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Old Man Winter has been on vacation so far here in Oregon, so I headed out to ride Diamond Peak with a few ski buddies, which normally isn't accessible until May given that access roads are usually buried under snow. The forecast was calling for sun, which had been shining all week, and the possibility of corn snow was looming. We left the southern Willamette Valley around 7:15am, and were able to drive to about 5000 feet before the snow on the road became too deep. Setting out on skins, we quickly had to go to booting up through the dense trees given the low snowpack. After about an hour of booting/skinning, we got the first glimpse of the mountain....



The snow depth around 6000 feet was about 18 inches, and increased from there. Our target was the main bowl below the 8700 foot summit, which has a southwest exposure. Given the angle and intensity of the sun this time of year, we figured it was our only chance for corn. Here's a shot of my friend Dan skinning up towards the main bowl...



The snow around 6000-7000 feet was just starting to corn as we skinned through it, but once we go up higher it hadn't thawed yet and was pretty firm. I was able to skin most of the way, but added my ski crampons, which worked well given the conditions.....





Near 7500 feet, we switched to booting with crampons as the slope angle steepened. The sun was shining directly on the slope, but still conditions weren't corning. Finally, we decided to abandon the summit and climb the steep slope directly below the summit that had a direct south exposure in hopes that it might corn. Our gamble paid off, and by the time we reached the top, about 400 feet off the true summit, the snow was corning. Here's a few shots of the climb up....





While switching over from tour mode to ride mode, we could tell that within a half hour or so, our window of corn riding would be gone, so we started down quickly. The turns were excellent. I got a few shots of the skiers on the way down...here's one of my buddy John, whose beard is legendary around this area.....



After some big sweeping turns, we rode over to "Beer Rock" to stop for some suds and to soak in the views....



More turns followed after the break, and the corn on the way down was sweet!



Once back down to the flatter part of the mountain, we followed our noses back to the car, actually being able to ride all but about a 300 foot patch. The snow was definitely very thin though. Back at the car, another beer was called for to celebrate the end to an excellent day, which felt more like April or May than mid-December. I'm hoping it snows soon though, or things are going to get ugly out there. Here's a parting shot of the skiers riding out through the woods....

Beautiful.

Nice setup!



"Epic beard" defined!

Thanks for the stoke. Happy to see you all found good conditions out there.

Everything looked great: the TR, the beard, and the setup! I am anxious to try out my SLs. Which crampons do you have for your boots? Looks like the Karakoram ones worked out great for you!

The SL's are sweet! This was my second time out on them, and they are solid - I really enjoy touring in them. The Karakoram crampons worked great for skinning the slick steeper stuff, though I've never had any problems with Mr. Chomps in the past either for that use. Re/boots, I use the Grivel Air Tech light aluminum crampons for most snow climbing related to splitting. I have a pair of the G12's as well, but usually only bring them with me if I think I'm going to hiking on both rock and snow...

Very nice!

Awesome.

More TRs and pics of the beardo!

This pic is incredible.
It's like that Brad Pitt movie where he was born old and just got yunger.
This pic is a man with a 20 year old body and a Gandalf beard.

Nice work,dood.

yeah man, although oregon hasn't gotten snow in a bit, just goes to show you don't know till you go.

no skis or snowbeards allowed in the lodge

Good to see Santa Claus getting his ski on

Dude I thought this was our special place? Now you're stepping out on me!

Seriously though...nice to see you chasing the stuff to the south!