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Backcountry Skiing blogs, videos, photos, and a whole lotta stoke.

Skiing Frozen Chicken Delight on the South Sister | Cascades, OR United States | 04/24/09, by powderjunky

Always, always, brush your teeth before going to bed and get the weather report. On the evening of April 15 I did neither. The latter led to an unnecessary early morning drive to the trailhead at 4:00am only to find the mountains socked in a storm. We had planned to ski the South Ridge on the South Sister, a 5000 foot vertical ski tour that we were hoping to catch in corn conditions. As we neared the parking area we knew our day had to be scrapped. We pulled over and got some rest as the coffee wore off and awoke to one of the most beautiful sunrises ever witnessed in a parking lot.


Luckily our lack of judgment to not check the weather rewarded us with such eye candy. Once the show was over we headed home to try again the next day, which according to the local weather guy was supposed to be warm and sunny.

We awoke again at 4:00 am to early morning NPR and headed back to where we had come from the day before, this time the weather was optimal! We made it to the summit and skied some of the most heinous frozen chicken heads you can imagine on the steepest pitch of the whole descent. But after about a 1000 vert of death ice bulges, the snow finally softened and it was on! Such a beautiful day on a volcano that was just meant to be skied. I later learned after the fact that the South Sister is more active than the Fonz. Oh and if anyone knows where the first song in the above video is from I'll buy you a beer!