OREGON | UNITED STATES

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Summary

NORTH SISTER

NORTH SISTER
Backcountry skiing Oregon is all about skiing year round. The Volcaninc Cascades that run through the vertical center form Mount Hood to the north all the way down to Mount Ashland to the south. The Cascades often get hammered with abundant amounts of heavy maritime snow. On the eastern side of the state, the Wallowa Mountains and Anthony Lakes region offer a drier, lighter snow that rivals that off Colorado and Utah. The main issue for Oregon backcountry skiing is access. Especially in the Cascades, to access the high Peaks, a snowmobile helps a lot! While a lot of the backcountry skiing in oregon can offer up long descents and ascents on the volcanoes, their are some shorter options for quick access when time is short. These areas, like Tumalo, offer short steep pitches of backcountry skiing and are best found above 6000 ft.

Mountain Ranges

BLUE MOUNTAINS (1)

CASCADE (1)

CASCADES (CENTRAL) (22) | 400 inches a year

Part of the Oregon Cascades this area encompasses Willamette Pass, Mt. Bachelor, The Three Sisters, Broken Top, Three Fingered Jack, And Mount Washington.

CASCADES (NORTH) (1)

CASCADES (SOUTHERN) (2) | 600 inches a year

This part of the Oregon Cascades encopasses Diamond Peak to the north to Mount McLoughlin in the south. Crater Lake has been left out as it is quite deserving of its own section. Other gems you will find in the Southern Cascades include Mount Thielsen, Pelican Butte, and Mount Bailey. These Volcanoes hold snow well into summer and offer some of Oregon's best ski descents.

CRATER LAKE (1) | 450 inches a year

Once Mount Mazama, Crater Lake is now the remains of a massive eruption that happened 7700 years ago, leaving us with the deepest lake in North America(2000ft deep), and some awesome ski terrain.

Unfortunately Crater Lake has been ruined by the government by placing it under National Park status. What this means for skiers, is that you are not allowed to ski into the rim, which is a shame because there is some rowdy terrain!

Nevertheless areas like Mount Scott, Hillman Peak, Llao Rock, Garfield Peak, among others still provide some great skiing.

ELKHORN RANGE (2) | 300 inches a year

The Elkhorn Mountains are a small subrange of the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon. The Elkhorns, a north-south range, are a collection of glacial lakes and valleys that surround dissected mid-elevation peaks. The peaks top out around 8600' and are quite rocky so skiing really is not ideal until a 40" base develops. Most of the easily accessible peaks are on the fringe of treeline, so skiing is reminiscent of higher peaks in the Rockies.

STRAWBERRY MOUNTAINS (1)

WALLOWA MOUNTAINS (1) | 300 inches a year

The Wallowa Mountains are a mountain range located in the Columbia Plateau of northeastern Oregon in the United States. The range runs approximately 40 mi (64 km) northwest to southeast in southwestern Wallowa County between the Blue Mountains to the west and the Snake River to the east. The range is sometimes considered to be an eastern spur of the Blue Mountains.
Much of the range is designated as the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The range is drained by the Wallowa River, which flows from the north side of the mountains, and its tributary the Minam River, which flows through the west side of the range. The Imnaha River flows from the east side of the range. Many geologists believe the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon are a displaced fragment of the Insular Belt.
The highest point in the range is Sacajawea Peak, at an elevation of 9,838 feet (2,999 m) above sea level. Sacajawea is the sixth tallest mountain in Oregon and the tallest mountain in Oregon outside of the Cascade Range. Headquarters/Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center in Enterprise. From left to right the peaks are: East Peak, Aneroid Mountain, Bonneville Mountain, Chief Joseph Mountain, Sacajawea Peak, Twin Peaks and Ruby Peak.
The Mountains were formed from granite from a magma upwelling in Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous time (between 160 million and 120 million years ago).


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All Locations>>UNITED STATES>>OREGON
People die skiing in the backcountry every year. Avalanches, crevasses, trees, human error, weather, tree wells, rabid sasquatches, among other things can kill you in an instant. Use this guide at your own risk, we are not responsible for any wanker getting all wanked up in the wankin' backcountry. That being said, even the most experienced backcountry skier can get caught off guard. Take avalanche classes, carry a beacon, probe, shovel and avalung AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. Just because you buy them, doesn't mean you get magical powers of invincibility. Many people who own beacons have no clue how to operate them. More importantly than any gear you can buy, you need to know how to safely travel in avalanche terrain, minimize potential hazards, and interpret how weather affects the snowpack. This requires time and experience. Learn from others, be safe and courteous, and when in doubt go home and live to ski another day. The amount of snow needed to be dug up to rescue a buried victim, on average weighs right around an actual ton. In North America 25% of victims die from hitting trees, rocks, and other sharp unforgiving surfaces. It only takes one miscalculation to have the mountains kick your ass. Just because you see tracks or someone else skiing a line, does not mean you should ski it. Remember, individual actions affect all of us. Take care of each other out there, we are all on the same team.