Operation Track Out Broken Top

March 23rd, 2013

Skiers: Court Brock, Erik Schmidt, and Lindsey Clark

A special visitor came to town from Tahoe, interested in skiing big lines and good snow. You know what that means... we headed to Broken Top.

The plan was to ski Pucker first, then traverse over to the crater to ski whatever else looked good. On our way across the meadow, we saw some tiny ants making their way up the ridge: we'd been beaten to it! Not to fear, the mountain is huge and full of ski lines. So we changed our plans and headed straight for the crater. On our way, we saw the cornice on the top of Pucker collapse.

Cutting the cornice before skiing Pucker is a totally reasonable thing to do: it can be helpful to make an entrance into the line, you can use it to observe the current avalanche conditions, and it is easy to see if anyone is down below you so you don't take them out. We figured it was part of the group's plan, witnessed the huge sluff with awe, and were on our way.

We skinned over to the southeast ridge, and began booting up a fun, hidden couloir that Erik really likes called 1:59. Court was breaking trail, Erik second, and I was bringing up the rear. As we were approaching the top, I heard voices behind me, and realized that the group from Pucker was in the bootpack behind us! Two groups of skiers in the same bootpack on one big, wild mountain. I still don't know what they were thinking. Chatting at the top, we found out that the cornice break in Pucker was not intentional. Scary!

We got out of there quickly, and skied the fun line.

Me:

Erik:

Next, we skinned up the moraine and up to the top of the 1:00 face. Court was excited to be on the very top of a pile of rock!

 

While he was up there, he took a photo of Erik and I down below.

We skied past a rad rock pinnacle, and down into the crater.

Erik:

Me:

Court was pretty happy about how his ski day was going.

We decided to ski a third line on our way out, and headed over to 3:00 couloir. It already had tracks in it from the other group, and was pretty sun-affected with lots of balling, but none of us were complaining!

Court:

Me:

We did our best to track out Broken Top that day. Between our group skiing three lines, and the other group skiing five, we had almost the entire front of the mountain covered in skin tracks, boot packs, and turns. Our apologies to everyone who went out the next day!

Check out Court's photos from the rest of his Oregon volcano tour at powdork.com.

Relatively Obscure Shelter in the Woods

March 7, 8, and 9 2013

Skiers: Lindsey Clark and Erik Schmidt

Erik had been wanting to go on this trip for years. We spent a day a few summers ago on a reconaissance mission that involved hours of driving my Tacoma on an extremely steep and bumpy jeep trail to a relatively obscure shelter in the woods. Due to its proximity to some remote, lesser-known mountains with rad-looking ski terrain, he really wanted to see what it was all about.

The time was finally right to check out this particular spot in the winter: I had some time off of work, we had two functioning snowmobiles, and (most importantly) we had a big, low-elevation storm that covered the entire center of Oregon in well over a foot of snow in the days before our trip. It was on! We packed up some overnight gear, loaded up the snowmobiles, and drove South.

We arrived to an unplowed sno-park. Erik, with utmost confidence in Rumble Vanskin's abilities, plowed into over two feet of snow, with multiple layers from recent storms. We got stuck.

First, we started digging. Then the snowmobiles came out to take weight off the trailer, shoot some snow out of our path, and pack down the rest. Erik disconnected the trailer so we could focus on getting the van out, which eventually did happen! Once the van was unstuck and parked in a reasonable location, we had to move the trailer. We did some synchronized snowmobiling to tow the trailer through the snowy parking lot, back to the van.

After all that effort, we decided to gather all our extra food and spend two nights in the shelter, rather than the one we had originally planned for. With huge relief and plenty of anticipation, we hit the approximately 20-mile trail to the shelter.

The ride out was amazing: freshly-groomed trails with fresh powder on top, riding along ridgelines with expansive views of the surrounding area as the sun set! 

As we got closer to our destination, we rode into a storm that sucked all the light from the sky. We left the sno-park in the sunshine, and arrived at the shelter in a snowstorm!

The first order of business was to dig out the front doors, make some steps, and build a fire in the wood stove. Then dinner, then popcorn, then to bed... to be fully prepared for a big day of chasing powder!

The next day dawned in classic conditions: cold and clear. We set off toward our objective, crossing two frozen lakes and within a few miles, beginning to climb the mountain.

The mountain was full of possibilities! We headed toward looker's right, where there were some beautiful chutes just begging to be skied! We skinned past lots of steep ice, which was definitely a sign of what we'd encounter higher up on the mountain where the exposed slopes had seen plenty of wind during the storm.

As we got higher, and the snow got more firm, we decided to stop climbing and enjoy some nice turns back down the face we'd just climbed up. They sure were enjoyable!

We headed back across the lakes and through the woods to the shelter, where we spent another cozy/cold night. Discovered a sign of a notorious visitor from the past...

The next day, we explored some other ski terrain near the shelter, then did our final frozen lake crossing and headed out.

The area is full of possibilities, and we can't wait to get back out there and explore some more! If you want to know where this sweet little spot is located, I won't tell you here... but we will take you there!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

Skiers: Erik Schmidt, Michol Smilenski, and Lindsey Clark

March 1st, 2013

Most sunny ski days lead to Broken Top. On this day, however, the sun was being a bit fickle so we decided to ski its next door neighbor: Ball Butte. Ball Butte is a fun little spot right next to a wilderness boundary, which means you can park your snowmobile right at the bottom and start skinning up.

With crossed fingers and bated breath, we drove around the corner and into Dutchman Flat on a sunny weekend morning. Parking spots are hard to come by in this undersized, overused sno-park. We spotted our friend Smiley's Subaru, and were fortunate enough to pull right in to a perfect parking spot across from him. Sweet relief!

We geared up, got all our skis loaded up on our sleds, and took off! Smiley was my passenger for the day. All aboard the ski train!

We enjoyed the views on our way up to the high country. Smiley was squealing with happiness for the entire ride. I think that will be a requirement for all my future passengers!

We climbed the southeast ridge to the top of the bowl. Erik, always keen on keeping things spicy, led us up a steep bootpack to the true summit of the butte.

I got to drop in first, and made some happy turns down the southeast bowl. Erik and Smiley followed, smiling.

The snow was soft in the sunshine and firm in the shadows, so we spent the rest of the day climbing, skiing, and chasing the sun.

Beautiful indeed!