Skiers and riders have to earn their turns in the Wallowas, Oregon’s other mountain range.
THE WALLOWAS
RECOMMENDED BY Kevin Wright
“Back in 2005, my wife, Kelly, and I decided to move from Colorado to Oregon,” Kevin Wright said. “I was a little sad about leaving the big peaks of the Rockies, but comforted myself with the idea that I’d be coming to a place that had good fly-fishing. I wasn’t in Oregon long before I traveled out to the eastern part of the state. I was shocked to discover the Wallowa Mountains and the town of Joseph. Here were these tremendous peaks rising in the middle of this very remote wilderness area, and an unspoiled little town. After spending years around mountain towns in my work in the ski industry, Joseph and the Wallowas were like a breath of fresh air. There’s a bumper sticker that you see around the area that pretty well sums things up: THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.”
Pioneers who came upon the Wallowas in the nineteenth century, as they crossed to the south on the Oregon Trail, were awed by the beauty of the mountains, which rise abruptly from the valley of the same name. Parallels were soon drawn to far-distant mountains—today, they are sometimes called “Oregon’s Alps” or “Little Switzerland of America.” (Wallowa, incidentally, is a Nez Perce name for a fish trap used on local rivers to catch salmon and trout.) The Wallowas sit in the midst of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, which encompasses 565 square miles of granite peaks, alpine lakes, and meadows and glacial valleys. The highest point, Sacajawea Peak, reaches 9,845 feet; thirty other summits are more than eight thousand feet. The Wallowas see some four hundred inches of snow each year—light, dry powder that’s not frequently associated with Oregon. This area in the state’s northeastern corner, some three-hundred-odd miles east of Portland, is a far cry from the land of giant Douglas firs and coastal sea stacks that many associate with the region. It’s wild, wide-open country. And the sense of remoteness one experiences in the Wallowas is only enhanced by the off-the-grid backcountry accommodations favored by fortunate skiers/boarders.
“The ski program in the Wallowas is based around little yurt villages that outfitters have gotten permission to set up seasonally in the wilderness area,” Kevin continued. “I stayed at one of the original sites in a spot called McCully Basin.” Today’s camp, which sits at an elevation of 7,500 feet, consists of four yurts, engineered by Wallowa Alpine Huts owner and “yurtmeister” Connelly Brown. (A yurt, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is a portable, circular structure with a wooden frame, and cloth stretched over the frame—think roomier and more substantial than a tent, less permanent than a cabin.) It’s about a four-mile skin through thick forests into the yurts at McCully, with sojourners gaining 1,800 feet of elevation along the way; boarders are provided with snowshoes. Once you arrive on the morning of day one, you drop off your extra clothing and get ready to “earn your turns.” There’s a variety of terrain to choose from: wide open bowls, couloirs, and old-growth glades.
“The guides are outdoor junkies, and their enthusiasm really adds to the overall experience,” Kevin said. “At the beginning of the trip, they try to determine what you want to accomplish: Ski powder? Hone your avalanche skills? The guides do their best to accommodate you. You might spend all day getting to one or two spots for a few epic runs, or you can stay closer to camp and get in a number of shorter runs. I’d say that on my trip, we got in about ten thousand feet vertical a day—and you’re pretty whooped by the end of it. A nice thing about the McCully Basin camp is that you can ski pretty late. Everything funnels back into the yurt zone. Once you’re back in camp, you can have a sauna and settle in with a libation. If the group desires, the guides can even bring in a keg of beer from Terminal Gravity, one of the great local breweries. They kill you with the food—though you’ve earned it. Most of the meat and produce is locally sourced. When everyone is done eating, the guides scrape all the leftovers into a big dog bowl. They then call in one of the Bernese mountain dogs that are part of the team. The dog will eat it all. It’s kind of disgusting in a beautiful way.”
McCully Basin is one of four camps visitors can skin/snowshoe into. There’s also the Big Sheep camp, which lies one drainage beyond McCully and features some prime glade skiing habitat. (It’s possible to combine a stay at McCully with a few nights at Big Sheep.) To the south, there are two newer campsites, Norway Basin and Schnieder Cabin. “The terrain is so unexplored in this part of the Wallowas,” Kevin added, “they’re still skiing unnamed runs. It’s rare to have such an experience in the Lower 48.”
The town of Joseph, at the base of the Wallowas, takes its name from Chief Joseph, leader of the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce. In addition to being the jumping-off point for outdoors people exploring the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Joseph has earned a national reputation for its bronze foundries and galleries. Some of the nation’s most highly acclaimed artists cast their bronzes at one of the four area foundries or show their work in one of the many galleries that line the town’s picturesque Main Street. Seven permanent sculptures are on display, including one of Chief Joseph.
KEVIN WRIGHT hails from Upstate New York. His steady migration west began with a move to Colorado in 1996, where he worked in the ski industry and married his wife, Kelly. In search of a new adventure and a progressive city close to as many outdoor recreational opportunities as possible, Kevin, Kelly, and their two black Labs moved to Portland in 2005. Kevin spends as much time as he can get away with outside, mountain biking, skiing, fishing, and hiking. Today, he is the vice president of global marketing at Travel Oregon, but you are likely to find him on one of Oregon’s many rivers, trails, or mountains with his two children, Gus and Edie.
If You Go
Getting There: The towns of Joseph and Halfway are the jumping-off points for Wallowa adventures. They’re each roughly six hours east of Portland.
Season: Wallowa backcountry skiing generally runs from mid-December through mid-April.
Lift Tickets: Several guides lead skiers into the Wallowas, including Wallowa Alpine Huts (541-398-1980; www.wallowahuts.com) and Wing Ridge Ski Tours (541-398-1980; www.wingski.com). Three days of skiing/two nights’ lodging trips begin at $550.
Level of Difficulty: Guests should be in good physical shape, as you must “earn your turns.” Terrain is mostly expert-oriented, though guides can often accommodate intermediates.
Accommodations: You’ll find a list of options for before/after your backcountry trip in Joseph/Halfway at www.wallowahuts.com.
