Never Ending Skiing- Wow

Some things in life are still confusing. After a complete drought of a winter in Central Oregon, springtime came with a vegence. Dumping over 15 feet of new snow in late April through mid- June, spring storms pummeled our area almost continuously. While this weather was somewhat frustrating for mountaineering, it extended the ski season tremendously.

John R. came up from the heated south and was keen to do some spring skiing in our local peaks. On June 26, we has a great day out on North Sister.





This time of year, you do have to want it. We walked along way with our skis on our back. But hey- we are dedicated. The immpresive East Face of North had a humungous avalanche crown from a few weeks ago. Our goal was to climb the NE Ridge, which is the right-hand skyline in this photo.



















Here is John climbing up the spectacular NE Ridge with Jefferson and Mt Hood in the distance.














This is a photo of our most excellent line on the northern aspect of the NE Ridge of North Sister.





John dropping in on the line. What a great ski run this was!


Next up was Fernando from the Bay Area. A Shasta Veteran, and expert backcountry skier, Fernando and I had a great time on South Sister. This was on July 5! Look at all that skiable snow!






















These are our turns from the summit of South Sister on July 5! Wow- you can't beat this snow! I really should dust off my rock shoes, but the skiing remains good and its hard to switch modes. Somtime soon its got to melt out, but in the meantime, I am going to ski it for all its worth!