My local favorite backcountry ski area this past winter and spring was along and between the Swampy Lakes Nordic ski trails. The Swampy Lakes Sno-Park/Trailhead is located at 5800 feet in elevation. It is just north of the Cascade Lakes Highway (Highway 46) about 16 miles west from Bend.

Living in Bend, I have a lot of options for local backcountry skiing. Several Sno-Parks are nearby with a network of Nordic ski trails leading out from each. At higher elevation Swampy Lakes typically offers better skiing conditions than those at the lower elevation Virginia Meissner trail system.

Yet Swampy Lakes is better protected in stormy weather than areas higher and nearer Mount Bachelor. During weekends and holidays the Mount Bachelor highway traffic can be very heavy. It is helpful to get out of highway traffic lower than higher towards the Bachelor Nordic Center.

My favorite Nordic trail combinations at Swampy Lakes were the Swede Ridge Loop, the Swampy-Flagline-Flagline Tie-Butte-Ridge-Beginner trail loop, and out and back up Vista Butte via the Ridge and Butte trails. The Nordeen Loop was also fun, but that route can experience more traffic. One can combine some of these to make longer ski outings, as well.

The only disadvantage for us of Swampy Lakes skiing is that it is closed to dogs. But Linda and I often take our dogs to the nearby Wanoga Snow Play Area. There we ski with them as they run beside us on groomed ski trails.

New Nordic Gear

For years I have used Fischer Mountain E99 Crown ski and Alpina NNN BC ski boot combination for backcountry skiing. This season I augmented that combination with a Madshus Epoch ski and Fischer BCX 6 ski boot combination.

The shaped Madshus skis and stiffer Fischer boots provided me much more turning capability. I particularly enjoyed carving turns in powder down through the forested slopes of Vista Butte. The combination is also lighter and easier to tour in than is a typical Telemark ski/boot combination.

However, the Madshus skis and Fischer boots do require more energy to break trail than do the narrower Fischer skis and more flexible Alpina boots. So I would use my E99 skis and Alpina boots should I repeat a long ski tour around Crater Lake.