Day 1, 2011-12 Ski Season, Willamette Pass
Strange to say, but this is the first day of the, uh, 2012-12 season at The Pass. Fall passed into winter, through the holidays, and the snow went somewhere else. Weird. Global climate weirding. Something.
I made it through last week. Lots of work, and a fun New Year's Eve playing with the Beautiful Wrecks at Happy Hours.
We rocked the joint!
Back to the present day. The snowpack is still pathetically thin... but Willamette has a secret weapon. The Back Side.
The Back Side is like a vortex. A vortex where all snow in the general vicinity gets captured and deposited. A vortex that holds snow until Father's Day in June. A vortex that has salvaged what has otherwise been a despicable, pathetic excuse of a season.
Management provides the following disclaimer:
We saw that online and brought the rock riders. We get the obstacles part, but ski mellow? Ski Mellow? Yea, right. Ok, Go.
The snowpack on the frontside is not so great. At least the lifts are running.
Thumbs up from Dylan!
Thumbs up from Bob!
Once again, all is well with the Universe. The snow is here, and we're riding.
So much for mellow. Dylan leaps the rock band, heh.
And so it went.
The snow was much, much better than advertised. Better than my three days in Colorado before Christmas. Better than Dylan's nine days in Colorado which ended on Wednesday.
Who would have thought it? Nobody's getting snow, but conditions at 6,000' in Oregon are better than conditions at 12,000' feet in Colorado.
Hope springs eternal.
Welcome to 2012, year of the Maya.
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