Yurts are warm retreat in Sisters backcountry

Two backcountry ski huts, tucked in underneath a stand of old-growth hemlock trees on the far edge of frozen Three Creek Lake, have been a decade in the making.

Gabe Chladek and Shane Fox met while working as wilderness rangers for the Forest Service in Sisters, in the late 1990s. During long days in the mountains they began dreaming of a hut system to better access the backcountry skiing in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

They put together what Fox called an idealistic proposal to submit to the Forest Service and called the proposed company "Backcountry Bliss."

This winter, over a decade later and with a third business partner Jonas Tarlen, their dream is realized with Three Sisters Backcountry Inc. There are two ski huts for rent to the public with guiding service available.

Tam McArthur Rim rises 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the huts, which provides skiing that is as good as anywhere in the western United States, says Chladek. There is a variety of terrain including bowls, tree skiing, couloirs, chutes, and gentle slopes.

It puts Sisters on the map, he says. The only other huts in Oregon are in the Wallowa Mountains.

Part of the motivation for the company, says Fox, is giving people the opportunity to get away from the hectic pace of their regular lives and spend time in the mountains.

"People can come up (to the huts) and unplug for a while, and that's huge," says Fox. "They are able to get up there in that old-growth hemlock stand and put some tracks in."

A separate but related business that they run is an avalanche school. Chladek stresses the importance of people being safe while skiing or touring in the mountains, and gives importance to be able to offer people this educational service.

"It's every bit active as avalanche terrain," he says.

The huts are six miles in from the Upper Three Creek Sno-Park, which is as far as the road is plowed in the winter.

People who rent the huts can ski in to them or hire a snowmobile shuttle, and trips can be self-guided and catered, or fully guided and catered.

They got the final go-ahead from the Forest Service in the beginning of September and have been putting in long days since then to get the company up and running.

They built the two twenty-foot yurts from scratch. Details like a custom metal and plexiglass skylight are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The "Owl" is the sleeping hut, named for the metal-sculpted Owl on the door. The "Raven" has a kitchen, chairs and a table in it, plus a few beds. Together they sleep 12.

Both yurts have wood stoves and there is also a wood-fired sauna tucked between them.

Three Sisters Backcountry rents the huts out to a party of six or more for exclusive use each weekend (three nights and four days), and during the week hostel-style.

Fox says his vision is to refine what they have and not grow too quickly.

"For me it is to support a lifestyle, and not work ourselves into a frenzy where we are constantly working and miss the fact that we are supposed to be skiing, which is why we are doing this," Fox says.

For more information visit http://www.threesistersbackountry.com. Call 549-8101.