Routes: E Bowl (moderate ski descent)
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Tumalo is Mt. Bachelor's little brother across Cascade Lakes Highway. Diminutive as it may be,
it has huge advantages over its much bigger neighbors: In contrast to Bachelor it is not blessed
with any lifts, and in contrast to the Three Sisters or Broken Top it is easily accessible (from Dutchman Flat
Sno Park) even in mid-winter. Its steep eastern bowl provides about six hundred vertical feet of
superb powder skiing, which makes it a favorite destination for a few aficionados. Fortunately,
the Forest Service closed the northern part of the bowl to snow mobiles a few years ago in
an effort to limit the conflict between motorized and non-motorized user groups.
For getting off of Tumalo in the dark or in a whiteout, remember that if you think you're by
now definitely too far to skier's right you should go a little bit farther to the right unless
you want to savor an endless slog back to Dutchman Flat along the snowmobile road that parallels
the highway.
Routes: E Bowl (moderate ski descent)
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Party: DB solo
Route: E Bowl
Equipment: AT Skis
Time: Dutchman Flat Sno Park - Summit 1 hr 5 minutes
Comments: Good skin track to the summit
Trip report: My only chance to get a skiing trip in over the break coincided with the day a winter storm was supposed to hit, so I went, forecast be damned. Fortunately, the storm was a few hours late, and on the way up I had impressive views of fogged-in Central Oregon, as well as the Sisters, with beautiful colors. Something big was definitely approaching from the west, though. I did not waste any time getting two runs in the bowl in, figuring that the weather was not going to hold much longer. Sure enough, while I was having lunch after my second run, the storm hit. The snow was decent, and so I opted for a third run after skinning back up, despite rapidly deteriorating conditions. The run was nice, but getting back up turned into quite a struggle against whiteout conditions, heavy snow, and powder on top of crust. Fifty feet below the summit I started to get worried that I would bring down the entire slope, and figuring that if I was going down anyway I might as well go down while in control, I took my skins off, cut across the west slopes, and started my descent back to the sho park. I could not see much, but I managed to intercept the snowmobile trail just a few hundred yards east of Dutchman Flat. The drive home was nasty and took forever, but it was nice to be skiing again.
Party: DB solo
Route: E Bowl
Equipment: AT Skis
Time: Dutchman Flat Sno Park - Summit 1 hr 10 minutes
Comments: Good skin track to the summit
Trip report: I had not been out for a long time, and took advantage of a nice day after heavy snow. Dutchman Flat was full, so I had to park at Mt. Bachelor and hike on ice in traffic for a while. After that things went smoothly, though. There was a good skin track to the summit, and conditions in the bowl were good. I had three nice runs on good snow, and then headed back down to Dutchman Flat and the Bachelor parking lot. Very nice day with lots of good snow and good views.
For earlier ascents, click here .