April 13, 2008, Paulina Peak, NW Chutes

I went down to the Newberry Crater to ski off Paulina Peak with some friends. Newberry Crater is southeast of Bend.

We got a late start leaving from the 10 mile Sno-park where the gates closed the road. We skinned up the road for a while before we were passed by two snowmobilers. They turned around and offered us a ride to the top (there's a road to the top of the Peak). One of the 'bilers had skied there previously and offered to point out the good lines. We were a bit hesitant because we wanted to do the climb human powered. But I'm glad we took him up on their offer because it turned out we were quite a ways from the top.

We checked out some of the chutes on the Northwest side and they looked tasty


After we got dropped off at the summit and got pointed in the right direction, the snowmobilers took off. We never saw another soul for the rest of the day.

We dropped in to one of the wider chutes. The snow was well cooked and quite heavy, although if you stayed close to the rock walls in the shadows, you could find some ripe corn. The pitch was very nice and sustained.


After a quick lunch break, we climbed up the ridge for another go at it and had a fun afternoon. Headed out via some of the Xcountry trails and then on the road back to the car.