Winter v. Spring.

Blizzard!

Yep, full blown, snowing hard so you can't see, blowing, freezing, blizzard.

Today, we witnessed an unexpected bout of climatic pugilism that I haven't seen for years. Throwdown at the hoedown! Some had written this season (winter) off as over (I'm referring to you, Mark. You should have called me last night). Not us. Now, back to the heavyweight title match of the season.

The opponents: Winter and Spring. Spring was heavily favored given that we passed the equinox a week ago and it's been on a steady training regime. Besides, the earth is tilting in Spring's favor. But the underdog, Winter, got the upper hand on this one. It was like Rocky IV, a bloody battle. The final decision: Winter in a knockout. In fact, today, Winter beat Spring all the way back to fall. One for the record books, for sure.

It's been a funny season weather-wise. Not the best snow year--we just passed 350" today; last year it was much closer to 600" (not typical, but nobody was complaining!). The Pass opened on December 19th--pretty average for Oregon. The standard is that the weather plays hard to get, and then it dumps 4' in one week--with any luck, sometime before Christmas. Then we got five or six weeks of sunshine in late January and February. The snow finally returned by late February, but this being Oregon, and our local hill being low elevation (the base is 5,250'), we get a lot of freeze/thaw cycles.

At any rate, I was feeling guitly for bagging on the Free Heel Festival (free the heel and free the mind) yesterday. The weather was kind of crummy--cloudy and about 38 degrees. Maybe enough to soften the base, maybe not. But, the forecast called for a Severe Weather Alert in the Cascades: 10" to 20" of snow! That seemed worth waiting for.

It was.

Better yet, the weather report was accurate. The people I work for are not as forgiving as the ones that metoroligists work for. Where else can you be wrong more than half the time and still keep your job? Wall Street you say? Fair enough.

The resort snow report said 6", ODOT said 8", and it was 12" where we were skiing. It was 20 degrees again, and the snow had that light, fluffy Colorado consistency. What a treat for the Cascades in March.

Dylan gets the money shot!

This is probably the best ski picture anyone has ever taken of me. Thanks Dylan!

Phew, that's a lotta snow!

Dylan was clearly enjoying himself.

As was I. Phew, that's a lotta snow for March 29th.

D pushin' the pow.

Today was simply awesome. Epic. A totally overused cliche, but appropriate for today. We got in 19 runs and more than 28,000 vertical feet. As a reference, I crossed the 500,000 vertical foot mark earlier this week; with any luck I can get to 600,000.

I have been encouraging Diane to get a new pair of skis for a while. She took me up on it on Friday. She chose the K2 Hunka, Hunka Burnin' Luvs. Elvis would be stoked. I bet if Elvis skied, he would still be alive today.

Good choice! She's skiing better already--and liking the new boards.


Today, winter beat the living crap out of spring. In fact, it was an avalanche. Uh-huh, Winter kicks ass! We were there for all 19 rounds. Winter came out of the gate strong. Spring got a few blows in mid-day as the sun broke through and the clouds whipped by, but in the end, it was Winter's day.

Today was the last day of regular operations for The Pass. That means only weekends from here on out (not such a problem for us). It also means we're coming into the home stretch on the 2008-09 season. Boo.

Rematch next weekend! Winter v. Spring. We're still rooting for winter, but we know that spring will win in the end. Either way, we enjoyed the match.

Big Air.

You know the saying "go big or stay home," right? I wrote a song about it once, but that's another story.

In the park, you have your whoop-de-dos, your rails, your boxes, and your little kickers. And, of course, you have your big kickers. The big kicker at Willamette is nowhere near as big as the parks in Colorado, or any other major resort for that matter. Nonetheless, it is five feet high with a 40' gap to clear if you don't want to flatten your arches.

We went up again today, since everyone had the day off (even though I should have been working). Dylan worked his way up to the big kicker.

That doesn't really do it justice--it's much bigger and badder--especially if you don't clear the gap. The video does it a little better justice (warning, R-rated).

This one is even better, but a little dark.

And there's this film noir mania.

I used to go big too.

This was probably sometime in 1974 or 75 probably at Snowmass on one of the family trips. Even back then I found a way to make it fun. The biggest I ever went was on a hooky day at Vail when I was 15. I went up with my neighbor Larry, his girlfriend and a high school buddy named Steve who's family just happened to have a house in West Vail. We skied through the weekend and then on Sunday afternoon a big storm moved in. Word was that we could not make it back for school on Monday...too dangerous or something. More like, 15" of fresh on a Monday at Vail. How can you go wrong with that? We were back on the Northwoods express and hitting some outrageous stuff off the North Rim. Steve ended up at the top of a 30' drop. We dared him to do it. He did, dropped 30' and stuck in the snow at the bottom. It looked like so much fun the rest of us had to try it. Dropping 30' on skis is quite the adrenoline rush.

My neighbor, Clyde Getty, took things a lot further than I did. He moved to Boulder and joined the Argentinian aerial team (actually, he was the Argentinian aerial team) and completed in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Olympics. He was throwing double-twisting double-back flips, when the standard was a quad triple. I think he came in last place, but no matter: he's an Olympian. Since he's the same age as me, he was no young buck when he competed. There may still be hope for me... nah. Anyway, our family takes a small amount of credit--he used our trampoline as a kid and we took him up a fair number of times.

To state the obvious, things have changed a lot since the 1970s. Back then, if you could do a spread eagle, you were a "hot dog." If you could to a mule kick, you were the shit. If you could do a daffy, or a moonwalk... that was the bomb. My generation (various reports would put me as a boomer or a Gen Xer; I find them both distasteful) launched the "make everything more extreme" trend. It hasn't let up. These days, 1080s, or Rodeo 540s, or Dinner Rolls, or any other number of tricks are the norm.

There's more stories from other times and places, but that's the best I got--at least for cliff diving.

I don't have to do rocks or big jumps anymore. I've found that it takes a lot longer to get fixed when I get broken. I'm more than content with the memories.

It's getting near the end of the season, but we've had six feet of fresh in the last couple of weeks. The lifties are making the best of it. To one man it's simply a lift shack; to this lifty, it's a castle--his castle. I'm impressed!

The box.

Diane is wondering what crazy stuff Dylan will do next.

It snowed a few inches last night on top of yesterday's rain, and the snow that came before that, and the rain that came before that...

I took a few runs and then put on the teles for some tele-bombing. Diane was going in to use the facilities, so I thought I would take a run up top. As I was crossing over to the other lift, I picked up some speed to avoid walking. The line I picked looked packed enough until I augered in a couple of feet. Glad I decided to keep the helmet on because it kinda rung my bell. I don't know if anyone from the lift saw it, but if I had, I would have said something like "Gnarly, dude!" and then laughed. That was my best crash all day. We'll let Diane tell about her parking lot escapades later.

The weather forecasters are calling for sunshine tomorrow... but not for me. I'll spend the day in my office dreaming about today.

Break

07:30. Wake up, pour my coffee and check the ski report. Between 5" and 8" of fresh depending on who's report you believe. Then to the weather forecast: severe weather alert for the Cascades starting at 1pm today. Another 5" to 9" this afternoon and tonight. It's 32 degrees in town and 14 degrees at the mountain. Bonus: the sun is shining.

There was a good foot of fresh in the trees.

And coming out of the trees.

The conditions are so outstanding that Dylan is speechless.

Spring break is for students. It also gives me an opportunity to catch up--and keep my schedule open just in case the weather conditions are just right. Today was just right--fluffy snow, blue sky, no wind. I felt like I was back in Colorado.

The timing could not be better for me. I just got off of several weeks of long days. The snow conditions have steadily improved over the past several weeks. And, my schedule is flexible enough so that I can go when the conditions are right.

Flying on a blue sky powder day.

The log ride is open.

Stitch the box (click on the image to see a larger version).

Dylan shows off his stuff in the park.

Yesterday nothing was groomed. Diane decided to stay home today... until we suggested that she shouldn't miss a blue sky powder day.

This is great!

Yow. If this is spring, keep it coming. There's another front moving in that promises another 4" to 9" for tomorrow.

Today was the second best day of the season. I'll buy a six-pack for any reader that can identify the best day of the season...

We're hoping the rest of the week is as good as the past two days.

Spring.

Spring.

Today, March 22nd, is the 3rd day of spring. The equinox has equinoxed, and we're headed towards the end of the ski season.

Spring means the trees bud, the flowers bloom, and everything turns green. Except that everything stays green all winter here in the verdant Northwest. For a lot of folks, spring means gardening and cleaning. I say bah to that--spring is the best time to ski. Besides, there's plenty of days to do that stuff after ski season ends. Moreover, for those of us that are dedicated, we never regret a day of skiing, we never think twice about blowing off those "real world" responsibilities. Hell, we don't even consider the opportunity costs! The value of a day spent skiing is way more than anything I could possibly think of to do at home.

That said, it was raining in town yesterday, so we weenied out. It may not have been the best call; word on the lift was that it didn't rain at The Pass and it was partly sunny and warm all day. Warm. Warm is what comes with spring. Warm is generally bad if it also involves cold. The freeze-thaw cycle can be great for skiing--as long as you are hitting the thaw part of the cycle and not the freeze.

Today we left at 11:45 and arrived a little after 1. I wasn't sure if we should have gone earlier or not. By the time we got there it was snowing... hard. So much for spring!

That's ok with us, we'll take a few more days of winter. It is only, one of four seasons after all.

We got a few runs in, but it was a pretty short day. However, a short day skiing is better than a long day just about anywhere else.

We're watching the weather closely to decide whether to go again tomorrow.

Out of Bounds.

I almost turned over and went back to sleep this morning after checking the snow report at 6:45. A paltry 1" of fresh. The weather report called for 10"-18." But it is raining hard in town, and I got a good feeling. We go anyway.

As we pass through the tunnel, the rain turns to serious snow. The truck in front of us breaks loose, and then spins out. They stop heading 180 degrees from where they started and just keep going...hopefully back to town. Better for us; the road is now clear.

28 degrees. Snow is falling. Hard. Anticipation is building, as the Eagle Peak Express has not yet opened. It's 9:45 when they start loading and we are there.

Stokage.

The 1" is more like 6" on the front side, with serious blizzard conditions at the top.

And more like 14" on the back side. My poles are nearly buried.

Dylan tests out his wakeboarding technique in the 14" of fresh and wet. I think he's got it down.

Work it!

We got three untracked runs down the 45-degree "Down Under"--a nicely spaced glade with lots of good slots. Dylan drops in, takes three turns and literally gets buried by his wake as it comes down to greet him.

Dylan has been looking at the backside cliff all season. Today he tried what will probably soon be a new freeboarding event: Cliff Falling.

He got high marks for the falling, and even higher marks for the awesome recovery move at the end.

Gimme a pillow.

Now, to today's topic. Out of bounds. All ski areas have boundaries. They are for our protection. These are areas that are not patrolled and may pose various risks. Like all ski areas, Willamette Pass has out of bounds areas. Many of them are named: Cherokee Ridge, SDN, SDS, Motel 8, to name a few. Willamette doesn't have ropes, they just courteously provide signs like the one at the top of this posting.

Out of bounds is where you head on a powder day to get the sweet untracked lines. Take Cherokee Ridge for example. Head down Boundary Pass on the backside and ski straight past the out of bounds sign to 600 vertical feet of tree powder heaven. Dylan and I were the first ones down this morning, which meant I had to break trail and he had to billy goat through the flat parts. It was worth it:

We got several untouched lines though the trees today. The cool thing about Cherokee is that if you get into a slot that someone has already poached, you just go over one tree and you're back into the freshies. It was awesome.

Dylan does his snowman impression.

Then drives me home.

It was cold, and snowy, but nonetheless an epic day. It was one of those days when it snowed so hard that your tracks get covered up between each run. It snowed 4" between when we arrived at 9:30 and left at 2:30. Gotta love that--even if it was a little (actually a lot) wet.

Two weeks left until the "official" end of season. One of the patrolers told me on a ride up that we would probably get a couple weekends after that.

I hope so. Until then, you can find me out of bounds.

Trees.

Trees.

They are growing everywhere. The forest, the woods, in my back yard. Maybe not so much in the desert or the ocean. But, hey, this is the Pacific Northwest. We're all about trees.

Most ski areas in the US have trees; a few have areas that are above tree line (which is about 8,000 feet in our part of Oregon). Eagle Peak tops out at a round 6,666'. It is covered with trees. But these aren't just any trees. There's douglas fir, white fir, hemlock, and maybe a little yew in there. Mostly, they are douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in what I estimate are the 80-120 year old range. That also means that they are nicely spaced.

I've spent a lot of time in the trees during my 41 years skiing. I've skied trees at nearly every resort I've visited. The first rule of skiing in trees is: be kind to the trees. In other words, don't hit them. They don't hit back, but they don't move either.

Steamboat, where my daughter Kayla lives and rides, is widely acknowledged as one of the best tree skiing resorts. The mountain has large areas covered with quaking aspen--trees which are also nicely spaced. The downside of major resorts is that the powder is usually ravaged by noon--even in the most dense and remote of trees.

Back to Willamette. Our little mountain has awesome trees. Not only do they look awesome...

Especially, flocked in fresh snow... but they also ski awesome.

They are not bad on a banana board either...

When they fall down, they continue to serve multiple purposes.

You can play George of the Jungle. Watch out for that tree!

Or just ride silently through the snow covered trees... while looking AWESOME!!

We hit the "Ritz" today. It's in the trees. It's made of trees and blue tarps. It's not quite as ritz-y as some ritz's.

Look at that ripper.

And that one.

Finally, if you get bored, you can always just look up to the trees. They stand tall and proud.

It was a great day today. We didn't have any new snow, but the thing about little local areas is that you can find freshies days later. You don't get that at Steamboat or any other major resort. Diane stayed home to recover, so it was just the boys. I took Dylan to a lot of places on the mountain he had never been before. It's amazing how much variety Willamette Pass has in its dinky 555 acres. You just need to know where to go.

I encourage brave readers to watch the video below and provide your own captions. Fun!

Signing off for now. Dylan salutes you.