Memorial Day Turns on Barrett Spur

Bohle dropping off of Barrett Spur into 2000+ feet of perfect corn

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mt. Hood delivered again, serving up untracked slopes of perfect corn snow and incredible vistas of Cascade volcanoes.  We departed Portland early on Saturday morning - around 5 am - headed for the wild and free north side of our local volcano.  Our goal was to ski Barrett Spur, a little peak surrounded by the massive glaciers, ice falls and ridge lines of a remote corner of Mt. Hood.  Our efforts paid off, and we harvested several thousand of feet of beautiful spring snow before stopping in Parkdale to drink some local micro brews en route to a not-so-secret but still untrammeled rock climbing crag. 

Eearly Season Epicness on Mt. Hood

November corn at Illumination Saddle

One of the best parts of living in the Cascades is that feeling of familiarity that grows between you and your local mountain.  Experiencing an alpine landscape as it transitions through the seasons, from year to year, minute to minute, you start to see notice all the little details and you grow to appreciate the unique privilege of living in such a beautiful place.  Wind patterns, snowpack, temperatures, precipitation - these all change throughout the year and give a place its own unique character, a shifting, breathing, living landscape.

This past weekend, Mt. Hood put on an incredible show for the folks who were lucky enough to experience truly rare early season conditions.  A powerful storm blew through the weekend before, leaving 1-2 feet of snow above 6000 ft, but since that time the weather had been stable and the snowpack had consolidated.  The forecast called for clear skies, moderate temps, and dead calm winds.  On top of that, Timberline Ski Area had just opened for the winter season and was scheduled to run the Palmer lift both days.  Equation = fun!

Sunday on the Zig Zag

With just one day to play this past weekend, I kept it local and headed up to Mt. Hood to check out the conditions with JB and Ryan.  We'd received a bit of fresh snow and the temps were pretty moderate, so we decided to check out conditions higher on the mountain.  Persistent W/NW winds had scoured the Palmer, but lee slopes held some nice, windbuffed powder in between sections of an icy death crust, which sat on top of 2-4 inches of unconsolidated sugar.

Just as we arrived at Illumination Saddle, a couple of skiers dropped in off the east side, and I captured some nice images of the ever photogenic Illumination Rock.  After some lunch and a quick beer, we repeated their line and enjoyed some nice turns down the Zig Zag until we traversed back in towards the top of the Magic Mile.  The best snow was tucked away in the little gullies and depressions, where we could carve super fast turns on a smooth surface.  Good times and well worth the drive from Portland.      

More Mt. Hood!

The South Side of Mt. Hood from Tom Dick and Harry - January 13, 2013

This January has produced beautiful conditions on Mt. Hood, with lots of sun, fresh snow, and cold temperatures, although it looks like a warming trend is going to settle in this week.  We just got back from a quick tour up to Tom Dick and Harry, and we saw exactly zero (0) other skiers all day, despite excellent conditions consisting of light powder over a hard packed surface.

The shot above provides a great overview of an excellent spring tour from Timberline Lodge, up to Illumination Saddle and then down to Paradise Park en route to the trailhead past the west side of Mississippi Head.  The trailhead sits at 2800 feet - a spring run from the summit would net you 8000+ ft.  Go check it out!

Sun, Snow and a Big 'Ole Volcano - January in Oregon

Crater Rock and the bootpack towards the Old Chute

The first week of January brought relatively calm weather and sunny skies over the Oregon Cascades.  Easing back into the day-to-day after the holiday season, I played hookey on my birthday this past Thursday and then squeezed in one more day in the Mt. Hood backcountry on Sunday.  After the recent storm cycles, the mountain is holding a lot of snow, which is mostly stable and well bonded.  The skiing conditions have been a little tough, but the calm, sunny skies and the wilderness solitude have been sublime.

I'm always amazed that I don't see more people in the Mt. Hood backcountry during the winter.  The south side climb is mobbed on any given spring day, but the climbing/skiing conditions and the atmosphere oare often far better from January through March.  The weather can be a role of the dice, but you have to be on the mountain to see how it unfolds.  Often the wind will be howling on the drive up to Timberline Lodge, only to let up for 2-3 hours right after sunrise.  Or, like today, a cold, dense fog will sink into the valleys while the mountain itself basks in warm, winter sunlight.  Anything is possible on Mt. Hood if you show up.      

Boom!

The season seems to change awfully quick after the first week of October, and earlier this past week I was lucky enough to spend a day on the Mt. Hood National Forest checking out a proposed Forest Service project.  The North Side of Mt. Hood stood watch over the Hood River Valley, bathed in a fresh blanket of fall snow.  Inspiration in the making ... enjoy.  

Stretching the Legs

The conditions over the last two weeks have been kind of strange here in Oregon.  Heavy snows were followed by warm temps and rain, and then the following weekend clear skies dawned over Mt. Hood only to be joined by gale force winds.  Kristin and I made the best of it and took the skis ... and the camera .. for a couple of walks up on "the mountain."  Despite the weirdness, we enjoyed some fresh snow and a beautiful sunrise on Mt. Hood.  Oh yeah, and some killer parking lot french fries.  It ain't so bad . . .

Jaime and Anna under a rising sun

Scratchin' the Itch

Kim Crihfield on Taiwan On, 5.10c, Fourth Horseman, Smith Rock

This past weekend hopefully marked the end of the freakishly warm and dry winter conditions in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.  Pretty much everyone I knew was in the depths of powder withdrawal - a horrible affliction that causes irritability, anxiety and constant weather channel web surfing.  There are few known cures, most of which involve long car rides, airfare, or very large doses of self-prescribed medication.  Even with proper treatment, a patient's prognosis is uncertain until the very end.

Video of the Mt. Hood Ski Descent

My buddy Matt Bedrin pulled together this little video of our most excellent day on Mt. Hood. Enjoy, and check out his exploits at skiingcascadia.com.

Mt. Hood Summit and Ski Descent

The winter-long pattern of warm rain and crappy skiing conditions relented this week as a high pressure system moved into the area. I made the executive decision to take a mental health day and cut out for a climb and ski descent of Mt. Hood. I called my buddy, Matt Bedrin, who's trying to become the first person to climb and ski the highest 40 volcanoes in Cascadia, so I knew he'd be game for a last minute, mid-week outing.

We geared up and left the car at 2 am, only seconds before the first and only yard sale of the day. Walking across the parking lot, Matt hit a pocket of black ice and went down hard. My brain barely had time to think "be careful" before I hit the ground a split second later. With bruised egos, scraped elbows and a groggy heads, we picked up our stuff and started the slog up the Palmer.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

We prepped for a battle, as the wind was blowing 20-30 mph from Timberline Lodge all the way up to the top of the Palmer, making for some cold, dark skinning conditions.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

With an east wind, we were able to find a little shelter near the lift shack at the top of the Palmer, and we stopped to fuel up. The cold set in pretty quick, so we geared back up and started moving after a quick rest. 15-20 minutes later, just as we were warming back up, the wind dropped to a dead calm. At first I thought it was a brief lull, but from there on out we were treated to excellent, calm skies.

We got to the Hogsback as the sun rose and stared up at the blank canvass of a mountain, wiped clean by the snows earlier in the week.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From the Hogback, we punched in a boot track up towards the Old Chute.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

We had the whole mountain to ourselves and were treated to amazing views of the Cascades and surrounding foothills - mid-winter solitude at its best.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

5000' of vertical was just too temping, and we eventually bid farewell to the summit and started the ski descent. The upper section was survival sideslipping, but we eventually found the goods on the steep slopes of the Old Chute and then the Hogsback. Great turns in a beautiful setting.

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From there we got some photo ops at Illumination Rock and then charged the ripper corduroy back to the Lodge. Great Day!

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

Good luck to Matt on the Cascadia 40!

From Mt. Hood Ski Descent

Mt. Hood - Illumination Saddle to Paradise

This report comes in a bit late, but Ralph and I had a great time on the classic Mt. Hood Illumination Saddle to Paradise tour a couple of weekends ago.

We got a bit of a late start because we had a car shuttle arranged with some friends, but they had to bail at the last minute. Improvising on the fly, we decided to park at the Paradise trailhead and hitch up to Timberline. After about 10 minutes, we were picked up by a really nice gentleman by the name of Peter who ended knowing some common lawyers friends of ours.

The skin up to I-Saddle was a bit monotonous as usual, but we had beautiful weather and cool tunes on the IPod.

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

When we got to ISaddle, there were A LOT of people around engaged in all sorts of activities. But it made for a couple of scenic shots. Yocum's looked particularly good.

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From there, we caught some sweet corn turns all the way down into the Little Zig Zag drainage. Oh yeah.

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From Illumination Saddle to Paradise - April 09

From there, it was pretty much a suffer fest to get back to the car. Our friends that bailed had the GPS, which we were going to use to find the trail. We decided to go for it anyway - not the brightest move - and we paid the price with a couple of hours of bushwhacking through the Little Zig Zag drainage. After "zig zaggin" back and forth looking for the trail, we bottomed out in the canyon and knew we were pretty much screwed. We turned around and climbed back up the side hill towards the ridgeline and eventually found the trail headed down the other side. Phew! Almost thought we were gonna spend the night in the forest up there, but we ended up back at the car around 6-ish.

Great day! Corn rules.

Oregon Bliss - Trout Creek to Mt. Hood

Aw yeah. Spring time!

Skiing – climbing. Corn snow – crack climbing. Legs – arms. Endorphins - adrenaline. Choosing is hard to do. Manic energy solves the problem.

Saturday. Nate picks me up at 8, and we pull into Trout Creek around 11. A swift hike up to the crag, and we’re climbing splitter cracks for the next 6 hours surrounded by the Eastern Oregon landscape. On one side – the cracks.






On the other – the mountains.



Today we climb cracks - finger cracks, cuticle cutters, calf crushers. Tired and worn out we collapse under a juniper tree with the Deschutes whirling and whooshing in the background.

Sunday. We wake up in the duff at 5 am with the songbirds chit chatting in the branches overhead. The Deschutes continues its endless journey, and a couple of dedicated fishermen head off to the river. The sun rises up out of the sky as we drive north towards Mt. Hood, painted white with a fresh coating of spring fluff. Anticipation builds.



At 7:00, we hook up with Pat at Hood River Meadows. We step out of the car to blue skies, warm temps, calm winds and fresh snow. We’re skinning from the main base by 7:30, and we haven’t seen another soul. I let the music tune out the sounds of the mountain and synch up my breathing with my stride. I start to sweat and don’t care as the runs of the ski area fade away below us. My skins bite hard in the smooth softening snow, and I point ‘em up hill. My thoughts drift … they may even fade away for a few brief moments. Peace.





A few hours later we peel off the skins at 9700’ with the snow quickly deteriorating.



It’s now or never, and we drop into Super Bowl carving turns in the corn. My brain focuses in on the terrain ahead, searching the snow for signs of the dry heaves. Legs burn.





The barren snow slopes give way to white bark pine and then a forest as Heather Creek gurgles out from under the snow. 5000’ later we stumble back to Hood River Meadows.

We collapse on the blacktop, peel off the clothes and start drinking cold beer. My fingers still hurt from the day before. Scabs come off with the fleece gloves. My back hurts. My stomach cramps as the beer starts to soften the lump of shot blocks. Slowly my thoughts creep back into my consciousness, and I realize I haven’t missed them.

Satisfaction – Oregon style.