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. 

Applegate and Garfield Peaks -> The Wombat

Crater Lake National Park

Smith Rock State Park

Oregon is a state of many faces, marked by a wide diversity of landscapes, from the sand beaches and rocky cliffs of the coastline, up and over the Ring of Fire and the Cascade Crest, to the High Desert of the east.  When you gaze down from far above, all these unique places look so close together, one blending seamlessly into the next as mountains rise of out foothills, and rivers wind themselves in broad arcs across valley bottoms and fertile plains as they had for the ocean.  It can seem like the distant reaches of the state are far away from each other, but in reality all this diversity is crammed into a pretty small package.

And it's a good thing too, because this varied landscape creates some crazy and unpredictable weather.  Sometimes, storms roll in from the Pacific for months on end, and it seems like endless days of powder shots will never last forever (remember the winter of '98-'99).  Other times, like this year, a blocking ridge of high pressure can make Oregon feel more like Colorado for weeks and months at a time.  We are exposed to wide extremes in temperature, precipitation and geography, and its awfully hard to predict when conditions will be good for whatever it is that floats your boat in the outdoors.   

Photoset from Whitsler, Joffre Lakes

Finding turns in the Joffre Lakes Basin

I celebrated my birthday last weekend with a three-day trip to SW British Columbia, continuing the elusive 2013-14 search for powder snow.  We caught a great day at Blackcomb with 6-10" of fresh snow on top of a very firm base, with clear skies and amazing views.  The masses were stoked!  The next day, we explored the backcountry around Joffre Lakes and found a thin layer of windbuffed powder on top of a very thin, crusty snowpack with lots of exposed rocks.  In a NE facing basin at the height of winter, the light was tough, but I got a few shots of the peaks across the valley and some half decent images in the shade.  The temps were really cold - around 15 deg F - and we had to hike out because of the low snowpack, but we managed to log some mileage on our old-man legs.  On our drive back to Portland, we stopped in at Squamish and checked out the nesting bald eagles down by the Squamish River - so cool!  Coastal BC is drop-dead gorgeous and only a few short hours from Oregon - go check it out! 

Ashes, Stars and an Unbreakable Crust

Sunrise and Broken Top

Mother Nature has been anything but generous to the skiers of the Pacific Northwest so far this year. Bouts of snow have been sandwiched in between long periods of warm and wet or bone dry days.  The downhill crowd is getting a little stir crazy, myself included.  This past weekend, despite a recent stretch of arid conditions, I convinced myself that the sunny forecast in central Oregon would yield spring-like corn snow in the Sisters backcountry.  Unwilling to face the prospect of another day of laps on the Palmer snowfield, I struck out on my own hoping to find the goods, eternally optimistic.

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!

St. Helens Easter Day Corn Harvest

The "new" lava dome and the Mt. Margaret Backcountry from the crater rim

Last weekend saw unseasonably warm weather with a ridge of high pressure locked in over the region. Fresh off an incredible week of powder skiing, I figured it was time to go harvest some spring corn.  After climbing at Ozone in perfect weather on Saturday, I drove up to Marble Mount trailhead with some friends and crashed out in the parking lot.  Up at 3:30 and on the trail by 4:15 or so, we topped out around 9 am to clear skies, calm winds and the promise of a buttery corn cycle on the descent.  Enjoy the pics.

Fairy Meadow Brain Dump

Bohle dropping the pow

On those cold, early mornings, standing above a face of untouched fluff, a chemical reaction inside my head starts to etch a permanent image of that moment in my memory.  I can recall those times when everything falls perfectly into place and I drop into bottomless, blower pow (or even coastal cement), as if it happened just last week.  Like a rolodex, I can flip back through 35 years of history, pulling out cards on individual runs, complete with notations on snow conditions, mental state, and partners.  The human brain works in mysterious ways . . . especially on powder days.

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.      

The Junuary Inversion

Marcel Gesmundo eyeing thousands of feet of corn on Mt. St. Helens

With sunny weather in Central Oregon and a persistent inversion in the mountains, I couldn't decide whether to climb or ski this past weekend.  Luckily, with a three day break, I could do both!  The Pacific Northwest delivered again with two days of sunny climbing at Smith Rock and a stellar day of skiing corn on Mt. St. Helens.

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.      

Acid Baby --> SW Chutes

Saturday - Acid Baby

Sunday - Mt Adams SW Chutes

 
Last weekend, Jaime and I pulled off an alpine 2fer - PDX Weekend Warrioring.  We left Portland late on Friday after work, and we got back into town on Sunday evening almost exactly 48 hours later.  Saturday, we climbed Acid Baby in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness above Colchuk Lake and then drove down to Mt. Adams.  Sunday, we skied the SW Chutes and were home by 8-ish after beers in White Salmon.  Alpine rock climbing and volcano skiing - summer in the Cascades.  

Sometimes I get frustrated living in Portland, having to drive so far to get to the mountains, but then I remember what it was like growing up in Pittsburgh, where hills were called mountains and a long drive meant hours of torture on the PA turnpike.  When I start to get down on living in this city, I have to stop and remind myself of the big picture.  The Pacific Northwest is pretty much as good as it gets - at least for me.  The Cascades are wild and beautiful, and despite a few hours drive, they're basically in our backyard.  Oh yeah, and the food here in Portland is WAY better than Seattle!  Washington suckers.             

Sin or Salvation? Skiing Mt. Rainier National Park - The Nisqually and the Tatoosh

The Mighty Mt. Rainier

Home from Bhutan just over a week, I drove down Interstate 5 on Friday morning after a mid-week meeting in Seattle.  Following a month of constant travel, I silently debated whether I should go skiing or simply stay at home and tend to the every day details that had fallen by the wayside.  Laundry, unpacking, work, even processing the 5,000 photos from my trip - I had plenty of excuses to remain in town and slow down.

For a few minutes, the classic debate between the angel and devil, both perched on opposing shoulders, played out in my mind.  But then I turned a corner on the highway and saw the mighty Mt. Rainier rising up off the horizon in clear, morning skies.  The mountain was covered in a deep blanket of snow that had fallen almost constantly since I left for Asia in March.  I couldn't deny the strong temptation presented by a weekend of chores, the lure of yard work and organizing the basement.  But having assumed the form of a majestic mountain temple, the angel on my shoulder reminded me that these sinful pleasures just lead to further moral degradation.  In a split second, she squashed that puny devil and illuminated the path.  Let's go skiing!

Idaho Ski Junket

Earlier in February, I was lucky to tag along on a ski trip to the Idaho Selkirks with a bunch of guys who had been making this trip an annual pilgrimage for the last several years.  Just outside of Sandpoint, nestled in the mountains, an amazing log home sits on a butte at about 5000'.  One side looks out over the valley and other looks up at the surrounding ski terrain.  The friendly proprietor sleds in the food, the clothes, and the keg while the everyone else enjoys a leisurely 6-mile skin up a forest road.

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.

Ski Stoke

This is some of best ski footage I've ever seen. Check it out. It may be the best 5 minutes of your day.

Mt. Adams - SW Chutes

The best medicine for withdrawal is a quick fix.  After returning from 10 days of climbing in California, I was still jonesing for more mountain time, knowing that the deep Pacific NW snowpack was making for some amazing summer ski conditions. 

Jaime had planted a seed a few weeks ago, suggesting the SW Chutes on Mt. Adams for the weekend after my CA trip.   Zach jumped on board, and by Saturday evening, we were driving through Trout Lake on the way to Mt. Adams. 

Lane Peak - The Zipper Ski Descent

Improvisation . . . on the fly.  A washed out climb/ski of Mt. Rainier turned into a soggy descent of Lane Peak in the Tatoosh.

The original plan had Jaime and I climbing in Tieton on Saturday, meeting Doug and Alex in the parking lot of Paradise on Saturday night, and then climbing/skiing Rainier on Sunday.  Things didn't exactly go as planned.  On Saturday, we got in one pitch of climbing at the Bend before getting rained on and retreating to the car.

Eastern Sierra Ski Junket

Torrential winter rains in the lowlands pay off with a deep spring snowpack in the mountains. I've been holed up with my head down for a few months, but I recently lucked out with a fantastic weekend of spring skiing in the Sierras.

I've been messing around with video recently, so instead of the usual photos I'll offer up this amateur hack job. You gotta start somewhere.


Easter Sierra Corn Fest from Chris Winter on Vimeo.
Amateur nostalgia from a memorable spring ski trip to the Eastern Sierras.