Mazamas — For the Love of Mountains
Activity Notes
Overview
Photo of the tour: on the homepage of the Ski Mountaineering class site.
Meeting at Tilly Jane Sno-Park, we'll head up the Tilly Jane trail, following the route well worn by other skiers. As per Caltopo, the distance to the A-Frame is roughly 2.5 miles and we gain roughly 2,000 ft. This will take us roughly 2.5 hours, and we can stop at the A-Frame for lunch (if it’s open, we’ll eat inside).
After lunch we'll continue to climb for another mile or so, gaining another 1,000 ft. Once we top out (at the stone hut) we'll turn around and descend. If weather and/or conditions are bad above treeline, we'll stay in the burn area and ski the trees.
We'll descend to the right (east) of our uphill tracks, follow the ridge, and descend through Cooper Spur Ski Area. It's a short walk back to the cars.
Cooper Spur is its own backup tour – if conditions are bad, it's low-angle enough to remain safe in the trees.
After the tour, we can stop in Hood River for food and drinks.
Skiing
If conditions are good above treeline and we opt to go that far, we can make some turns on the open slopes near the stone shelter. If not, we'll follow the ridge and look for nice open drop-ins in the trees, down into Doe Creek. Our goal on the descent is to get in 2 or 3 runs.
Ski ability: you need to be able to make turns in powder or variable snow in glade-style trees. The trees were burned, so don't have branches. Most are fairly open, but there may be tight spots.
Note: Chances are small, but if avy and snow conditions are good, Polallie Canyon offers some good lines.
Option 2 / backup if Hood is really bad
Depending on conditions (it's not looking promising), we can head over to St. Helens and follow the winter route (Worm Flows), beginning at the Marble Mountain Sno-Park. We wouldn't summit, but could find some fun turns above the trees.
