Our week in the Wallowas was fantastic - "powder on the north, corn on the south - feet upon feet". Well... maybe not exactly like that, but those of us from the snow-starved Cascades were pretty happy with the snow. Trev and I skied in Monday; Travis, Kelley, Donni, and Adam came in on Thursday; and Tom (AKA the Dessert Wizard) came in on Friday. We stayed at the Big Sheep Hut, about 4 miles in from the road, and didn't run into another group the entire week.



Tuesday we took a tour up the South Fork of the Big Sheep that ended in a nice powder (!) descent. Wednesday was a rest day - played cards in the sun, did some camp chores, relaxed in the sauna, and did some transceiver searches. Thursday we went up the Big Sheep Basin and had lunch on the ridge overlooking Bonney Lakes before descending through (almost) powder.



Friday was warm from the start (54 degrees at 8:30), and our party of six went up the ridge toward Mt. Nebo. The tour up was tough in places - we kept losing people in tree holes - but after a nice sunny lunch break with some topless entertainment from the guys, we had good corn on the descent. Travis and Kelley whipped up some phenomenal Thai food, followed by yummy chocolate pie courtesy of a newly arrived Tom.



Saturday brought in a very chilly wind. We followed our Tuesday tracks back up the South Fork, and had an assortment of almost-pow, bulletproof, and almost-corn conditions. Another great dinner (this time from ragin' Cajuns Adam and Donni) was followed by another great dessert (from the talented Tom). Sunday morning we cleaned up and packed out.



Good snow, great company, yummy food (who'd've thought?), and over 10,000 feet of vertical in a week. Thanks for a great trip, everyone!

Labels: ski touring