White River Glacier- A classic Oregon Ski Descent

Last Monday, I was in the right place at the right time. This sort of thing doesn't happen to me much of the time but it did on Monday. The White River Glacier is one of the most accessible glaciers in the Lower 48. For skiing, the access is phenomenal and for a 4600 foot climb up from Timberline Lodge, it is possible to get a 6700 foot descent all the way to White River Snowpark.

When we arrived at the parking lot the weather was horrible! Clouds and fog, with cold temperatures and a biting  east wind greeted us as we booted up. We could tell that it might be clear up high, and we knew that in the last 24 hours, some light fluffy, low density had been laid down up high. We knew we wanted to get into some of that stuff!

So, we put our heads down and battled the weather. At about 8700 feet we started to get above the clouds. Below is Iain and Nick starting to feel better about life.

At about 8900 feet we received the blessing and we basked in the sunshine.

We decided to ski from the 'schrund, a prominent feature on the South Side climbers route. The snow was relatively unaffected by the wind, even that at altitude (10,700 feet). Here is Iain about to enjoy the fruits of our hard labor.

Iain smiling at our top set of tracks.

Below Crater rock. Yes folks, this is Oregon. You can see the top of Illumination Rock in the lower left of the photo.

Dropping into the upper part of White River Glacier was excellent. Mt Jefferson is in the distance.

The mid and lower part of the glacier required a bit of crevasse negotiation and held excellent low angle powder.

This was dreamboat.

The end of the tour is a really fun glide out near the bottom on the canyon. We had stashed a car at the White River Snow park where water and snacks were waiting.

The White River Glacier is one the most accessible and phenomenal long tours with a good down to up ratio. If you are interested in doing any skiing this year, please feel free to contact us!