Looks like we'll have a season afterall

Thursday, December 23
The Pass

I'm just now getting around to posting about last week's ski adventure with Dylan.  We went up on Thursday after the snow report indicated that it dropped 6" overnight.  We were prepared for just about anything--you never know what you're going to get here in the Great PNW.

We got 6" on the frontside, which was not quite enough to cover up the crust underneath from the rain and sun on Tuesday and Wednesday.  But, Willamette has a secret weapon called the Backside.  The snow tends to sock in back there and today was no exception.  There was a good foot on Northern Exposure and June's Run and the 45 degree trees in between.  My first line got poached by an asshole ski patrol who jumped in right in front of me.  Gotta be quick around here.

Dylan attempts the trees on Cherokee Ridge, which were not, as they say, "all that."  What it was was 4-6" on top of nasty crust.  We didn't go back in after that.


















Dylan was sticking on Diane's board so we went to the car for some wax.  Dylan in his element.

Power magazine has been asking the hard questions this year in a series:

Why is skiing important? And, why do we ski?

I've been threatening for years to write an essay on the similar question of "why I ski?"  In my view, it's useful to think about such things.  "Because I can" is a simple, but lame answer.  I'll pick up on this and hopefully do a longer exposition on these questions in the coming year.  For now, I'll share some of the more interesting reflections.

In the January issue, Rob Story says "Skiing is the Bestest." Hard to argue with that one.  But it does beg for further elaboration. This one stuck out:

"Skiing is important because it's in the Olympics, which means America gives a shit about it every four years.  America: Fuck yea."

In case you don't get the reference, it's from our South Park friend's movie "Team America World Police."




In December's issue Neil Stebbins states "Skiing is not important."  I get his point, but fundamentally disagree.  Yea, it's not important from the standpoint if world peace or solving pressing problems like global warming, but saying skiing is not important is kind of like saying music serves no purpose. There is, of course, a tangible value to the activity--people spend a lot of money on skiing. There is also an intrinsic value in the activity related to the location and conditions at any given moment as well as the people. On the tangible end, I'm pretty sure that it's important to the thousands (or millions) of people who make their livelihood from it. I'm definitely sure it's important to the folks that publish Powder magazine.  It does, you just have to think for a while to figure it out. Apparently thinking is out of style in America (Fuck yea!).  You can read Neil's full remarks here:

• Neil Stebbins - Skiing is not important...but everybody should still do it.

Rob's comments were not available on the Powder.com site at the time I wrote this. 

I'm sure it felt important to Dylan as he leaped off the Whale's Tail.

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Back on the topic of the ski industry, IBISworld--an online database of industry trends--had this headline in January 2016:

"Slippery slope: Economic recovery will boost demand, while climate change strains operations"

IBISworld defines the snowsports resorts sector as follows:

This industry is composed establishments engaged in operating downhill, cross-country or similar skiing areas, or operating equipment, such as ski lifts and tows. These establishments often provide food and beverage services, equipment rental services and ski instruction services. Four-season resorts without accommodations are also included in this industry, but companies that own and do not operate ski resorts are excluded from the industry.

IBISworld summarizes the industry as follows:

Note that this is just the resort portion of the industry and doesn't include impacts down the supply chain. And concludes that Vail Resorts has 38% of the US market share. The conclude, not surprisingly, that the industry is highly vulnerable to economic trends and climate change.  Anyway, seems a tiny bit important to me.

There will be more meaningless proselytizing in future posts. Until then, I'll wait for the next storm!

Extreme Weather

Saturday, December 17th
7pm

Icemaggedon.  An ice storm visited Eugene starting Tuesday.  Dylan was flying in on Wednesday to visit during the break.  We had our fingers crossed he would make it.  He did, but it was a bit of an adventure for him--like the movie, "Trains, Planes and Automobiles."  He didn't do it quite in the order, however. 

Dylan was scheduled to arrive at 2:30 pm Wednesday afternoon.  There was a bit of ice on the ground and it was raining when I got up to go to work.  The rain increased through the afternoon and it was getting colder.  Dylan said they came in to Eugene and we're about 100 yards off the ground when the pilot gunned it.  They diverted the flight to Portland because of the freezing rain.  I got home around 4:30 with the potential to have to drive to Portland and pick him up.  I was not excited about that given the weather and the fact that it was snowing in Salem and Portland. After talking back and forth, he jumped on the Max with the hope of getting to Union Station in time for the 6:05 train to Eugene.  He barely made it, but showed up in Eugene about 9pm.  Disaster averted.

The ice was pretty intense.  1/4-1/2" stuck to everything.
















Thursday, December 15th
The Pass

The forecast was calling for 1-2 feet up at The Pass.  Conditions in town were spooky - trees were breaking and falling everywhere.  We got up early.  Willamette reported 12" overnight and the DOT reported 16". Despite the fact that getting up the driveway was an adventure, we decided to brave the conditions.

The trees in front of the house are feeling it.  

We got down the street to the intersection and had to wait while the crews cleared the road.

The standard route over 30th Avenue was blocked, so we turned around and went to the Franklin exit to I-5.  The Fairmount Neighborhood got it too.

We got up to the mountain about 9:30, which wasn't bad all things considered.  The strange thing was that the roads were fine as soon as we hit the freeway and there was no ice 10 miles east in Pleasant Hill.

Success! (the run)

Dylan enjoys the Oregon Pow.  They don't have that in Colorado.

It snowed about five feet last week.  There was a good 16" overnight, but it was layered.  The top layer was about 12" and below that it was a good two feet.  It was rough if you broke through that top layer.  It was also rough trying to muscle it through the flats.

Five miles east of Eugene the Filberts are frozen.

 Ice art.

Here's a slab from our garbage can.

 

It was Diane's birthday, so we celebrated when we got home. Thanks for letting us go to the mountain sweetheart.

 

Things weren't much better Friday evening. The entire block east of us starting two houses down has not had power since Wednesday night.  It's Saturday night now and they don't know when it will come back on.  The worst we had to deal with was the cable being down (no Internet).

 

That was an interesting start to the season. It seems like it's snowed up there than they got all of last year. A friend told me this is the most snow we've had this early since 2001.  

We'll probably go up again next week.  You have to get it while you can around here!

Firsts

Sunday, May 29, 2016

I more or less figured that the 2015-16 season was over.  At least until Dylan said he wanted to come visit after classes ended at CSU.  He finished up year one of his PhD program in biochemistry and was looking to unwind and hang with family and friends. 

At any rate, I made the suggestion that maybe we could go hit the mountain.  My original intent was to go up to Mount Hood Meadows, but they closed on May 14 and Dylan got in on the 19th.  The good thing was that Mt. Bachelor was scheduled to be open until May 29.  Our original plan was to go up on the 21st or 22nd, but the weather didn't cooperate. I didn't have any desire to ski in cloudy and potentially rainy conditions--this time of your (or any time of year for that matter).

Despite crummy weather conditions most of the week, Memorial Day weekend was looking promising. I have a theory, now partially disproven, that it always rains on Memorial Day weekend in Oregon.  As I write this, the clouds are gathering in Eugene...so I may still be partially right.

At any rate, we made it happen and it was a pretty cool adventure.  At this point in my life I've done a lot of the stuff I'm going to get to do, but we stitched together a program unlike any I've done in my entire skiing career.  So...here goes.

Friday, May 27, 2106
Part I: Camping on the Deschutes

First first: combining camping and skiing

I had to work Friday -- class and a thesis defense in the morning, so there was not getting out early.  I was initially thinking we would just get up at 4:30 am to get to the mountain by 8am (operating hours this time of year are 8am - 1pm). Diane suggested we just spend the night up near the mountain.  I did a little poking around on the web to confirm what I thought would be the case--everything was booked up for the weekend.  The cheap places that were left were $200 or more.  I'm not willing to spend that kind of money to go to Bend.

Change of plan: camp out Friday night and then ski Saturday.  There was some risk that we might not find a place - campgrounds fill up as fast as hotels. But, it's a big forest and we were confident that we could find something.  We left around 5pm and headed out Highway 58 towards Willamette Pass, up to the Crescent Cutoff and onto the Cascade Lakes Loop.  That loop is one of the most beautiful in the state--and one of the few places in Oregon where you really feel like you are in an alpine area.  Unlike the Rockies, we have lots of volcanos that aren't quite as dense.

Anyway, after verifying that the campgrounds were full by looping through a few, we detoured off a dirt road that had an angler sign on it. Those signs are a dead giveaway that there is river access. We hoped to find a place by the river.  After passing a few sites that were taken, we found a nice unoccupied one near Little Lava Lake and decided it would do--in part because searching more might not lead to a better place.

This one was nicely tucked in the woods.


Not far from the headwaters of the Deschutes River.


We cooked dinner, chatted a while, and then went to bed.  It was pretty cold - below freezing -- but not at all unbearable.  We got up around 7:20am, broke camp, and hit the road.  Batchelor awaited and we wanted to maximize our ski day.


Part II: Mount Bachelor
Saturday, May 28, 2106. 7:45am

Second first: skiing on Memorial Day weekend.

Mount Bachelor from Sparks Lake.
 

We rolled into the parking lot just before 8 and got ready.  We were on the lift by about 8:15am.  Conditions were perfect for a late spring day of skiing. The crowd in the parking lot was pretty rowdy so we knew it was going to be a fun day.

Pine Martin lift from the west base.



We headed straight for the summit.  It's been a very long time since I've been to the summit of Bachelor--probably 20 years or more.  I don't get up there very often, and when I've gone, the weather has been really crappy.  Bachelor has a reputation for nasty weather -- some call it Mt. Badweather.  That wasn't the case today.

Dylan on the summit looking south.



I've been working on a consulting team on a big project for the City of Bend helping them to sort out their growth boundary and refine their growth management strategies.  I made a few friends on the City staff along the way.  Not surprisingly, they ski.

Nick Arnis
  

Interesting thing about Nick - Kayla worked with his brother for a period of time in Steamboat.  When I first met him he was always wearing a Steamboat cap, so I started chatting with him about that since we apparently had something in common.

Third first: summiting Mount Bachelor.

A few quick facts about Bachelor.

Mount Bachelor, formerly named Bachelor Butte, is a stratovolcano atop a shield volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range of central Oregon. The Mount Bachelor ski area has operated on the mountain since 1958.

• Elevation:
  • 9,068′
• Last eruption:
  • 6051 BC

Last eruption 8000 years ago; nothing like dancing on a volcano.

We hiked up to the summit on the second run. Nieghter Dylan nor I have ever been to the summit so we immediately agreed with Nick's suggest to hike up there.  It's a pretty easy 10-minute walk from the summit chair - and the bowls off the top look amazing.

Fourth first: skiing the chutes at Bachelor

Honestly, I've always had a pretty low opinion of Mt. Bachelor.  Most of the lower runs are fun, but not very challenging and...well, the weather is always crappy.  I will confess that today significantly changed my view.  The three chutes off the summit are sustained 50 degree pitches for about 1000 vertical feet and all drop into the cirque.

Dylan gets his stoke on at the summit.



Nick.



Prepping to drop in to Chute 2.


The view from the summit is stunning.

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Dylan shredding Chute 3.  Note the avalanche sluff at the bottom.  A chunk of the cornice broke off and slid at some point in the recent past. It's much steeper than it looks.


Dylan skirts the palisades in Chute 2.


Around 11 a party broke out on the palisades.  We didn't join in, but it looked like fun. Not as much fun as skiing. The perspective gives a sense of the steepness, but it gets quite a bit steeper just below.



Chute 1.


Dylan up to his typical antics of hopping rocks.


Panorama from the Cirque.


Dylan tears up Diane's board.


Panorama looking south from the summit.
 

Beverly Hills...that's where I want to be.



We wrapped up right around 1.  It was getting pretty sticky and it was time for food.  We packed up and went down into Bend and grabbed some Thai food from a food cart. The crowds in town were substantial. 

Part III: Oregon Badlands Wilderness
Saturday, May 28, 2106. 3:00pm

Fifth first: hiking the Oregon Badlands

From snow to desert in less than an hour.

Since skiing ended early, we decided that a hike might be useful.  We talked about going out to the Crack in the Ground, but that was probably a good two-hour drive.  We also talked about Mirror Lake in the Sister's Wilderness, but ultimately decided on the Oregon Badlands.

The Badlands are about 20 miles east of Bend and were designated a wilderness area in 2009 - relatively recently and somewhat amazing given Congress' inability to do much of anything. The area is about 30,000 acres of desert. Our destination was Flatiron Rock and Badlands Rock.

The Oregon Badlands



Entrance from the trailhead.



It must be spring, flowers are blooming.  It's pretty amazing that 30 miles east of Bachelor, which got nearly 500" of snow last season, it turns into desert.

The trail wasn't very inspiring--just an old jeep track through the desert.


















It was a good four miles to the first destination - Flatiron Rock.  What we encountered was pretty amazing from a geologic perspective. Here's a summary of the geology of the area.

The wilderness is situated on high desert terrain and is associated with a volcanic rootless shield. This broad 10-to-12-kilometre (6.2 to 7.5 mi) volcanic shield issued lava from a rootless vent. The lava flow dates to about 80,000 years old and comes from a main vent further up the slopes of Newberry Volcano. This main vent was located near Lava Top Butte and the lava that came out of this vent traveled through the Arnold Lava Tube System to arrive at the current location of the Badlands. An irregularly-shaped pit crater at the top of the shield marks the site where lava flowed in all directions to create the Badlands. Lava tubes acted as conduits for the lava in some instances and are evidenced on the surface by tumuli, also known as pressure ridges. Soils in the Badlands were largely formed from ash associated with the eruption of Mount Mazama some 7,700 years ago.

A bit of interpretation here.  Mount Mazama is more generally known as Crater Lake. Newberry and the Arnold Lava Tube are about 30 miles southwest of these formations.  We were wondering what the geologic processes were that formed these amazing rocks.  One of the most remarkable things is that they are continuous in a roughly triangular or rectangular shape.  Walking through the pressure ridges was amazing. 

The site is a little like Crack in the Ground down by Christmas Valley, but different in the sense that they are not linear and not as deep.

Aerial view of Flatiron Rock.


Flatiron Rock
 


The view looking east.


Three Sisters from the top of Flatiron Rock.  The formation on the left is Broken Top.
 

Mt. Hood


Victory is ours!
 

Lichen at Flatiron Rock


Arch formation
 

We then hit the trail towards Badlands Rock.


Badlands Rock was even cooler that Flatiron in some respects.  The ridges were deeper and there were lots of cracks to explore.


Dylan peeks through one of the cracks.
 

Things are looking up.


The ridges are a good 25-30' high.
 

It was getting late so we hoofed it back to the car.  Dylan pointed this out when we left.  I'm not sure what the exact explanation is, but am open to theories.


All in all, a very fun day of skiing and adventuring.  We got home around 8:30 and were beat.  What a great way to end the 2015-16 ski season!