Kincaid had taken a few trips down to California to see us over the past year, so a trip up to Bend was overdue. I took advantage of a Friday off of work and flew up to do some skiing and biking. After a mediocre spring day at Bachelor on Friday we settled on an objective for the next day: the Broken Top volcano. This is a gorgeous area and popular hiking destination in the summer but is infrequently skiied because it is a long trek in - 7 miles of traversal just to get to the start of the real climb. It only really makes sense as an overnight, or if you have a snowmobile. Luckily, Kincaid’s coworker has two sleds and was down for an adventure!
We met at the trailhead around 7 and got the snowombiles in order, taking off not too long after.
7 bumpy miles later (I managed not to fall while being towed!) we arrived at the edge of the wilderness area boundary and transitioned our skis to walk mode. Not long after we started over the ridge we were greeted by stunning views of the caldera.
Broken top offers a wide variety of options so we didn’t have a specific plan for the day, thinking we’d evaluate snowpack and weather as we got into the area. We started a bit later than expected and it was warm, so we decided on traversing up the middle of the caldera and skiing the Western side (3-o’clock) of the bowl. I was awestruck for the entire day - what an incredible area!
As we started our first climb a lone telemark skier descended from above us. He was stoked to see some others in the area.
We stayed on our skis for most of the ascent, but switched to a boot pack for the last couple hundred feet.
Once at the top we were greeted with stunning views of the western side of the caldera. A quick transition later and we were on our way down, trying to beat the warming snow.
The snow was good up top, but getting a bit slushy/sticky further down. After descending down our ramp we broke for lunch in the shade behind a rock outcropping, with our telemark friend joining us. We ventured up around the corner and began another climb, but the conditions were quickly deteriorating and half the crew opted to stop halfway up the coulouir. A quick ski down and skin later we were back at the sleds to start our 7 mile ride back to the car.
Broken top was an incredible area, with so much to explore. I’d love to come back and camp someday!