South Sister Summit Hike

South Sister is normally an intermediate hike, but with plenty of snow covering the mountain it was more of an advanced hike. It is a 12-mile round trip with 4900ft of elevation gain. We did the trip in early June because we wanted to ski/snowboard down after summiting.

I talked a long-time friend from Boise, ID to drive over to meet me in Bend to attempt our first summit of South Sister. What made this first attempt unique is that we were both going to ascend using backcountry skis and splitboards for the first time. He is an avid skier and I am an experienced snowboarder. Both of us have over 20 years of resort and slack country experience, but neither of us had utilized skins. He rented an alpine set up from a local shop and I rented a splitboard and we set out to the Cascade Lakes Highway.

We got to the Devil’s Lake trailhead Friday evening amid sunny skies and perfect hiking weather. We set out to backpack into the meadow at the base of South Sister and summit via skinning the following morning. We strapped on our 60lb packs, filled out the trail report card and started walking. The trail was dirt for about a quarter mile before the snow completely covered the ground. Luckily for us, there was a packed trail for the next mile that made it less difficult. The mile before the meadow is a steep incline and rather strenuous while covered in loose, wet snow. After making it to the meadow we continued closer to the base of South and found a dry spot in a cluster of trees to set up camp.

After pitching the tent and getting gear prepped for the AM ascent we finally put our skins on and took some laps around the meadow to get our proverbial feet wet with skinning. We skinned to the base and scouted our line for the morning hike and ensuing descent. During our summit discussion we were able to witness one of the more beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen in central Oregon. As we skinned back to camp we had high hopes of an early rise and a sunrise from half way up South.

Back at camp we made some delicious Mountain House meals and boiled water for the morning. Being that it was summer solstice, the sun didn’t fade away until after 10pm. Once the sun faded into the horizon the stars took center stage. I ended up staying up and shooting star and milky way photos past midnight. What an amazing sight, stars over Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and South Sister. I figured we should finally get to bed around 12:30AM because our alarm was set for 4:15AM.

Between waking up every time a tree rustled in the wind, constant nerves and waves of excitement, the alarm went off without me getting much more than a wink of sleep. I walked out of the tent at 4:15AM and couldn’t believe how bright it was. No headlamp necessary. Summer solstice was in full effect. We quickly made some instant coffee and gobbled a few cliff bars for breakfast. I walked up to my splitboard, looked my friend in the eye, gave a quick smirk, and strapped up. We let the snow slide below us at around 4:45AM. It was evident within about 100 yards that it got cold enough to freeze last night and skinning was going to be difficult.

We skinned on shiny blue ice for about forty minutes and 400 vertical feet before the ice took over. The incline quickly became enough that the ice was winning. Our skins were not keeping traction and we commenced yard sale falls every two seconds. We finally had to regroup and discuss our plan because Plan A had fallen through. We quickly realized that we had to attempt to boot pack, aka crawl, to the east rocky ridge and wait for the sun to make the snow softer.

Using our poles like ice axes and steadily boot stomping our way to the ridge we popped up on top and basked in the sunlight for thirty minutes. We had been climbing for about an hour and a half and were already on Plan B. We both lamented that the sun wasn’t going to soften the snow quick enough and that we should follow the rock ridge up as far as we could, in snowboard and ski boots.

Our skins never touched the snow again. The climb to the summit was a combination of boot packing, lava rock, and lava sands all completed in snowboard and ski boots. Our slow ascent was caused by non-ideal footwear, a round-about route due to skinning mishaps, and lack of sleep. We ended up being passed by a few groups of people, but once we hit the summit it was nothing but smiles.

We had pure sunshine and limited winds the entire climb up, but once we hit the summit a few clouds rolled in and the winds picked up. The view was out of this world. We could see Mt Bachelor, Broken Top, Middle and North Sister, Mt Washington, Mt Jefferson, and Mt Hood. What a line up of amazing snow-capped peaks. The shockingly clear view was the most insanely gorgeous view I have seen in Oregon. This scene made every heart-pounding moment worth it.

We took a few quick photos and between the freezing sweat on my back and the desire to snowboard down I wanted to start the descent. We strapped our skis and board to our feet and wondered desperately whether the snow was soft enough to carve or if it would be a steep, tooth-chattering ice skating rink. I was pleasantly surprised when I took my second carve and caught nothing but soft, corn snow. The next 3500 vertical feet were nothing but carvable, soft snow that had me smiling from ear to ear. We found some of the steeper terrain to shred and made perfect figure 8’s for all the climbers still ascending to admire. It only took 30 minutes for us to reach the meadow again and it was filled with smiles, cheers, and beads of sweat under my helmet.

The sun was shining full force as we skinned through the meadow back to camp. We were thoroughly exhausted and packing camp was a slow and disorganized process. We threw our packs back on and skinned and hiked the final two miles out to the truck. The truck became visible at 3:00PM and was like a beacon of relief in my mind. It was over, and we were exhausted but extremely happy with our adventure. We were greeted at the truck by a few local craft beer cans that I stashed as a reward. We quickly finished celebratory sandwiches and beverages and headed back to town. Once we got to town we made a mini brewery tour to celebrate. We ate a delicious, high calorie (we earned it) dinner and had a beer at Deschutes Brewery. We continued on to beer tastings at Crux Brewery and Ten Barrel Brewery and finished the night off with a Moscow Mule at my favorite bar in town, Ten Barrel Brewery.

What an amazing trip from dusk to dawn.

I would recommend camping at the meadow the night before like we did. It was an amazing campsite with breathtaking views. Camping at the meadow also allows you to get a 1.5-hour head start. The only downfall was that Moraine Lake was frozen. I brought a water filter with the plans to fill at the lake for the big summit hike. We ended up having to boil water for almost three hours to fill two camel backs. It was doable, but not ideal and kept us up late at night. The biggest downfall was starting so early that the ice and packed snow prevented our skins from adhering. If you are planning to skin make a later start and allow the snow to soften. If we started out 1.5-2 hours later we likely would have made the same round trip timing because we would have been able to skin from bottom to top. The majority of other hikers were using crampons and ice axes with good success. Learning from your mistakes is one aspect that makes it so much fun (as long as the mistakes are not large!)

Why was it amazing? The views from our campsite at sunset were unreal. Views of alpenglow snow-capped mountain tops, and the sun shining across the snow covered meadows really made me stop and smile. Summiting was more difficult than I expected because of early morning ice rendering our skins useless. Without back up hiking shoes we had to finish 90% of the hike in snowboard boots and ski boots. This fact made for some very sore calves and feet the next morning. The summer solstice made for so much late night and early morning light that we barely saw darkness. The view from the summit was better than I expected. Being able to see every peak from here to Mt Hood was stunning. The ride down was everything I could have hoped for. Steep corn snow made for amazing carving and lava rock hopping all the way down. It made me forget every bit of pain and suffering I encountered on the way to the top. The feeling of accomplishment from so many first experiences with a great friend was truly remarkable.