Hookey day at Hoodoo!

Thursday, March 1, 2018
Hoodoo Butte, home of the Hodag


It's been a pretty slow year.  I've been waiting for it to snow since we went to Bachelor back in December.  Willamette hasn't opened due to lack of snow, so it's Hoodoo, Bachelor or Hood.  Bachelor and Hood are too far for a day trip.

The good news is that it snowed 14" overnight and I cleared my schedule by emailing everone at 6am that I wasn't going to be able to meet today.  Hookey day at Hoodoo!

 The drive, as always, was beautiful.  Hoodoo is 30 minutes further each way.  I left around 7 and pulled into the parking lot right at 9.  Not quite early enough to get first run, but close enough.

I. First ride up in a long time

 II. Looking over towards Three Fingered Jack

 The sun started coming out, which was a bonus.

III. Black Butte

 IV. Due South from the summit of Hoodoo Butte

 V. The trees got flocked (sounds dangerous, no?)

 VI. Towards Mt. Washington

 VII. The broad view towards Black Butte

 VIII. Mt. Washington

IX. A better view of Mt. Washington

Got home and found out that Willamette threw in the towel on the season:

March 1, 2018
Tim Wiper, Owner
Contact:  snowinfo@willamettepass.com

Willamette Pass Resort operations remain suspended for 2017-18 season.

Regardless of the excellent new snow over the last week, it has turned out to be “too much too late” to save the 2017-18 season for our resort.  We have evaluated the Ski Area every day this season to assess the conditions and what can be offered.  As the owner and operator of the resort, I take the responsibility for the complete operations and offerings we can provide for our guests.  As of this date I no longer have the staff or resources available to provide the quality and safety expected.  It is not appropriate to offer an experience that would be substandard at this time.  It is with great disappointment that Hundreds of our staff were not able to provide their skills and service for the enjoyment of our skiing and snowboarding guests this season. For more information on your options if you purchased a product from our online store, please click here.

To everyone that calls Willamette Pass Resort home I want to thank you for your continued support.  I look forward to serving you in the 2018-2019 season.​​

SKI IT, RIDE IT, LIVE IT!

Not this year.  No skiing it, no riding it, no living it.  What a sad state of affairs. It is becoming increasingly evident that our low elevation resorts will become unviable due to the rise in snow elevation because of climate change. This is the second season in the past five Willamette was unable to operate.  Before that, it was 1976.  

Hoodoo, while only 30 miles north, and a full 500' lower, seems to be holding on.  

With any luck I'll get some more days in this year.  I'm not holding my breath.

Back to Bachelor

Saturday, December 16

Silver Falls State Park

Got a bit behind on the blogging...not much to write about this season, but more on that later.

Dylan flew into PDX today and we took a side trip to Silver Falls State Park.  Silver Falls is home of the trail of 11 falls, and the trail goes behind a number of them.  There's nothing like it anywhere.

Dylan in a typical pose.

 


 The bridge across North Fork Silver Creek.

 The trail behind North Falls (some creative naming went on here).

 The trail behind Lower South Silver Falls.  Lots of water this time of year.

That's all for Silver Falls.

Thursday, December 21
Mt. Bachelor

We hung around for a few days hoping it would snow so Willamette could open, but alas it was not to be.  So, we made a day trip to Mt. Bachelor.

At more than 3 hours, the drive on a day trip is not for the faint of heart.  The weather was good and they had 14" of new snow the day before, so it was the best we could hope for given the circumstances.  We arrived in the parking lot just before 9 when the lifts start spinning and then promptly spent an hour waiting in line to get a pass.  Unacceptable.  Colorado resorts would never get away with service like that; Bachelor can because there's little competition here.  Moreover, they gouged us $96 for pass when less than half the mountain was open.  I wasn't super impressed and told them as much when the sent me a survey soliciting feedback.

 The upside is skiing is pretty fun no matter where you do it and the fresh snow made conditions pretty good for early season.  Still lots of wood and volcanic rocks looming underneath.

Dylan in his natural environment.

 We found some pow in the woods off Cloudchaser.

 Bachelor has the views.

 Panorama on top of the Skyliner lift.

 The statue of Bill Healey, founder of Mt. Bachelor, at the Pine Martin lodge.

 Looking out over the Sisters on last run.

Not a bad day for such a long drive.  We were hoping to get another day or two in, but it didn't snow.  I'm hoping that's not the template for this season.  We'll see.