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The high point on the South Ridge of Three-Fingered Jack is a popular ski destination.
Routes: S Side (Grade I, Class 2, moderate ski descent)
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Party: Dietrich Belitz solo
Time: 4 hrs 15 mins from Santiam Pass to Summit; 2 hrs 15 mins from summit to pass, 7 hrs 15mins roundtrip
Comments: Mostly hard packed snow, little trail breaking, some icy traverses, some route finding problems
Trip report:
The weather at Smith was supposed to be gorgeous (turns out it wasn't), but Monique had the flu and did not want to go, so I decided to solo Jack Ski Summit, as I had not done it yet this winter, and I had never done it on AT skis. I was also curious to see the burn area left by the Booth Fire. I set out from Santiam Pass at 9:15 in dense fog with minimal visibility and a strong easterly wind. To my amazement, there was just one pair of very faint tracks (usually, the PCT is well skied-out at least to the ridge above Summit Lake). I followed the tracks until I lost them on the very hard snow, at which point I realized that they were leading way too far East anyway. So I climbed the slopes these people had been traversing and wound up on Point 5447, which is a mistake, as that means losing evelation again. After dropping maybe 150 vertical feet something felt strange, so I decided to consult my compass (visibility was still minimal). Indeed, I was traveling in Southwesterly direction, straight back towards my car! I turned around 180 degrees and started going North. When I tried to check my direction again after 15 minutes or so, my compass was gone. It apparently had walked up in the pocket of my wind pants and had fallen out. Sure enough, after backtracking for about 10 minutes I found it and put it in a safer pocket. The fire has done a terrific job; the forest from the pass to about 5,800' is wiped out and I did not recognize the terrain at all. The first time I was sure about where I was at was on the east-facing traverse over the Berley Lakes. Here the fire had stopped, and the fog became a bit less dense. I was also sheltered from the wind, which was nice. Soon I got to the steep traverse over Summit Lake, which was icy and required care. While climbing into the basin below the summit ridge I finally got out of the fog. It stayed sunny during my final climb up to Point 6961, and I had some terrific views of the fast-moving fog below, and Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters in the distance. It also became clear that a storm was moving in from the West, the easterly surface wind notwithstanding. I donned my belay jacket and admired Three-Fingered Jack for a few minutes, then I decided it was time to get out of the wind. So I dug a small wind shelter and fired up the stove. While I was eating and rehydrating, the fog caught up with me again. There was no point spending much time on the summit, so I packed up, stowed my skins, and started down. The AT skis allowed me to link turns from the summit to the icy traverse, which I had only been able to dream of on my cross-country skis. While looking for the traverse I came across a few guys digging a snow cave. They also had had trouble with route finding and had stayed low on the West side. After the traverse the downside of my AT gear became apparent: I needed skins to cover the rolling terrain from here to the meadows that mark the beginning of the descent to Santiam Pass. On the way down it dawned on me why the usual tracks were missing: The fire obliterated all signs of the PCT (the trail markers are all gone, and the underbrush is gone everywhere, as opposed to just on the trail), which probably scares off most cross-country skiers. The terrain is actually terrific for skiing right now: With the underbrush all gone, one can pick just any path through the blackened remnants of the trees. Once the snags start falling it will be one big mess, though, unless there is an awful lot of snow! The incoming storm by now had produced a cloud ceiling, and since I had dropped below it I could see enough to pick a pretty straight path back to Santiam Pass, even though it had started to snow lightly.