These flagship mountains of Northeast Oregon offer rugged and expansive terrain, with legendary areas such as Norway Basin, McCully, and Wing Ridge. While popular in the summer, the Wallowas are basically untouched in the winter since access is difficult and the local outdoor crowd are only hunters and snowmobilers. The Wallowa Alpine Huts offers the only organized ski guiding service and yurt rental in the Wallowas.
Many locals refer to it as "The Eagle Cap." Most of the range's peaks are around 8000' to 9000', with several above 9000' which comprise 12 of the top 20 highest peaks in Oregon. The glacier carved valleys create some winter navigation problems, with avalanche danger being a major concern. At least 3 fatalities have happened in the Aneroid Lake area. Be sure to use the Wallowa Avalanche Center for information before travel.
Common access points include Salt Creek Summit, Cornucopia/Halfway, Hurricane Creek, and Joseph/Wallowa Lake. In addition to the guides below, see also Hikes in the Wallowas for some summer trails that might give you some more ideas, but keep in mind that many summer trails travel through terrain traps. Also, many of the trailheads aren't accessible by car in the winter.
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The trip into Aneroid basin is a beautiful winter excursion from Wallowa Lake. Aside from crossing a couple slide paths, the trail is fairly mellow and safe for winter travel. The basin is surrounded by 4 of Oregon's top 20 highest peaks (Sentinel Peak, Pete's Point, Aneroid Mountain, Hidden Peak). Of these, the climb to Pete's Point or Aneroid summits are relatively easy from Aneroid Lake. A couple more nearby peaks like Bonneville Mountain are just outside the Top 20.
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The summer trail to China Cap offers a relatively safe approach to Burger Butte summit, where there are several ski options. But beware, as Burger is the site where a large avalanche on the NW face tore through mature timber in 2011 leaving a new slide path is strikingly visible from across the valley in La Grande. The route here starts at Buck Creek Trailhead and departs from the trail before is wraps around Burger to the North.
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A ski into Copper is a venture deep into the west side of the Wallowas. The Copper Creek drainage has a variety of terrain features and overall bigness that would accommodate seemingly endless virgin skiing. The difficulty is the amount of time it takes to climb up over the ridge and the limited entry routes that minimize avalanche exposure.
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Mule Peak has some sweet skiing on just about every side of of it. Plus, its got one of the wickedest lookout huts at the top. Use caution on the track shown here as it does cross an avalanche run-out as it goes through Catherine Creek drainage.
Access the route shown here on snowmobile via Flagstaff Butte.
This is the launch point for the most popular winter destination on the east side of the Wallowas. The road is plowed to Salt Creek Summit at 6120' where there is a large parking lot, bathrooms, and a warming cabin. For skiing, nordic, and snowshoeing, this start point is very close to the wilderness so you can have quick access to high terrain without the need for a snowmobile. There is plenty of snowmobiling opportunities here too, to the south and east of parking.
An Oregon snowpark permit is required.
^ The warming shelter at Salt Creek Summit
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Squaw offers some some eye candy for skiing, but the trick is hitting up the slopes at the right time. The wide open slopes on the west side of the ridge are extra exposed to sun and wind. Plus the other flanks of the mountains don't have as much relief and aren't as ski friendly. That said, Squaw Butte has some relatively quick access and awesomeness that makes it worth visiting.
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This unnamed ridge seems to get the brunt of winter storms, and provides a variety of ski options on all sides of the ridge. Low angle slopes on a burn allow for wide-open tree skiing with lower avalanche danger on much of the western aspect. Slopes to the north on the ridge are steeper with longer downhill options. See the Mule Peak Lookout to the North and get a glimpse into Olive lake and Echo Lake from the ridge.
