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I headed down to southern Oregon with Ron to explore some terrain I hadn't been to yet. For the past couple of seasons I've been meaning to ride Mt McLoughlin, but for one reason or another I just didn't get around to making the trip. After riding the mountain on Friday, I think I've been missing out.

After a long drive down I-5 on Thursday, we spent the night at the summit snowpark where only a few snow patches were remaining. The next morning we hit the trail around 7:00. After a half mile of hiking we came across a ski trail....



Around 5600 feet the snow became nearly continuous and we got our first glimpse of the objective.....



Looking back to the south, Brown Mountain and Mt Shasta were visible....



After several hours of climbing, we gained the southeast ridge...



We were able to skin to within about 300 feet of the summit before switching to boots. Crampons and ice axes weren't needed, but would have come in handy had it not corned on the approach. Here's a shot of Ron on the summit



The northeast and north bowls were super enticing, but will have to wait for another trip. I definitely think they rank up there with some of the best the cascades have to offer. It's just a hell of a long traverse or climb back out of there. Here's a shot looking down the north bowl from the top. The photo doesn't show it, but the slope angle is between 40-50 degrees most of the way down.....



We lingered around the summit for a half hour or so enjoying the sunshine. Surprisingly, there was little to no wind.



The snow on the south side of the summit was corn, and a few inches away on the north side was a combo of hardpack/packed powder. Shasta was visible to the south, and to the north we could barely make out the Sisters. Our descent was in the Southeast Face proper, and the corn turns were amazing! The first couple thousand feet were some of the best corn I've had in recent memory. The pitch off the top is very consistent and perfect for ripping big turns. Here's a few shots of the action....by the way, Ron makes all his own skis....





We rode down the face and to the bottom of the avalanche runout, stopping at an elevation near 6100 feet, making for 3400 feet of turns. Here's a zoom shot looking back at the upper mountain and our tracks in the sunshine...



Heading back to the car proved a bit cumbersome, since we had a decent traverse to get back to the east side of the mountain. Lots of lava flows in the area slowed our progress, as did hiking through and over intermittent snow. I swear every time we thought we were nearing the trailhead, we'd come across another damn lava flow that needed to be skirted around. Seriously I thought it might never end....



Finally, the never ending slog ended, and we arrived back at the snowpark, where we enjoyed a couple of hard earned cold beers! I left for home later that evening, while Ron stayed for another day to check out some other options in the area. Turns out FS road 3650 was plowed up towards Fourmile Lake (our beta from the ranger said it was snow covered), which would have saved us a couple of miles on the approach! The mountain will probably be in good shape for turns for several more weeks, so get out and get some! Parting shot of the mountain from Medford on Friday evening....

LOL...I'm in Ashland now. Was thinking of hitting it up on Wednesday. Thanks for the beta on Fourmile! Stoked you got to ride it finally. I know exactly what you're talking about on that slog out. The thing is, below treeline, that SE face actually starts to curve further and further south, making your traverse back longer and longer.

Got my eye on that NE face via fourmile. How bad were the skeeters?

Oddly enough didn't see one 'skeeter. That could change by next week though. The beta I got on the road was that it was plowed by the company which maintains the canal from Fourmile (apparently they were doing some work on the canal somewhere between the lake and the highway). I don't know for certain if it's plowed to the lake, but I believe you can get to the TH. Sounded like it was plowed about 12 feet wide with snow banks on either side (but not necessarily anywhere to park?). Should be melting out some though now with all the hot weather!

Hope you score on the NE bowl. That thing is sick and prime right now

Looks like an awesome descent!

Sweet Corn!

Nice one! I'm flying high on everyone's Oregon volcano stoke. Sun, no wind, and big lines. I'm lovin' this May!

OREGON! OREGON! OREGON!

Rad!
You got any more beta photos looking down the north side???

sick lines in there....

Wow dude, I just noticed lake of the woods is snowcovered!

I've NEVER been able to skin right from the car there in the springtime! I hope I can find a place to park on the road up to fourmile! Life would be so much easier skinning from the car, and getting to ride/splitski all the way back! Maybe even enough effort saved to justify the reascent back after riding the North face

Sorry....Brooks and I exchanged a couple emails, so now I'm all stoked about it!

Brooks, I probably have some photos of the north facing lines from last year somewhere in my digital garage. But I'll take some more for ya on Wednesday...unless of course you suck it up and meet me there!

Any Oregonian/Shastamurian splitters want to meet me up there on Wednesday?

Excellent TR! I drove past Mt Pitt a couple times this weekend. Each time talking to my wife about how awesome it would be up there. Sadly, this wasn't a board weekend but I'm happy to hear you got some! Gotta get out now.

Nice!
You had me laughing at the "another damn lava flow" comment. Completely reminded me of ending up in the wrong drainage coming off Diamond one time and battling rhododendron forests from hell.