We finally got a bluebird day, also with no wind to impede operation. Liz and I arrived, along with my high school friend and Bend resident Kirk just after 9AM opening. Summit was already running when when we first boarded Pine Marten. So we immediately headed that way and took our first run on Cow’s Face. The upper slope was mostly soft windpack with more powder as we got lower. It’s tricky to determine when to cut back toward the Summit chair, with the top of closed Sunrise being the needed reference point. I needed a few step-ups to get past the top of Sunrise. Meanwhile Liz had been lured by the untracked and skied lower to the east catchline. Kirk followed her and led her back the long road to Skyliner. I took a second upper run in the Healy Heights area and we met up again at the base of Summit. Summit’s liftline extended to the RFID turnstiles but only another 5-10 people beyond that, so less than 5 minutes even at the peak of activity.
With less powder than expected on the east side, it was time to hit the Cirque bowl. I hiked to the Pinnacles while Kirk and Liz traversed in lower. View NW through Pinnacles to the Sisters:
View down skier’s right side of Cirque Bowl:
The upper section here was wind scoured where tilted NW at skier’s right. The best powder was close to the largest Pinnacle at left in the first pic above. The lower Cirque Bowl was moderately tracked by the time I got there, but with high speed turns in untracked sections skied well. Farther down you had to carry speed to get through the notch in the rocks. Past that notch the snow was mostly chowder and a lot of work. So Liz and Kirk next skied the groomed Beverley Hills while I skied the traverse into Cirque they skied before. The Summit unloading station is still heavily rimed from the storm.
Liz and Kirk decided to ski the lower chairs (Skyliner, Pine Marten and 2 on Outback) and then go to lunch at 12:30. I was reluctant to leave Summit in case the backside opened. Unfortunately it was closed due to an undefined electrical problem with the Northwest lift. 5 ski patrollers were up top to enforce the closure but they were never updated about the details of Northwest. We later learned that a panel at the base of Northwest had shorted and may need to be replaced.
I then skied a long Cow’s Face run to the east catchline.
From here you could see al the way to Mt. Shasta (not as this pic resolution).
The lower section still had few tracks but at 11:30 was now sun affected. While riding Summit next a local told me people were hiking over the top and skiing the upper west bowls, then traversing to Outback, so I decide to try that. Summit hike:
From the top, here’s a view over rimed foreground to the west bowls and Sparks Lake in the distance.
The top was windswept for a few hundred feet but soon gave way to untracked and the best skiing of the day. Eventually I reached Saturday’s traverse tracks coming from Northwest.
This was the easy time to bail out, but I was lured by this view below.
I skied the powder to the tree line at 7,100, surely not a big deal to get to the base of Outback at 6,000? Well, no. I was quite far out to the southwest and it was a long slog. By the time I crossed the farthest skier’s left Sparks Lake trail on Northwest I was already down to 6,500. At this altitude the snow was gloppy even in the trees, and lots of the new snow in the trees was dripping to the ground too. I crossed under the idle Northwest Lift and knew not to ski any of the trails like Atkesson’s Zoom that led to its base. I finally stepped out of a slight depression about 5,900, saw a boundary marker across a run, so I knew I was between the 2 lift bases. I heaved a sigh of relief when the Outback chair base was visible only ~100 feet above me.
I met Liz and Kirk at 1PM as they were finishing up lunch, had a bit of Liz’ soup and soda. By this time the lower groomers near the lodge were sticky even though they had been winter packed powder at 9AM. On a normal spring day when they would be hardpack early, the window of corn might be short without salting like Mammoth does. In May 1990 Mt. Bachelor DID salt its lower groomers and you could get 3,000 vertical of corn perfection from the Summit all morning.
At any rate with Summit’s altitude and varied aspects I knew it would be worth one more trip up top before 2PM closing. I took the short hike and traversed across the Pinnacles to the NW aspect that would be last to soften. Looking back up top from there:
This area is windswept during storms and exposed areas were still firm. But it was easy to look around and link sections of soft wind drifted powder. I ended up near the top of Outback, with a view down to Pine Marten Lodge.
I finished with 20,100 vertical, 4K of powder. This was a very good day by any measure and certainly impressive for May. However, it might have been in the all-time amazing category had the Northwest lift been open to ski 1,500 vertical untracked runs off the backside.
With less powder than expected on the east side, it was time to hit the Cirque bowl. I hiked to the Pinnacles while Kirk and Liz traversed in lower. View NW through Pinnacles to the Sisters:
View down skier’s right side of Cirque Bowl:
The upper section here was wind scoured where tilted NW at skier’s right. The best powder was close to the largest Pinnacle at left in the first pic above. The lower Cirque Bowl was moderately tracked by the time I got there, but with high speed turns in untracked sections skied well. Farther down you had to carry speed to get through the notch in the rocks. Past that notch the snow was mostly chowder and a lot of work. So Liz and Kirk next skied the groomed Beverley Hills while I skied the traverse into Cirque they skied before. The Summit unloading station is still heavily rimed from the storm.
Liz and Kirk decided to ski the lower chairs (Skyliner, Pine Marten and 2 on Outback) and then go to lunch at 12:30. I was reluctant to leave Summit in case the backside opened. Unfortunately it was closed due to an undefined electrical problem with the Northwest lift. 5 ski patrollers were up top to enforce the closure but they were never updated about the details of Northwest. We later learned that a panel at the base of Northwest had shorted and may need to be replaced.
I then skied a long Cow’s Face run to the east catchline.
From here you could see al the way to Mt. Shasta (not as this pic resolution).
The lower section still had few tracks but at 11:30 was now sun affected. While riding Summit next a local told me people were hiking over the top and skiing the upper west bowls, then traversing to Outback, so I decide to try that. Summit hike:
From the top, here’s a view over rimed foreground to the west bowls and Sparks Lake in the distance.
The top was windswept for a few hundred feet but soon gave way to untracked and the best skiing of the day. Eventually I reached Saturday’s traverse tracks coming from Northwest.
This was the easy time to bail out, but I was lured by this view below.
I skied the powder to the tree line at 7,100, surely not a big deal to get to the base of Outback at 6,000? Well, no. I was quite far out to the southwest and it was a long slog. By the time I crossed the farthest skier’s left Sparks Lake trail on Northwest I was already down to 6,500. At this altitude the snow was gloppy even in the trees, and lots of the new snow in the trees was dripping to the ground too. I crossed under the idle Northwest Lift and knew not to ski any of the trails like Atkesson’s Zoom that led to its base. I finally stepped out of a slight depression about 5,900, saw a boundary marker across a run, so I knew I was between the 2 lift bases. I heaved a sigh of relief when the Outback chair base was visible only ~100 feet above me.
I met Liz and Kirk at 1PM as they were finishing up lunch, had a bit of Liz’ soup and soda. By this time the lower groomers near the lodge were sticky even though they had been winter packed powder at 9AM. On a normal spring day when they would be hardpack early, the window of corn might be short without salting like Mammoth does. In May 1990 Mt. Bachelor DID salt its lower groomers and you could get 3,000 vertical of corn perfection from the Summit all morning.
At any rate with Summit’s altitude and varied aspects I knew it would be worth one more trip up top before 2PM closing. I took the short hike and traversed across the Pinnacles to the NW aspect that would be last to soften. Looking back up top from there:
This area is windswept during storms and exposed areas were still firm. But it was easy to look around and link sections of soft wind drifted powder. I ended up near the top of Outback, with a view down to Pine Marten Lodge.
I finished with 20,100 vertical, 4K of powder. This was a very good day by any measure and certainly impressive for May. However, it might have been in the all-time amazing category had the Northwest lift been open to ski 1,500 vertical untracked runs off the backside.
