South Sister Beta: Thorough Schoolin Needed!

I've read Amar's great writeups on South Sister done from the south ridge. I've been sking Bachelor and eyeballing that sister and waiting for her to hurry up and lift up her skirt.

Currently the highway is still closed at Bachelor, although there's a couple loaders sitting ready and there isn't much snow at all left on the road. When do they expect to open it down to the trail head?

Once the highway's open, is the Girl immediately bidness-ready?

All info appreciated!

I'm excited too. I remember reading an expected opening of "mid to late April" a month or so ago in the news, so I'd guess it'll be soon. The local mountains have been going in and out of great spring conditions since November, so I'm sure the South side will ski nicely once this latest round of fresh snow goes through the cycle. As of this Sunday there was over 1' of fresh on leeward slopes up high, but this sun is doing quick work.

Also, Devil's lake is at 5500' or so, which is a decent bit below snow line in nearby areas. I'm bet there will be some dirt hiking involved, but luckily the trail gains vert quickly. Bend seems to have a very dirt-averse skiing community, but we sure have some epic backyard terrain if you want to get there. None of Sisters really seem like the 'lifting skirt' variety to me, though a good bit of effort gets you plenty of business. Have fun out there! Don't forget there are two other sisters...

In my limited experience, as soon as the road as open it is good to go. The lower part is obvious and will follow summer trails. You then get to the treeline and just trudge ever closer (pleasant on the ascent with hard snow, fantastic view and early excite but can be tedious if the snow goes very sloppy on the way back down). On the mid-mountain there are a few variants, some will be better or worse depending on the snow but there isn't any bad choices. I have seen crevasses on the lewis and Clark glaciers, but they were obvious and narrow.


Views are breath taking.

I miss oregon!

John,

Skiing the South Sister is one of my favorites. In general all the volcanoes in Oregon are a lot of fun with options galore. South Sister is good to go as soon as you can get to the trail head, if not before with a snow mobile. I went there two years ago and camped at the lake half way up to enjoy the sunset and the peace and quiet. There are multiple lines you can take coming off the mountain, so many you will just want to go back up again as the ski is lovely. Enjoy and jealous...I don't have any weekends to get down there until the fourth of July, which is when I try and ski it, but I don't think that will be happening this year.

- Dave

Thar will be a wee bit of hiking from what the Bachelor cam shows. Brown meadow at bottom left is Sparks Lake.

Thanks for the POI tip, now I get a sense of how little snow there is!

Based on what I see on the north side of Batch, it makes sense that S Sister would be dry down to about 7k. I'm guessing that's 4 miles of walking on the brown stuff.

Hey John, I did SS last year July 5 my first time. I don't think even this low snow year will be 4 miles before snow. I'm thinking 1 at the most. If you are looking for a partner PM me. I live in Bend and could probably get away this weekend.

You agin height relatively quickly on the bottom so he snow lien should be too far.

You agin height relatively quickly on the bottom so he snow lien should be too far.

And this week's puzzler is...

Yeah, I wasn't sure whether he was advising me or threatening me . . .

FWIW, highway past Bachelor is now OPEN.

Check the instagram hashtag #almostfamousvolcanotour to see some shots of a Sisters traverse from early last week. There were 3 splitboarders that made the traverse from north to south and might give you an idea of what conditions were like then.