Since I had limited time available due to a vacation with family in central Oregon, a quick trip up to Mt Bachelor would be the ticket to some quick easy turns. I met Todd at the Sunrise gate at the ski area about 8:30 am, and it had snowed several inches overnight (it had even snowed in Sunriver where I was staying the day before!). The weather was beautifully sunny and about 29 degrees. We skinned up under the chair for a piece, then broke off onto one of the runs. I was amazed at the coverage of the mountain for this late date. When we hit the summit road, we had to take off the skis and downclimb onto the road since a plow had made a pretty big hole. It did make for a pretty picture though…
We continued skinning up below the summit lift, when Broken Top decided to make an appearance. The Crater Bowl was looking mighty tasty….
It took about an hour and a half to make the 2600 vertical feet from the base to the summit, which was a pretty fast skin.
There was quite a bit of rime ice on the lifts and around the summit, so I dug out my split crampons to aid in the final push.
We lounged around the summit lift shack for a bit enjoying the view, and decided to traverse over to the westerly point of the summit crater. The views from the top of the mountain today were incredible. The snow coverage on the Sisters and Broken Top was amazing!
After some discussion on conditions, we strapped into our gear for some freshies. The snow was deeper than expected, about a foot or so. Face shots in June – it kind of surprised me. As the cold smoke hit my face I got that sweet sensation of sheer surprise from how cold the snow was , followed by the large grin that replaces the shock! We shot video on the ride down, but I was able to pull a few stills out of video clips that turned out somewhat decent….
The ride down the summit bowl was awesome, and we made long smooth turns all the way down through the Cirque bowl back to the summit lift at mid-mountain. After a careful crossing at the plowed summit road, we continued making turns all the way to the parking lot. Here’s a shot of the mountain from the end of our run…
It was so good, I was tempted to go back for another lap, but common sense got the best of me again, so we loaded up the gear and I headed back to Sunriver for a fun filled day with the family. June is definitely off to a good start!
