Peak 2.

Peak 2. That's where you go when the snow is crap (e.g., bulletproof ice riddled with death chunks) on Eagle Peak. Affectionately known as the "backside," Peak 2 is 1,000 vertical feet of primarily expert runs, outrageous tree skiing, and cliffs. Plus, the backside faces north--an attribute that allows it to hold snow much longer and in much better condition than the southern exposure of Eagle Peak. It is not as susceptible to the freeze/thaw cycles that happen every sunny day on the front side. Best of all, the snow socks in there like crazy. Today the base at the lodge was 34" while the base on the backside is 68."

View from the top down Northern Exposure. That's Maiden Peak in the background.

Of course there is a downside: a 10-minute ride on the diesel powered triple. The lift is a little slow for me (well maybe a lot) and on powder days I'll bounce back and forth from frontside tree shots to Cherokee Ridge on the backside. Cherokee Ridge is 500' of old growth awesomeness. It's also out of bounds... but that doesn't stop people from poaching it.

View from the bottom of the Peak 2 lift.

Where's Waldo? Must be off to the left someplace, but not quite down under (a 45-50 degree pitch through trees).

There's Waldo (lake) frozen off in the distance.

For any ski area to command respect, it must have cliffs. 20'-30' hucks on the right; 10'-15' hucks on the left; chutes down the middle. Not much snow right now, so the cliffs are bigger and badder than usual.

The Dragon's Back. Not much skiable area this year, or any year for that matter. The scree field at the bottom collects snow an is an awesome 8-turn powder shot on snowy days.

It hasn't snowed more than a few inches since January 3rd. The base is getting thin; rocks, bushes and stumps are showing. We've had our share of 45 degree spring skiing in January and February. Time to get back to the normal storm pattern. I watch them every day on the web (www.eugeneweather.net). This year they build up 500 miles off the coast and we watch them break down before they get here. Word is that all the resorts on the left coast are not in good shape. We'll do a snow dance and hope it doesn't get to crisis proportions like it did in 04-05. The run in the photo below was just bushes, dirt, and rocks.

Despite my carping about the weather patterns, it was still a beautiful day.