Three sisters traverse on skiis

Thinking of doing the three sisters traverse from north to south on skiis. Plan would be to skin to the saddle between middle and north and cache gear and tag north sister then camp between middle and north. Next day climb middle and ski the south side of middle. Then the same for the south sister the following day with a camp between middle and south. I know it’s easily doable in a day but focusing on having a fun trip with my fiancé and timing our descents with the best corn. Couple of questions.

1. How sustained are the technical difficulties on the north sister and north face of south sister?  Debating bringing a 30 meter half rope if the WI 3 bits of south sister are just short steps and short 4th class bits on north sister  

2. How exposed is the camping in the saddles between mountain?

3. is there much crevasse danger?

4. How difficult is the skiing compared to say the south route on adams?

I can't really help, but you might find more local info on cascadeclimbers.com.  

https://climberkyle.com/2021/04/06/three-sisters-traverse/

wisam wrote:

Thinking of doing the three sisters traverse from north to south on skiis. Plan would be to skin to the saddle between middle and north and cache gear and tag north sister then camp between middle and north. Next day climb middle and ski the south side of middle. Then the same for the south sister the following day with a camp between middle and south. I know it’s easily doable in a day but focusing on having a fun trip with my fiancé and timing our descents with the best corn. Couple of questions.

1. How sustained are the technical difficulties on the north sister and north face of south sister?  Debating bringing a 30 meter half rope if the WI 3 bits of south sister are just short steps and short 4th class bits on north sister  

2. How exposed is the camping in the saddles between mountain?

3. is there much crevasse danger?

4. How difficult is the skiing compared to say the south route on adams?

1. The exposed traverse from the south ridge of North Sister to the west side and up the bowling alley is straightforward when there is good snow and one can kick good steps. This time of year and into May I would expect such conditions (caveat I have not followed the Oregon winter and snow). Depending on the group, pickets might be in order.

As for the South Sister, you are conflating the N Face and the N Ridge which is the typical route taken when doing the Three Sisters. A few years back the N. Ridge was pretty much completely melted out before Memorial Day. At the point it is a lot of choss. 

2. The saddle between North and Middle Sister is huge.

3. No cracks of concern.

4. I skied off the South Ridge of North to the saddle then skinned up Middle. The ski off Middle and over to South is casual. 

A couple of notes. If coming from Pole Creek go up the SE Spur of the South Ridge on the North Sister. When you intersect the South Ridge you can cache ski/gear go up to the summit and return. No need to go the saddle first. From North to Middle is quick. Depending on how fast you are moving and how far you can drive into Pole Creek some alternatives for bivies. One can bivy on the SE Spur do North and Middle then ski off to Chambers Lake. That will get you afternoon corn. If you bivy between North and Middle you be on top faster than you think and will have to wait for corn.

Allan Reguarding number 2 and the exposure I meant wind and weather. Was thinking of bringing a megalight but if it is super exposed to wind I would probably bring a bivy tent.

Is it practical to combine the middle sister with the north face couloir?

As you are going to be on snow I would bring a bivy tent. As for the N. Face Couloir of North Sister. Practical but you will want two tools, and probably a rope and some gear for the two steps which are near vertical and icy. Probably more practical to solo the Silver Couloir or the North Face of the Northwest Ridge. I solo'd the later as the second ascent carrying skis. Still will want two tools for either. See this photo: https://www.mountainproject.com/photo/115321243.