The Other Side

The Other Side. The dreaded Other Side.

It's an unambiguous statement any way one might interpret it. It might refer to an opponent, the opposite side of a coin (or anything for that matter), the afterlife, or any number of other things. A Wikipedia search suggests that lots of books, movies, and music refer to The Other Side. It also poses the question: "why did the chicken cross the road?"

You know the answer.

For the purpose of today's entry, it refers to the parking lot on the South side of Highway 58 from Willamette Pass Ski Area. The dreaded Other Side. We don't like it; parking on the other side means you get to walk across the highway to get to the lifts. It means you got to the mountain after the 800 other cars in the parking lot. It is more an inconvenience than anything. Dylan thinks we overreact to parking across the highway. Maybe. When you consider major resorts, it is not uncommon to park long distances from the hill. You might even have to take a shuttle from the parking lot.

But...we're not talking about major resorts here. We're talking about Willamette Pass.

The view from The Other Side.

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I guess the view from the other side is not so bad. But, as the cliche says: the snow is always whiter on the other side of the road.

The Other Side means traffic hazards. The chicken must cross the road, and avoid cars, trucks, semi's and snowplows in the process.

The good news is we made it. There and Back.

Conditions were not stellar today. That was my rationale for rolling out of bed late and getting to the mountain around noon. Fortunately, my information sources are accurate. Conditions were not stellar today: a dusting of snow over hard pack.

The good news was the resort built new features on By George. Three big jumps and a rail. I want to think that our comments might have had some impact on management...but I'm not that naive. At any rate, Dylan was not complaining (nor were any of the other park rats).

Dylan and Diane have fun on Good Time Charlie.

Dylan looking back at Diane.

I'm goin' there. Right there.

And then I'm riding the pipe to air city.

Dylan thought it would be a good idea to attempt a Backside Rodeo 540 today. Since I wasn't sure what a Rodeo entailed, I looked it up:

Turning frontside 180 while completing an inverted 360 rotation for a total of 540. A rodeo 720 is when you would turn frontside 360 while completing an inverted 360 rotation for a total 720.

But that's a frontside Rodeo. To elucidate:

Coming off a jump and turning your back down the hill, flipping 540 and landing fakie or rotating a total of 720 and landing regular.

Ok, that clears up everything. Here's Dylan's second attempt... in time stop photos.

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Crash landing.

Somehow, I don't think that's it. Dylan says it's essentially a backflip with a 180. Here's a how to guide:

How to Backside Rodeo 540

We'll see how this progresses over the season.

Dylan airs into the trees.

 

Shiny, happy skiers...