Ski time: 08:45
Conditions: 18 degrees, sunny, 12" fresh.
Location: Base of Willamette Pass
I got a good feeling about this. April 4th, Winter was still in high gear last week, and all systems are go.
Five stars. That's the rating today deserves. Skiing really doesn't get any better than today. Mark, ski buddy and professional acquaintance, proclaimed the day "quintessential." Let's break it down:
Quintessential: adjective.Works for me.
Representing the perfect example of a class or quality.
It is hard to understate how unusual today was for Oregon. In short, it was quintessential--a perfect example of the best kind of ski day. The storm came in on Wednesday, and peaked Thursday night. 10" to 12" of cold and fresh. Winter was still kicking ass on Spring. The question was, how many rounds did Winter have in it?
I watched the pass cam all day yesterday. My expectation was that the temperature would get way above freezing. It never got about 26 degrees and it wasn't hard to determine what that meant: fresh, cold, fluffy, pow.
Ski time: 08:53.
A large unruly crowd of rather stoked snow enthusiasts are gathered in the line of the Eagle Peak Accelerator. The only problem: the Accelerator isn't accelerating. In fact, it isn't event moving. We make a split second decision to ride up the Twilight lift and get first tracks on the left side of By George.
It's light. It's fluffy. It's a good foot or more deep. And the unruly crowd is watching as we rip down through the pow and take our place in line. Ha!
The first few runs today were among the best I've had. Ever. Anytime. Anywhere. On the first trip down from Eagle Peak we choose High Lead. We don't bother stopping as we unload--we head straight down the hill. The turns are effortless, budda, buddy. I'm ripping big GS turns past the few unfortunates that started down in front of us. The snow is kicking up and the feeling is, well, unbelievable. Usually on first run I get winded; not today. Before I know it, I'm at the bottom and hitting the runout over to By George and to the next ride.
Second run. We head for the woods. It's amazing--uncut lines all the way down. Effortless. Total control. We're in the zone--we're cutting through the trees like slalom poles. The lines are outstanding, and the snow makes it easy to take tight lines that would not be possible under any other conditions. Mark is tearing it up.
He's a happy boy.
And why not? How could you not be happy on a day like this. Everything converges into perfection.
And a trail of fresh snow.
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The large unruly crowd had the same idea and a good part of the mountain was ravaged by noon. We bagged 25,000 vertical by 12:30. Mark tossed it in one run earlier than me--it was a good call. The conditions changed quickly as it warmed up. Things got heavy. By 13:00 the temperature was 43 degrees. It was all over by 13:30 so we left.
We hit it hard today. Run after run of fresh tracks through the awesome Willamette trees. We proclaim the day "quintessential" and hit the road.
I arrived home around 15:00--it was 60 degrees in town. This afternoon, I turned to mundane things like mowing the lawn and pruning the bushes. I bet none of the other gardeners were basking in the memory of an unforgettable April powder day. Too bad for them.
This season is in overtime. Let's hope for double or triple overtime. See ya next weekend on the backside!
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