TURNS ALL YEAR

by Brian Hague

As summer reaches full swing in June and July, ski season becomes a relatively distant memory for many Pacific Northwest adventurers. While folks move their ski quiver into storage and exchange snow gear for backpacking gear, a determined few make it their mission to ski all the way through summer and into the fall. The phenomenon? Turns All Year.

Turns All Year (TAY) is exactly what it sounds like: a description and rallying cry for folks who want to ski year-round. Adhering to TAY means to ski at least once every month of the year. Neurobiologist and Seattle native Charles Eldridge coined the term and created a website (turns-allyear.com) for folks dedicated to year-round skiing. It was perhaps inevitable that the phrase would be coined here. We are lucky to have many glaciers and permanent snow fields that make year-round skiing possible. While it’s easiest to do TAY in the Pacific Northwest, it’s a phenomenon that’s since spread to other areas such as Colorado and Canada. And skiing every month of the year likely puts you in an elite group of a few thousand folks who obsess over skiing.

Skiers need some dedication to commit to the challenge. Summer skiing means long approaches on foot, short ski runs, and a bit of research into where to go. Some challenges that come with TAY include the obvious: ski resorts melt out during the summer. This requires most TAY enthusiasts to hike to the snow, at which point backcountry skiers can at least skin up snowfields and glaciers. A less obvious challenge is climate change. As permanent snowfields shrink and disappear, skiers must climb higher and search farther for their craving. Utahns are already accepting the fact that TAY may no longer be possible in the Wasatch Range. Luckily, Oregonians and Washingtonians have plenty of places to get their turns in.

All that said, our snowfields and glaciers do melt out over the summer and fall. September and October will be some of the tougher months to find turns, forcing skiers to hike up further and be more careful as glaciers become dry.

Looking to keep making “wiggles” with your skis? Here are some locations where you can squeeze in your summer and fall turns.

■ Palmer Snowfield (Mt. Hood):

Formerly a glacier, this snowfield is probably the one most Mazamas are familiar with. Accessible from Timberline Lodge, you can access the snowfield either via an expensive summer lift ticket, or by hiking/ skinning up depending on time of year. Most famously, folks skin up the snowfield to Illumination Rock to celebrate the summer solstice every year. That said, this snowfield is receding quickly and will result in short runs during the fall months.

■ Muir Snowfield (Mt. Rainier): Starting from Paradise, WA, you can access the Muir Snowfield with a bit of hiking/ carrying. The snowfield usually lasts well into the summer and fall, perfect for finding those elusive October turns.

■ Inter Glacier (Mt. Rainier): Starting from the Glacier Basin Trailhead, skiers can hike in their skis and ski Inter Glacier, which is part of the Emmons climbing route below Camp Schurman. Note that this glacier is crevassed (although minimally) and requires caution as the snow recedes during the summer.

■ South Side (Mt. Adams): Mt. Adams tends to hold snow well into the summer and fall along the south side route. While ski carries will almost certainly be required in August and September, it’s a popular summer route for ski mountaineers.

■ Others

□ Mt. Bachelor

□ Obstruction Point (Olympic National Park)

□ Coleman Deming Glacier (Mt. Baker)

□ Sulphide Glacier (Mt. Shuksan)

□ East Ridge (Eldorado Peak)

Other recommendations

■ If you have CalTopo Pro or Gaia, you can access recent satellite imagery in order to find snow. In CalTopo, access the “Live Satellites” map layers such as Sentinel Weekly. In Gaia, access the FreshSat map layers.

■ Socialize and post trip reports with folks on turns-all-year.com, as well as forums such as TAY - Turns All Year on Facebook.