Four members from ONC-PDX drove 2 1/2 hours to Santiam Sno-Park to meetup with four members of CONC for a day of telemark skiing. Ken Wenzel (ONC-PDX president) and I had planned this a couple weeks earlier, with crossed fingers. So as I drove through Sisters and saw the temperature at 9:00 am was 42 degrees, I was nervous about snow conditions.
But not to worry; at the Sno-Park there was still a faint crust on top. This was perfect, since as the day progressed the snow would soften just right for our ski edges.
We started climbing from the Sno-Park around 10:00 and reached the the knob on the ridge below the peak of Three Fingered Jack at about 11:15. Although the sun was filtering through light clouds, the breeze was cold. After a brief lunch/snack, we skied down about 200 yards and took off our packs. We then yo-yo’d several times up and down, reveling in the perfect conditions. Continuing down the ridge, we were only looking for the perfect slopes and failed to see that we had drifted east of our up-track.
But not to worry; we ended up on the east side of the sledding hill above the Sno-Park and found the nordic track back to the cars. There was enough sun and shelter between the cars to settle in our chairs and enjoy a bit of a social hour!
