Trip Report: Ski Touring Tom Dick and Harry Mountain
Next Adventure Ambassadors, Corie and Andy, head to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain on Mt. Hood for a day of ski touring.
Location: Tom Dick and Harry Mountain
Conditions: Moderate avalanche danger, low visibility, low wind
With the late arrival of winter, the ski resorts have been crowded, the lift lines have been long, and most of the more accessible ski touring areas have been tracked out by 10am on the weekends. We try to chase snow when there’s snow to be chased but sometimes we don’t want to leave our cozy house at 4am just to get in first tracks. So, we decided to check out Tom Dick and Harry mountain, hopeful that the slightly more convoluted approach would be a deterrent for most BC skiers and riders.
We parked in the Ski Bowl parking area and skinned down toward the Mirror Lake TH. We crossed the bridge and began following the icy skin track up the gradually climbing trail toward Mirror Lake. We had a general idea of where to go once we reached the lake but were able to follow a skin track that branched climber’s right of the snowshoe loop. We switched back multiple times, carefully avoiding areas that we could encounter the day’s avalanche problems: storm slabs.
We hit the ridge and, despite very low visibility, were impressed with the overall beauty of the area. There were sweet lines off to our left as we climbed and some very wind-affected trees on our right. We did some quick snowpack tests, found safe aspects to ski and took a few laps off the ridge, traversing higher with each lap and making our way toward the Ski Bowl boundary, descending back to our car after a few hours in the area.
If conditions and stoke levels align, there are a variety of lines we’d love to ski in the future. Sticking skiers’ left of the ridge presents a variety of options for turns with stretches anywhere from 200’-600’. Skiers’ right of the ridge was pretty wind affected and icy but might make for fun skiing with enough fresh snow.
Remember to always check NWAC or COAA for avalanche information before you choose an area to ski in.
Stats on our loop
Link to GPS track: www.strava.com/activities/1436912984
Our loop: 6.5 miles
Elevation gain: 2,500’
To check out more of the Mountain Refugee's adventures, visit their site at http://www.mountainrefugees.com
With the late arrival of winter, the ski resorts have been crowded, the lift lines have been long, and most of the more accessible ski touring areas have been tracked out by 10am on the weekends. We try to chase snow when there’s snow to be chased but sometimes we don’t want to leave our cozy house at 4am just to get in first tracks. So, we decided to check out Tom Dick and Harry mountain, hopeful that the slightly more convoluted approach would be a deterrent for most BC skiers and riders.
We parked in the Ski Bowl parking area and skinned down toward the Mirror Lake TH. We crossed the bridge and began following the icy skin track up the gradually climbing trail toward Mirror Lake. We had a general idea of where to go once we reached the lake but were able to follow a skin track that branched climber’s right of the snowshoe loop. We switched back multiple times, carefully avoiding areas that we could encounter the day’s avalanche problems: storm slabs.
We hit the ridge and, despite very low visibility, were impressed with the overall beauty of the area. There were sweet lines off to our left as we climbed and some very wind-affected trees on our right. We did some quick snowpack tests, found safe aspects to ski and took a few laps off the ridge, traversing higher with each lap and making our way toward the Ski Bowl boundary, descending back to our car after a few hours in the area.
If conditions and stoke levels align, there are a variety of lines we’d love to ski in the future. Sticking skiers’ left of the ridge presents a variety of options for turns with stretches anywhere from 200’-600’. Skiers’ right of the ridge was pretty wind affected and icy but might make for fun skiing with enough fresh snow.
Remember to always check NWAC or COAA for avalanche information before you choose an area to ski in.
Stats on our loop
Link to GPS track: www.strava.com/activities/1436912984
Our loop: 6.5 miles
Elevation gain: 2,500’
To check out more of the Mountain Refugee's adventures, visit their site at http://www.mountainrefugees.com