Skiing In the Central Oregon Outback

The time was finally right for an excursion above treeline into the Central Oregon Cascades. Even office workers need to get out sometimes, and Carlos and I elected to shine our office duties in favor of sunny skies and great snow. We decided our objective to the NE Ridge of Broken Hand, a feature just to the east of our much-beloved Broken Top. Below is Carlos heading out with Broken Top in the background.
Here he is at the east col of Broken Hand, enjoying the view to the north of Middle and North Sister.


Then...things got a bit more serious with some technical climbing to gain the summit of Broken Hand. The NE ridge has some rock climbing and some steep snow. A great objective for ski mountaineers.



Straddling the ridge up high, we both felt the exposure.


Carlos is pretty excited on the summit. His first technical climb with his splitboard on his back.

We were rewarded with over 1000 feet vertical of beautiful turns down into the upper part of the Snowcreek drainage.


After that run, we skinned up to Point 8378, and skied its huge north face. What a great run!

Ouray Ice Climbing Festival

This year I traveled with the whole family to the Ouray Ice Festival in Ouray, Colorado. Each year a large amount of dedicated ice climbers converge on what is, arguably, one of the most civilized ice climbing venues in the US.

Below is my son Calvin(age 8) being lowered down from his first ice route.

Each year San Juan Mountain Guides puts on a kids clinic. It was a blast and they did a really nice job with two instructors for every kid climbing.

Here is my other son Finn (age 6) swinging the tools for the first time.

There was awesome competition climbing going on too. Here is a short clip of Will Mayo attempting to complete the route.

My good friend Gregg Dubit from Durango came up to meet us and we snuck out and got a couple of pitches in the gorge as well. Here he is topping out at the Five Fingers Area.


There were a lot of other great activities. Here is Finn doing the ice axe throw for prizes.

One of the greatest things about the town is the public hot springs. Nothing beats a great day on the ice followed by a soak. Now how about a beer and salad?

If you are interested in exploring the ice in Ouray this winter, be sure and contact TMG guide Chris Wright at chris@timberlinemtguides.com.