Saturday was clear and sunny. Just a bit warmer as well. There was just enough accumulation to allow us to ski across the spots on the road that yesterday, were bare. We were about to leave the lake and start climbing the 800 feet to the shoulder of Mt. Scott.
Looking out from Skell Head.
The snow started to get deeper. Our camp at Wineglass was at 6800′. We climbed up the road to just over 7600′. Still no need for skins. The scales gripped very well. But the consequences of breaking through that annoying crust was now 5-7 inches. Slide one ski forward, weight it and watch it slide back. With no views of the lake for hours, we put our heads down and jibbed on.
We cut across the open meadow below Cloudcap. Very windblown and icy here. We were pretty beat. But we had some downhill coming up.
Back on the road, all we had to do was stand there and let gravity do it’s thing. Down the road we skied, grateful for the assistance. Around Pumice Castle and past Sentinel Rock. My legs were killing me as we headed into one more downhill. The road straightens out here and I finally called it for the day at 7400′.
Camp III.
It was Saturday night. We were too tired to cook anything up for dinner. So we just ate our lunch and snacks.
It didn’t take long to fall asleep. We had skied 7 hours on Friday and 6 hours on Saturday. We are now getting close. One more day should do it.
We still had the remaining downhill around Dutton Ridge. We were 1000′ above Park Headquarters and the end of the route.
Mark's down with it.
Sunday arrived with more sunshine. We packed up camp and skied on down the road. Not quite steep enough to coast, but at least it was downhill. The snow was deeper here and we had to work our way around some deep drifts. We weren’t sure if we would see the lake again. It was hard to tell from the topo map if there were any visuals left in our tour. This was definitely the warmest day. And we were still following the same ski tracks that never seemed to stop. It appeared to be all downhill from here.
We actually did get one more view of the lake through Sun Notch. The Watchman is on the left and Hillman Peak on the right. It’s now Sunday and we could see where we first camped last Wednesday. The sunrise picture I had taken Friday morning from between those two peaks seemed like a lifetime away.
One last view of the lake through Sun Notch.
It didn’t show up very well on the topo map, but there was one last climb. Under the ominous Vidae Cliff. There is an avalanche detour that stays lower and avoids skiing directly under the steep, rocky cliff that rises several hundred feet right off the road. It was still morning, so we took the chance. But the cliff faces east and was warming up fast. Natural slides were probably not going to happen, but if the sun warmed up and loosened a big enough rock, we were skiing right through the landing zone.
Evidence of snow and rock that had been displaced from high above lay about the road. We kept on the far side of the road, which greatly increased our safety due to the location of the debris. Then we started to clump.
30 minutes of toiling up the wet road with worrisome glances to our right and up, brings us around the corner to safety and another 15 to the top of the hill.
Now it really is all downhill. 2 miles of it. The day was warming up fast, the snow wasn’t fast. Neither were we. Slowly slushing and clumping our way down the road. These Oregon miles seemed to go on forever.
But finally, after 6.5 hours, I arrived at Park Headquarters. Mark was suffering from blisters, so I had gone on ahead to retrieve the vehicle. The route ends 600 feet below the crater rim. Rim Village is three miles up the road. There is a route to skin up, but I wasn’t in the mood. I was planning on catching a ride.
Only 1 car in the parking lot when I arrive. California plates. Eight minutes later, I found the owners and got a ride. I was too tired to get the names, but you know who you are. Thanx!
Drove down to pick up Mark, who had arrived 15 minutes after I did. Then drove back up to the crater rim to get a few last shots.
Wizard Island and Llao Rock.
Another view from Rim Village.
Mt. Thielsen.
Wizard Island and Llao Rock.
What a great place! The trip was perfect. Not only was it just what I needed, but it went exactly as planned. I will most definitely be back.
Full collection of photos from the trip..
© 2012
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Wonderful ski trip! Thanks Craig.
That’s a pretty sweet sun pillar on that sunrise shot! Nice TR, looks like some fun turns could be made, just don’t fall or get caught in an avy near the bottom eh?
This must be some super new skool Jibbing you speak of.
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Remember when snowboarding was just getting started? Back in the day, before terrain parks. My friends and I would watch them from the lift. They would build a kicker and ride down, go off the jump and then hike back up to do it again. All day.
The word ‘jib’ is/was used by skateboarders and then snowboarders. A jib is a trick. The winner of a terrain park/half pipe competition is/was known as the ‘jibmaster’. While I have been known to hang out in the terrain park, this was not the reason for my username.
The snowboarders who were hiking up to hit that jump again and again, weren’t really riding the resort. In our oppinion, they weren’t taking snowboarding very seriously. They were simply having fun.
So – my friends and I started to call our outdoor sports (mt. biking, skiing, kayaking, rock climbing) jibbing.
We weren’t at work, we were having fun.
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So one day-about 15 years ago, my buddy calls me up and asks if I had done any jibbing on my weekend. I told him that I had gone skiing, kayaking and mt. biking. He says, “Damn dude! You’re always jibbing. You’re like the…jib…master!
And it stuck.
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Too this day, the word ‘jib’ in all it’s forms is stuck in our vocabulary. It can be used as a verb, noun or adjective.
If you’re not at work, you are jibbing.
If you’re changing the oil in your car – you are jibbing on your vehicle.
You can also jib to the store.
All the people at the resort/backcountry are considered jibbers.
It can also be used in the derogatory sense. Like when everyone used to bash on the poor knuckle-draggers.
If you’re stuck in traffic – “Damn all these jibbers!”
Someone cuts you off – “$#@! jibber!”
In a busy mall/resort – “Look at all these jibbers!”
Does that help?! 😉
Get your jib on!
Great trip report, and epic pics…
Brent if you answer, please do so by email. i did not specify on the page where i asked the question. after all i’m a geezer, what would you expect.
geezer
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What the Hull?
Crater Lake is one of the most beautiful places i’ve been to. I remember when I was 12.. there was a group of older teenage males trying to work up the courage to clif dive 30 feet down into about 20 ft deep of water.. as soon as I put on my trunks i walked up to the cliff they were on.. looked at the water and hopped in..
Big mistake! The water was FREEZING!! I could swear I almost jumped the 30 feet back up to the cliff and tried going home to rethink my choices in life. But nope.. I only climbed the nearest rocks to avoid being in the coldest water I have jumped into at that point in my life. (still is to this day).. Sad thing was.. I did not want to jump into the water and swim 3-4 ft to the sanctuary rock slab that woulda taken me up to where my clothes were.
Hell I even looked up the rocks I was clung to, too steep and I didn’t want to chance slipping and falling back in.
I will say this.. in that split moment I was underwater before the cold shock shot me out of the water. Looking around underwater and down into the depths was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The water was so crisp as if looking through a window that wanted to give me hypothermia, but still insisted on seeing its true beauty.
Honestly I’m glad I did that.. Despite it taking my father 10 mins to convince me to jump back in the water just to make it over to him.