Following a dry winter, here are current conditions for skiing Mt McLoughlin:
May 13, 2014: drove to trailhead seeing only a couple small snow patches alongside the road. Left trailhead at 5:15 and carried skis for 2.3 miles up the trail, putting them on at 6500'. Skinned up through the woods along the approximate route of the trail, adding ski-crampons to the mix as the angle steepened on near-perfect crust. Put skis back on pack at 8200' on ridge proper at treeline, and booted straight up ridge to summit on good snow. There were a couple small moats opening up along the ridge about ten feet back from the cornice. Topped out at 9AM. Summit boulders and register buried under snow. Clicked in and skied NE bowl on perfect silky corn. Soft enough to make tracks but not so soft as to make snowball rollers or sluffs. Cut out of bottom of bowl to south into woods at 7360' (small arrow on tree), and skied down through open trees to about 7100' before starting to angle further south to rejoin trail. Skied down to bare ground and hoofed it back out the trail to the car by 10:15. McLoughlin is a fantastic spring skiing objective: when the road is open and the trail half-melted, it feels very accessible! Don't forget your NW Forest Pass or a $5 bill for the trailhead parking!
pc - May 14, 2014 11:30 pm - Hasn't voted
spring 2014 conditionsFollowing a dry winter, here are current conditions for skiing Mt McLoughlin:
May 13, 2014: drove to trailhead seeing only a couple small snow patches alongside the road. Left trailhead at 5:15 and carried skis for 2.3 miles up the trail, putting them on at 6500'. Skinned up through the woods along the approximate route of the trail, adding ski-crampons to the mix as the angle steepened on near-perfect crust. Put skis back on pack at 8200' on ridge proper at treeline, and booted straight up ridge to summit on good snow. There were a couple small moats opening up along the ridge about ten feet back from the cornice. Topped out at 9AM. Summit boulders and register buried under snow. Clicked in and skied NE bowl on perfect silky corn. Soft enough to make tracks but not so soft as to make snowball rollers or sluffs. Cut out of bottom of bowl to south into woods at 7360' (small arrow on tree), and skied down through open trees to about 7100' before starting to angle further south to rejoin trail. Skied down to bare ground and hoofed it back out the trail to the car by 10:15. McLoughlin is a fantastic spring skiing objective: when the road is open and the trail half-melted, it feels very accessible! Don't forget your NW Forest Pass or a $5 bill for the trailhead parking!