October 06, 2012, South Sisters

October is the cruelest month for me to ski, not for the reason you might suspect, like no snow, but because I have had all summer to come up with some O.C.D. cooked plot to ski something un tested.  My obsession for this month has been South Sisters,  Last month while hanging in Redmond OR, I decided I had looked long enough and it was time to go.  Problem was, I am now back in Wenatchee, and it's a not very handy seven hours drive each way.  So on Friday I scurried around  trying to pretend like I was getting my chores done and bolted for Bend at 13:00.  Pulled into the Devils Lake TH as the last flickers of the sun melted into the western horizon.  It's a well worn and popular trail head and there was a steady flow of vehicles arriving all night long.   At 05:00 I started coffee, and breakfast and  had a leisurely 06:30 departure, with a quick detour to go back for my camera.  It was a flawless day, not a cloud in the sky and central Oregon cold and dry.







As I climbed out of the timber,  the skiing possibilities were looking thin, but I had already decided that no matter how things looked, I was not going to be discouraged, and leave my skies behind.    At the toe of the Lewis Glacier I was hoping that was not as good as it was going to get, but as it turned out it was.  The fire near Sisters was still active, and drift smoke hung at the lower elevations, but did not obscure the views.  The Lewis had a few very open cracks, but the obvious problem was the sun tubs, I have not seen the tub rating, but these were in the four foot X two foot size.  I decided to continue on to the top and see what might be offered.  The summit snow cone in the caldera was perhaps 24 feet in relief and I was pretty sure it would go.









It had taken me five hours to the summit, I had a quick bite to eat "skied" the snow cone and started down.  Figuring out how to make my way onto the glacier, and avoid the hazards turned out to be easier than it looked, but I was glad to have crampons, and an ax.  It was a bumpy 400 feet but I savored every turn, and at the bottom, I was very happy to have done it, not easy, but very satisfying, and that obsession has been suppressed until spring, when I hope to bag a little more vert.







The Lewis