June 3, 2003, Mount Bachelor (9,065) North Side
6/3/03
OR elsewhere
2415
2
Volcano #2 Volcano Tour 2003
Ski descent: 2,700 vf
Distance: 4 mile round trip
Surf and Turf!
Nothing says vacation like skiing in the morning and rock climbing in the afternoon.
After a pleasant morning of coffee and packing 'super fly', we hit the trail to Mount Bachelor's summit at 8 am, parking at the gates to the newer complex of the ski resort along the access road. It was very fun to see 6 feet of snow still on the ground turning to smooth corn and not a sole to be found amongst the buildings of the winter playground. It was like having Wally World all to ourselves ('sorry folks, park's closed, Moose should have told you at the gate). We hiked right up under the lower lifts enjoying a fun game of 'ski-lift booty call' scanning for the debris of the winter's fun emerging from the melting snow pack. Above the fixed lift we followed the Quad Chair's lift towers, completely enjoying the wide open slopes of the upper mountain, and were very pleased to find the terrain challenging and picturesque off the summit. The views north to the Sisters group and Broken Top were fantastic and afforded many pictures for future ski descent routes.
We dropped into the steep bowl that was the glacial remnant, and skied right past the red gendarmes of the summit cone that produced amazing pictures. Perhaps the best skiing of the trip for me was the smooth snow of a double-fall line ramp I followed down into the huge bowl. We skirted around the tarn to the left and traversed out onto the steep slope beyond, enjoying fine corn snow that easily allowed us to etch our signatures in the snow, later visible from the parking lot. A fast cruise of the treed lower ski runs at mach speed took us right back to the car and a mellow scene of fun mongers and tourists.
After a short 1 hour drive we arrived at Smith Rock and in the very warm sun climbed down into the gorge. Almost in a dream we climbed three fine routes (one gear no less, and two sport climbs) following the shade and staggered out by 5 pm, pushed out by the building crowds and growing fatigue. After another decently short two hour drive we were buying supplies on the border of Washington and then enjoyed the easy cruise up to Trout Lake and the painful fee and permit process at the Trout Lake Ranger Station - remarking that student loan applications were easier than a journey through our national treasures.
In a twist of good fortune we met Ron (my friend from Seattle) at the trailhead with no drama, adding a fourth member to our Volcano tour. We went to bed early after packing up our gear, anticipating a very large day and eager to notch a third Volcano in our belts. The third volcano in three days.
Volcano Tour 2003 sample photos available @: http://groups.msn.com/MCSAWashington/shoebox.msnw?Page=1
Ski descent: 2,700 vf
Distance: 4 mile round trip
Surf and Turf!
Nothing says vacation like skiing in the morning and rock climbing in the afternoon.
After a pleasant morning of coffee and packing 'super fly', we hit the trail to Mount Bachelor's summit at 8 am, parking at the gates to the newer complex of the ski resort along the access road. It was very fun to see 6 feet of snow still on the ground turning to smooth corn and not a sole to be found amongst the buildings of the winter playground. It was like having Wally World all to ourselves ('sorry folks, park's closed, Moose should have told you at the gate). We hiked right up under the lower lifts enjoying a fun game of 'ski-lift booty call' scanning for the debris of the winter's fun emerging from the melting snow pack. Above the fixed lift we followed the Quad Chair's lift towers, completely enjoying the wide open slopes of the upper mountain, and were very pleased to find the terrain challenging and picturesque off the summit. The views north to the Sisters group and Broken Top were fantastic and afforded many pictures for future ski descent routes.
We dropped into the steep bowl that was the glacial remnant, and skied right past the red gendarmes of the summit cone that produced amazing pictures. Perhaps the best skiing of the trip for me was the smooth snow of a double-fall line ramp I followed down into the huge bowl. We skirted around the tarn to the left and traversed out onto the steep slope beyond, enjoying fine corn snow that easily allowed us to etch our signatures in the snow, later visible from the parking lot. A fast cruise of the treed lower ski runs at mach speed took us right back to the car and a mellow scene of fun mongers and tourists.
After a short 1 hour drive we arrived at Smith Rock and in the very warm sun climbed down into the gorge. Almost in a dream we climbed three fine routes (one gear no less, and two sport climbs) following the shade and staggered out by 5 pm, pushed out by the building crowds and growing fatigue. After another decently short two hour drive we were buying supplies on the border of Washington and then enjoyed the easy cruise up to Trout Lake and the painful fee and permit process at the Trout Lake Ranger Station - remarking that student loan applications were easier than a journey through our national treasures.
In a twist of good fortune we met Ron (my friend from Seattle) at the trailhead with no drama, adding a fourth member to our Volcano tour. We went to bed early after packing up our gear, anticipating a very large day and eager to notch a third Volcano in our belts. The third volcano in three days.
Volcano Tour 2003 sample photos available @: http://groups.msn.com/MCSAWashington/shoebox.msnw?Page=1
Like a kid who just found an unopened present under the Christmas tree...my TRs are now multimedia!
Hmmm. So you're the reason I found nothing worthwhile under the Bachelor lifts yesterday. I was trying to conjure up a year's supply of pole baskets and mismatched gloves, but found only chapsticks, lighters, broken poles and $1.02 in United States currency. Fortunately, the views remain spectacular and the skiing was entirely reasonable.
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