and stars were out.  It was damn cold on the lake, about 5 degrees, with a slight breeze that made it even chillier.



The next morning arrived and the weather was still clear, so we toured out to check the conditions in the bigger bowls to the west of the huts.  Things were looking quite stable, and we set a track up to the prow and were able to make some super sweet turns in the bowls.  Here's a shot of Todd upon reaching the base of the prow...



The snow in the bowls was nothing less than sweet, and the three runs we made rank up there with the best snow I've ever ridden in my life.  Here's a few shots...





We toured in the bowls until about noon, when the storm moved in, then headed back to the glades.  It started to snow, and didn't stop for the next two days, dropping four to five more feet on top of what had fallen the day before!  We celebrated that night with a dinner of fresh salmon cooked over the wood stove and the best fisherman's stew I've ever eaten.  The next day was nothing less than epic, with temps around 14 degrees and snow falling all day.  Trailbreaking was quite a chore, but we managed to tour most of the day in the trees and smaller bowls above the huts.  After each run our skin track was mostly filled in!  Nothing but white room all day long...



Here's a shot Andy getting in on the action in his first ever backcountry outing away from a closed ski area....



That night we celebrated with beers and whiskey, followed by relaxing in the small wood fired sauna.  I took a few pics in the huts with my tripod, and kinda liked this one of the hut reflecting in my goggles...

 

When I awoke the next morning, another two feet had fallen.  Heading out for one last run before out departure, I was solo since everyone else was taxed from the past few days.  Trailbreaking was ridiculous - definitely the most snow I've ever skinned in and I was sinking up past my waist.  The turns down on this run were less than epic though, just due to too much pow.  A hour or so later, I was down at the huts and we packed up our gear, while starting to worry if Shane would actually be able to get in with the sleds to get us out.  As usual though, Shane made it in, but admitted it was the deepest snow he's ever snomo'd through in his life!  The ride out was through blower pow and about 20 minutes later, we were back in the parking lot having enjoyed a trip that will go down as one I'll not soon forget.  Here's a parting shot of the Rim moments before we left.....the sun finally came out and after about 60 inches, it appeared to be through snowing!

Great photos, especially the night shot of Moon, Jupiter and Venus.  Such a cool alignment, nicely captured in the wild!

I'm with JWP great report, and fantastic pictures, your night shots are wonderful, at 5 degrees it does not take long to be ready to go back inside! thanks

Man oh man - You've got good timing! I love it down there - Ditto on the awesome images.

excellent post and photos Stoudema. The rim is an excellent touring destination and those yurts are nice. I toured there my first time last winter in about the same conditions you report, there is just enough lower angle terrain to break you into the snowpack there and wet your appetite for the bigger bowls. A very nice place to tour. Thanks for sharing

yeah stouds! you got the goods man. love the new avatar on sb.com


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february-27-march-1-2012-tam-mcarthur-rim-or
stoudema
2012-03-02 19:54:37